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Comment by wolco | Hacker News Reader

Had the same problem getting the same antibiotic. Going locally resulted in unnecessary tests as you describe without luck. With me it started with a positive hydrogen breathe test at a naturalpath. Based on those results I went the telemedicine route and said my np recommended an antibiotic. I got lucky and got it filled twice but had to repeatly try but the provider I used didn't charge unless you accepted the prescription.

At the end I still needed more but gave up. Going starch free helped more.

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> With me it started with a positive hydrogen breathe test at a naturalpath.

Naturopaths are quacks though. You shouldn't be able to get any prescriptions based on their recommendations.

They can't at least where I am. And my experience with was more about getting that appointment fee so treatment is spread over many appointments.

Still a better experience compared to doctors. Anything internal seems to be an area they don't understand yet. Perhaps in time things will get better.

After the experience I strongly believe anyone should be able to buy medicine without a prescription. There are good and bad things that could come from that but I believe freedom of choice should be more available in this area.

> I strongly believe anyone should be able to buy medicine without a prescription.

While I can’t disagree that doing so is mightily convenient, it’s a really terrible idea, due to antibiotic resistance.

Now, if people could be trusted to only purchase antibiotics when they actually need them, and to complete their courses of them, this would be fine - but you can’t trust people.

I’ve spent a fair bit of time in Russia over the years. Hangover? Antibiotics. Head cold? Antibiotics. Tired? Antibiotics. The myriad incredibly inappropriate things people use antibiotics for is phenomenal.

And you’re talking about how a witch doctor told you you had quantum demon breath and so you need antibiotics. I’m sorry, but this is absolutely part of the problem, and underscores why antibiotics must be regulated.

To blame the patient is a little bit shortsighted. In my experience, well established doctors do prescribe too much antibiotics as well. I used to have a doctor who basically gave me antibiotics for everything I went to see him. After a while, my general health started to deteriorate. Once I understood the pattern, I started to throw away his prescriptions and did also get better.

I spent quite a bit of time in Russia and my experience is opposite. Everyone ever talks about how careful you should be using antibiotics. Not too little. Not too much. The exact prescribed amount for prescribed duration.

I think the story of how we are becoming of how we are becoming resistance is a false narrative. Doctors giving antibiotics to freely is an issue but the fact that they are allowed to use antibiotics in our animal feed is probably more likely the cause why this problem exists and whole classes of antibiotics are not prescribed anymore. If this is your first time ever using antibiotics penicillin should work.. but they need to jump to amoxicillin.

I know why they add it in our animal feed and I see the benefits but it also creates these issues.

The problem with this is many developing countries overprescribe antibiotics or have them available without prescription. In developed countries you see antibiotics used en masse for livestock breeding. Both of these things dwarf any usage in people in developed countries. (You also see things like betablockers available OTC in places like India, and there was recently a research article on HN about how much this improves quality of life and quality of care.)

It is kind of a tragedy of the commons, but the real solution is not to let people in the US die from easily treatable diseases. After all, what is the point of effective antibiotics if you never use them anyway?

The real solution is probably to develop enough treatment options so that they can be cycled or used in conjunction.

My last M.D. was a quack, too. He made a wrong call (not griping, I understand differential diagnosis) on my stomach infection, wrote a prescription, then went on vacation. Meanwhile, I did not know this, nor did I know my labs came back with my pathogen identified. I went back to the office only to overhear all that through a closed exam room door. Oh, and they let me make that appointment same-day, knowing he was on vacation.

That doctor is so very fired, and I made sure every patient there knew what happened to me on the way out. I have never been so angry about mistreatment.

Did you notice a difference at all? Do you think you'll ever be "cured"?

I did notice a difference but the bacteria comes back if something is affecting mobility.
After the second time. I did three things that really helped.
- Ate chicken/carrot for lunch. Fish/seafood/bacon/pork/beef roast with one or all of squash, zucchini, spinage. In between I made a loaf of banana bread with honey and most importantly carob and ate one a day. That digested earlier and didn't feed the overgrowth lower allowing me to put weight back on. The carob forced mototity
- I did pure cbd in very small amounts for 2 weeks. That seemed to help close intestinal valves.
- I stopped all starches. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas..
I'm 4 months off of the second round and feeling and looking much better.

Yeah, it sounds like we are going through a similar form of hell. How long have you been dealing with this?

Seeing as you are at the point that you are looking for black market antibiotics, have you tried Kratom? Did it help? If you havent heard of it before, I should however warn you about the addiction potential.

2 years November this November after taking cipro. But only took the antibiotic 5/6 months ago. I dropped from 240 to 142 in the time beforehand (75 pounds first 45 days) and after the antibiotic and the bread I'm back to 180 and feeling better each week.
How long have you had this?

Wow, good job on the weight loss though. I've had this for years too but it's gotten worse. Or I've also become somewhat lactose intolerant. I always feel great when fasting (which I do regularly for weight reasons) but within 30 minutes of breaker ng the fast I'm burping again. Even fasting for like a week didn't seem to starve them at all.
I saw an article somewhere bthat said xifaxan should be taken for six weeks! So I'll probably try that next.
Oh also, weed edibles basically stop all stomach grumbling for me but they make me drowsy. IDK if they help kill the ... overgrowth though.

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