Random rant
Jan. 16th, 2005 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qatarperegrineI just had a less satisfactory experience with the American Hospital.
I've had good experiences with the orthopedist, but the internal medicine guy turned out to be another story. First off, we had an extremely difficult time communicating, which isn't really his fault but made the process much more frustrating. I explained that I was going to India and wanted malaria prophylaxis, and it took several minutes to get straight when I was going, for how long, and so on. Then he wrote out a prescription for me without even telling me what the drug was he was prescribing. I asked what the drug was and what side effects I might expect, and this was apparently The Wrong Question. I got a mini-lecture on how Americans always want to be their own doctors and won't take what the doctor gives them. Well, excuse me for wanting to have a say in what I ingest! The doctor did fish around in his pocket and come up with the little sheet of fine print you get inside medicine boxes, which impressed me. He went over the side effects with me, and they didn't look bad. (I did notice that the sheet of paper was copyright 1995, though.)
Long story short, the drug he prescribed is Mephaquin. I was upset enough with the process to come home and Google it before going to a pharmacy (since they didn't have it in stock at the hospital). Yes, Mephaquin is another brand of mefloquine, i.e. Lariam -- exactly what I was trying to avoid. (Why did I not write that name down before I went?) He said it was better than Doxycycline, which I had asked about by name, and which he says causes nausea. Well, better an upset stomach than hallucinations and seizures, that's my motto. (Or at least it is now.) And let's not even get started on the fact that he prescribed this stuff for Justin, who has a history of seizures.
And what really kills me is that he tut-tutted me for coming in only a few days before leaving -- and rightly so; we did leave it to the last minute, because we've been too sick to get innoculated -- but now I find that only mefloquine requires a week's dosage in advance. If he'd prescribed Doxycycline, we could start today or tomorrow and have full immunity by the time we arrive in Delhi.
So, I'm really ticked off. I know mefloquine is fine for most people, but I'm scared of having bad side effects when I'm far from dependable medical care. And I certainly don't want Justin taking it! I don't know what I'm going to do now. I guess my options are to buy the mefloquine and hope for the best; try again tomorrow and try to get Doxycycline instead (ironically turning into the "give-me-this-prescription" kind of American he spoke of so disparagingly); or do without drugs and be more careful with long sleeves and bug repellant.
Well, it could be worse. At least he didn't prescribe Halfan.
Update: If anyone cares, I did badger another doctor into prescribing doxycycline, although she also told me it's not as good as mefloquine. Oh well. I feel pretty confident going with CDC recommendations.
I've had good experiences with the orthopedist, but the internal medicine guy turned out to be another story. First off, we had an extremely difficult time communicating, which isn't really his fault but made the process much more frustrating. I explained that I was going to India and wanted malaria prophylaxis, and it took several minutes to get straight when I was going, for how long, and so on. Then he wrote out a prescription for me without even telling me what the drug was he was prescribing. I asked what the drug was and what side effects I might expect, and this was apparently The Wrong Question. I got a mini-lecture on how Americans always want to be their own doctors and won't take what the doctor gives them. Well, excuse me for wanting to have a say in what I ingest! The doctor did fish around in his pocket and come up with the little sheet of fine print you get inside medicine boxes, which impressed me. He went over the side effects with me, and they didn't look bad. (I did notice that the sheet of paper was copyright 1995, though.)
Long story short, the drug he prescribed is Mephaquin. I was upset enough with the process to come home and Google it before going to a pharmacy (since they didn't have it in stock at the hospital). Yes, Mephaquin is another brand of mefloquine, i.e. Lariam -- exactly what I was trying to avoid. (Why did I not write that name down before I went?) He said it was better than Doxycycline, which I had asked about by name, and which he says causes nausea. Well, better an upset stomach than hallucinations and seizures, that's my motto. (Or at least it is now.) And let's not even get started on the fact that he prescribed this stuff for Justin, who has a history of seizures.
And what really kills me is that he tut-tutted me for coming in only a few days before leaving -- and rightly so; we did leave it to the last minute, because we've been too sick to get innoculated -- but now I find that only mefloquine requires a week's dosage in advance. If he'd prescribed Doxycycline, we could start today or tomorrow and have full immunity by the time we arrive in Delhi.
So, I'm really ticked off. I know mefloquine is fine for most people, but I'm scared of having bad side effects when I'm far from dependable medical care. And I certainly don't want Justin taking it! I don't know what I'm going to do now. I guess my options are to buy the mefloquine and hope for the best; try again tomorrow and try to get Doxycycline instead (ironically turning into the "give-me-this-prescription" kind of American he spoke of so disparagingly); or do without drugs and be more careful with long sleeves and bug repellant.
Well, it could be worse. At least he didn't prescribe Halfan.
Update: If anyone cares, I did badger another doctor into prescribing doxycycline, although she also told me it's not as good as mefloquine. Oh well. I feel pretty confident going with CDC recommendations.
