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PaperclipPerfector  10d ago (text post)   2004 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for February 12, 2025

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

  • Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.

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Once I started working in the UK, I discovered to my frank confusion that the standard treatment of a cold was to do nothing. No actual meds, maybe treat the fever symptomatically with paracetamol or ibuprofen.

Back in India, we used to prescribe antihistamines for it on the regular. I looked up the evidence base, and most studies claimed that they didn't help. I still disagree, both from seeing patients benefit, and personal use. Levocetrizine +- montelukast got me through multiple bouts of covid, and they mitigate the sniffles in normal colds enough that you can at least be functional while you're sick. I presume you should be able to acquire either cetirizine, levocetrizine or another OTC antihistamine, though I'm not going to handle the headache of looking up brand names. If you can get the original Sudafed, with pseudoephedrine, that might help too.

I was gonna tag you in the thread. It's nuts, I have a severe case of strep or throat infection of whatever any time I get a cold, so I never eat anything cold, avoid liquor, even then, I catch one any time I'm in a new city, how is the drug procurement in the UK compared to India for over the counter drugs.

A second gen brown dude there told me once that wait times were close to a year for psychiatrists in the UK. Kinda hard to believe but won't be surprised at all.

Everything is far more locked down, which can be good (less indiscriminate distribution of antibiotics), or rather annoying at best.

I was used to just asking for prescription meds at home by using my credentials as a doctor, or just writing myself a prescription. This, while not outright illegal in the UK, is highly frowned upon by the GMC. Which is bullshit paternalism, I find claims that doctors can't be trusted to judge their own health questionable.

The wait times can be terrible. If it's an urgent crisis, you'll get seen quickly, say someone contacting their GP with suicidal ideation. For something like getting assessed for ADHD, it can take >2 years for an appointment, unless you go private.

For something like getting assessed for ADHD, it can take >2 years for an appointment, unless you go private

ADHD is not autism, it is still in some edge cases enough to fuck your life up, it fucked mine up and seeing a psychiatrist helped me set it right. 2 years is insane, I get mine the day of and pay 2 pounds.

I have a big old pile of various antihistamines lying around. Will try. Thanks!

I've long wondered whether antihistamines would be counterproductive because when you're actually sick the inflammatory responses aren't false positives and are presumably useful traits. I have seen some suggestions that fever reducers for minor fevers may be counterproductive, I think. But it's a bit out of my area of expertise to actually find literature for antihistamines.

I recall reading some evidence that antihistamines and anti-inflammatories slow down recovery from illness, but the effect sizes seem too small to make a real difference.

For something like a cold or a flu, I doubt it'll matter, and the trade-off of being able to be more active and productive outweighs things.

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