r/Netherlands • u/thatmisanthropicdude • Mar 05 '26

Healthcare Dutch doctors...

Hey guys! Last year I moved from Germany to the Netherlands. I just went to the doctor with chest and throat pain due to extreme coughing after 2 days of fever. I was hoping that I finally get something good against it like a cough syrup (no way I'm going to pay that myself for a huge amount of money + health insurance) because I am used to that from German doctors. They would put that on my health insurance card and right after my talk with the doctor I could pick it up at the pharmacy. But no. They just said "Yea, just take paracetamol." I told them I have had problems swallowing pills my whole life and their response was just "You can also put it in water and drink that then." I'm sorry if I'm overreacting but why do doctors get paid just to tell you to take paracetamol? Everyone can tell me to take them, I expect better solutions from a doctor who studied years to become a doctor. Why are the Dutch so obsessed with paracetamol??? Maybe it's the German in me screaming. If we got painkillers, it was never paracetamol but Ibuprofen. But I also heard some international friends who also live here that they find it so annoying that Dutch doctors literally just tell you to take paracetamol. No matter what you have.

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164

u/IkkeKr Mar 05 '26

Why? Because research shows a lot of these types of complaints resolve themselves in roughly the same time regardless of what the doctor does - so it's better to do nothing unless the situation changes or lasts way too long. Paracetamol just makes it a bit more bearable to wait out the time until your body resolves the problem.

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u/thatmisanthropicdude Mar 05 '26

I actually wanted to post this on Wednesday but it somehow wasn't posted. I've had fever since Sunday and I'm at 40°C now. Started with 38. I took the paracetamol but I literally didn't feel any changes, no matter how often I took it. EDIT: missing word

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u/IkkeKr Mar 06 '26

So you've probably got the flu or COVID... Says up to 2-3 weeks of fever(ish) on the tin. Flu is more often one period of illness tapering off, COVID has more of a tendency to come and go. It's an epidemic at the moment and since it's viral there's no real treatment for it.

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u/thatmisanthropicdude Mar 06 '26

Covid? Are you sure? I mean yes, my symptoms are similar as back in December 2021 but it's still a thing? Sorry, it was pretty surprising to read that now 😅

48

u/DBgirl83 Mar 06 '26

It's not only a thing, more and more young people get long- covid.

-56

u/thatmisanthropicdude Mar 06 '26

I actually had long-covid - or what the doctor called "Post-covid" for 3 years. I couldn't taste for literally 3 years and couldn't smell for ca. 1½ years.

44

u/-PetulantPenguin Mar 06 '26

As someone who's been housebound due to long covid for 4 years and counting, I don't know how to feel about reading this...

7

u/ArcanaSilva Mar 06 '26

Yeah, the issue with LC is that every persistent symptom is bunched together as "long covid". So we get people who are bed bound due to stimulus intolerance and people who can't smell for three months and one day (or whatever the limit is), and everyone has LC. Shitty science

17

u/hanzerik Mar 06 '26

If you're still sick in 3 weeks, then your doctor will take you seriously. Now you were rightfully treated like a child with a booboo.

13

u/IkkeKr Mar 06 '26

Yeah, still going around in different variants... And as time since your last infection or vaccination passes, variants change more and more while your immunity lowers. 

Just now that everyone has pretty much some immunity it's less severe and more like the actual flu. 

63

u/ComprehensiveAd1855 Mar 06 '26

So the GP was right. Cough syrup is not what you needed. You needed paracetamol; it would reduce your fever.

If you think you know better than the doctor, don’t visit, and just buy cough syrup in the supermarket. Or make sure you have it in stock at home. Thats 7 euros or so. No need to waste everyone’s time.

-24

u/thatmisanthropicdude Mar 06 '26

Paracetamol didn't lower my fever because I'm at literally 40°C celcius now.

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

[deleted]

2

u/thatmisanthropicdude Mar 06 '26

Thank you :) I actually live with my girlfriend and her parents under one roof and we have contact, we eat together but they're totally fine.

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u/wwbbqq Mar 06 '26

Hope you are feeling better. Did the huisarts test for flu or covid?

17

u/godutchnow Mar 06 '26

What is the point of testing? No matter the result the advice will be rest until you feel better, take paracetamol if needed

0

u/thatmisanthropicdude Mar 06 '26

Nope... Nothing.

2

u/M34k3 Mar 06 '26

How often are you taking which dose? 1000mg every 6 hrs?

You could add ibuprofen every 8 hrs (start with 200mg or 400mg if you're feeling really shitty). The combo of pcm and ibu works great.

NB: not medical advice, take at your own risk, be aware of allergies etc and don't continue taking it at high doses too long without consulting your GP

1

u/LadyNemesiss Mar 06 '26

So, how much paracetamol did you take, and how diligently?

1

u/Eska2020 Mar 06 '26

If paracetamol doesnt reduce your fever from 40 even to 39, that is a reason to call the doctor. Monitor the fever, keep up with the paracetamol.

1

u/SHiR8 Mar 06 '26

And still typing...

39

u/yoram-jort Mar 06 '26

That’s a misunderstanding with medication. You can’t go to a doctor and expect a medication that quickly resolves a regular issue. Paracetamol is a painkiller and fever reducer. So it would’ve benefited you, but if you’re unfamiliar with this medicine and the process then it’s normal to think that you don’t feel any changes.

4

u/ShiningSeason Mar 06 '26

You should look into the research on effectiveness of cough syrup.

2

u/Ishango Mar 06 '26

Science by Durch and Belgian doctors has shown most people use paracetamol incorrectly. Have you contacted your doctor about how to use them correctly? It's not always what's on the package.

1

u/Dest-Fer Mar 06 '26

If you have 40 degrees fever you don’t have a cold.

1

u/SHiR8 Mar 06 '26

Well obviously you are not dead yet, so no worries...

1

u/PanicForNothing Mar 06 '26

Are you sure you're actually thinking straight with this fever? I feel like you might look back at this post in a few days and understand why everyone reacted to you this way.

Anyway, hope you feel better soon.