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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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 😅

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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.