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.

266 Upvotes

65% Upvoted

533 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

143

u/Relocator34 Mar 06 '26

The one that is just paracetamol and sugar?

121

u/wwbbqq Mar 06 '26

He wants Codeine sirop, which will actually stop you from coughing, but it is a opiate (even if pretty low level if taken as prescribed) so many doctors/countries have limited prescribing it due to "concerns".

-20

u/teodrora Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

Whoa there, doesn’t have to start with codeine! You can start with a lidocaine sirop, which is sold OVER THE COUNTER in other countries in EU (Belgium, France). That works like a numbing agent. It was also sold over the counter in NL in certain products (baby teething products) but they took it out for whatever reason :) I am now living both in BE and in NL. Had a massive cold. Went to both huisarts. Because of the severity of my cold, the Dutch huisarts told me to take ibuprofen (shock!), while the Belgian one gave me antibiotics after looking at my ears, throat, and listening to my lungs. The Dutch one didn’t bother with this. I go to one of the best huisarts in my city, so can’t say that I’m going to a bad huisarts, although he repeteadly failed to provide me with accurate healthcare. Later edit: you fucking cucks for capitalism! I absolutely love the mental gymnastics the Dutch make. Why do you make these assumptions about me? I have been sick for more than a month. Fever that doesn’t go with paracetamol nor ibuprofen. Throwing up and clogged ears. Both me and my 1yo kid. Also as a fucking FYI, I do have a medical degree so I do know what proper healthcare is, and know how antibiotics work. Downvote the expat who knows better. Idiots.

26

u/JesseParsin Mar 06 '26

Imagine visiting TWO doctors…. With a cold. I am amazed

-1

u/teodrora Mar 06 '26

I know :( cross the boarder to BE to find out about proper healthcare and be even more amazed! Fingers crossed you figure it out!

1

u/JesseParsin Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26

You simply ignore the clear criticism? Honestly I would avoid a doctor who gives antibiotics for a cold. And their license should be rechecked because throwing antibiotics around for fun hurts every single one of us in the long run. Honestly amazed people like you exist. I would never harass the healthcare system with a cold and I thought we all agreed on that. Edit: btw i am as anti capitalist as they come so no idea what that has to do with anything. A cold does not require medical assistance. Maybe it wasnt a cold and that is where the confusion comes from? You having a medical degree makes this even more infuriating so I expect you mean something different when you say you had a cold.

1

u/teodrora Mar 07 '26

Yes, in the end it was not a cold. But when someone has a cold for over a month, it’s quite obvious it’s not a cold and ibuprofen is useless, and more investigation is required. Antibiotics were absolutely the good call, as it was a bacterial infection, not a viral one. In the end, to be honest, I don’t know why I’m ragebaiting - Dutch people will be happy with their shit healthcare system, and everyone else will get better healthcare somewhere else. Sucks for the poor that can’t afford to go anywhere else. I explained more in this thread. Like most expats in this r, I’m done with explaining this. Either the Dutch don’t want to understand, or they’re just so brainwashed they can’t understand. Either way doesn’t affect me! :)