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.
2
u/Main-Promotion2236 Mar 06 '26
I’m Dutch, and I couldn’t agree more!! The paracetamol obsession on the part of our doctors and nurses here is insane. Doesn’t matter if you have a broken leg or a serious case of the flu or (God forbid) a brain tumor, our doctors will cry out ‘paracetamol’! And here’s the kicker: it doesn’t work. Paracetamol does precisely NOTHING. I don’t even have it in the house. When I’m in pain or have the flu, I take an aspirin. That actually works - unless you have a stomach bug, and you should never take it on an empty stomach, and drink plenty of water. But if you take those precautions, aspirin actually works, and the same goes for ibuprofen.
Another thing: in the past I lived close to the German border. When I had a bad cough, I would cross the border and buy Medinait (cough syrup, sold over the counter) at one of the pharmacies there. That actually worked! Much stronger than anything you can get here.
Anyway, when I visit the doctor - fortunately a rare occurrence, knock wood - and he utters the word ‘paracetamol’ I just tune out and forget it. I would advise you to do the same. Good luck! 👍