The first thing to say is that self-medicating with antibiotics is dangerous. We emphasize the word dangerous ; not only inconvenient and contrary to common sense, but highly risky to health for various reasons.
By self-medicating with antibiotics you are not only putting your health at risk due to the side effects that may arise, but with this behavior you promote the appearance of resistance. In other words, if you do need that antibiotic later, it may no longer have any effect on you.
The issue is not limited only to the effects it can have on your health and your life, but eventually this has a collective, and even planetary scope. According to the World Health Organization, resistance to antibiotics is:
Self-medicate with antibiotics?
We speak of self-medication when a person decides to use a drug without having the diagnosis, prescription or follow-up of a doctor. This is a common practice in many places, where the regulation of medicines is not very strict.
There are over-the-counter medications , which means you can take them without a prescription. They are drugs to treat minor symptoms such as headache, cough, heartburn. However, all these drugs carry warnings about their use that you should not ignore.
Antibiotics, in particular, should never be taken without a prescription. However, some pharmacies issue them without that requirement. There are also people who use the ones left over from a previous prescription when they had symptoms of infection. This is totally inadvisable and we will see why in a moment.
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