Without Question

When I was younger and was sick, we'd go to the clinic and the doctor would give us an assortment of medications. One packet of antibiotik, one packet of ubat demam, one packet of ubat selsema and one bottle of ubat batuk.

We took these medications without question. The packet only had the word "Antibiotik" written on it. No generic names.

It was only when I studied medicine and lived in Australia that I realised that there are numerous types of antibiotics. Too many and counting.

So what antibiotics was the doc dishing out?
Did we know the name of these antibiotics?
Did we know why we were taking them?
What if we had developed a rash, wheeze or anaphylactic reaction to the antibiotik (whatever they were?). Since we don't know what the name was, so how would we know if we were allergic to them?
If we had an allergy to penicillin, how would we know if the antibiotic the doctor was giving us had a penicillin content or not?

Here, if you go to the doctors, they'll give you a prescription and you have to go to the chemist/pharmacist to fill it out. On the prescription AND the medication box, the medication name is written out clearly. Some of the common antibiotics used in General Practice:
-Amoxycillin - derivative of penicillin
- Cephalexin
- Roxithromycin

They all have different mechanism of action and are given for different conditions depending on the most likely type of germ that is causing the condition.

If we know the name of the antibiotic, if we develop a reaction to it, we know thereafter that we should not use this antibiotic anymore. It will be written up as a drug allergy on your medical record. Even in this "informed" country, people with penicillin allergy die when mistakenly given an penicillin-containing antibiotic.

The ubat demam is nothing more than paracetamol. More commonly known as Panadol in Malaysia. As with any brand in Malaysia, the brand is more famous than the product ;)

I still  haven't figured out what the ubat selsema is? Is it pseudoephedrine? Antihistamines?

If you don't know what you're taking how do you what its side effects or cautionary advice are? How would you know how it works? And if it doesn't work? If the ubat selsema is an antihistamine that can make you drowsy, shouldn't you know that before you will be driving or operating heavy machinery?

Argh and don't let me start nagging discussing about the proper reasons to prescribe antibiotics! Frequently docs give out antibiotics (which only work for BACTERIA) for conditions that are caused by a VIRUS. Namely, the common cold and the flu. Just because the flu is severe doesn't mean an antibiotic will cure it. It won't. 

We must be informed, people! Find out a bit more about the drugs you put in your gullet.