Being sick

I'm now over my cold and it's B that's sick, and I was once again struck by the differences of being sick in France and in the States.

I keep cold medicine from the pharmacy on hand and when I start having a stuffy nose, a sore throat, and coughing, I take what I have.

The second day of my cold though, B was urging me to see a doctor. What for? I wanted to say. So he can say I have a cold caused by a virus and to take a decongestant for my nose, an ibuprofen for any aches, and cough syrup? I don't need a doctor to tell me I have a cold and need rest and to drink fluids. After a week with bad symptoms I'll go, but not two days.

B was sick this weekend while we were at his parents' place, and his father asked if he'd been to a doctor yet. He also encouraged me to cover up my arms at lunch because even though it was 22° outside and sunny, I shouldn't risk catching cold.
: D

I did make a connection though through all this. I've been using some medicine that was prescribed to me for a cold I had in July. I know I grew up hearing you should never ever re-use medicine from one sickness to another, but since it was an expectorant and a spray for your nose, I figured I wasn't risking much. I've always thought that prescription boxes look exactly like over the counter medications in France, which is different from the commercialized over the counter and official plastic bottles in the States. Some times I find an old prescription, and I have no idea what it was for. As a side note, I find French medications lacking in descriptions of what the medicine is usually used to treat.

In the States, a doctor will tell you to take Advil Cold and Sinus and Robitussen if you have a cold, but they don't prescribe cold medicine. Even when I had bronchitus, the doctor recommended over the counter lozenges (in addition to a medication). While I was using some French medicine the other day, I started thinking "Hey, maybe the whole reason to go to the doctor in France for a minor cold is that the cold medicine that really works is by prescription!"

It's starting to make more sense. In the States, doctor's don't prescribe cold medicine (or there isn't any to prescribe), and since you have to pay to see the doctor, there's little incentive to go. And my doctor was never available the same afternoon or the next day (more like 2 or 3 weeks or a month away).

Here in France, the general idea is that people can't choose medicine for themselves. Hence the Advil and cough drops behind the counter and only available by asking the pharmacist. And hence the encouragement to go see the doctor the day after I get a cold; it's so I can get real cold medicine.