This will help your doctor avoid prescribing drugs that are not right for you. Don't forget to list vitamins, herbals, over the counter medications or alternative medications such as Ginko Biloba or St. John's Wort. All of these products can react with prescription drugs. Sometimes patients go to the doctor expecting a prescription but the doctor does not recommend one. A good example of this is the use of antibiotics to treat outpatient infections.
Patients often expect antibiotics to treat problems such as bronchitis and sinusitis.
However, antibiotics often are not appropriate since allergy or viruses usually cause these problems. Neither allergy nor virus infection is cured by antibiotics. But what is worse is that improper use of antibiotics has created a serious public health problem - the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria . You should understand why your doctor might not recommend a prescription. When it comes to antibiotics, sometimes the best treatment is no treatment.