but how do you know what you need? does your doctor just tell you what you need/
if my symptoms had been microbial in origin just getting an inhaler wouldn't have helped.... and i had a temperature so they did suspect covid and did a blood culture to see if there was anything bacterial up.... can you just buy a pathology lab and do your own chest x-rays?
i think there's a middle ground- i should have just been able to buy an inhaler and if that didn't work then get it investigated. overall think if i had the option to bypass doctors i'd probably avoid getting things checked and self diagnose all the time and inevitably at some point get it badly wrong. i guess that's on me not the system ha.
It's unusual for me to see a doctor unless I need a sick note or am convinced I have some nasty illness, which is not often at all
So I just buy whatever I feel I need for any ailment that pops up
Usually it's anti histamines, antibiotics of various types, nasal sprays etc as I don't use benzo's or any SSRI's as a matter of rule since a year and half back
Every six months a parasite dose, or if I injure myself physically I will get pain meds or anti inflammatory agents
Also, most cunts here in a white coat calling themselves doctors have no qualifications, knowledge or even basic training, so self care is the way
The only time it sort of backfired was maybe six years back and I was sick for two weeks, losing weight, no strength and I was convinced I had Dengue fever, so I was in bed with painkillers, hash oil and weed for over two weeks before I made myself drive 300km to see a reputable doc - turned out I had a bout of Malaria that took three days of presenting to the clinic when the fever and tremors were up before a formal diagnosis, lost 20kg and my kidney's hurt for 6 months afterward
But in your case; there's no valid reason that you shouldn't have been able to visit a pharmacy and grab an inhaler and some blister packs of certizine as a seasonal hayfever victim - think of all the man hours spent triaging and assessing you unnecessarily over the past 48 hours