Worldly Chatter

You don’t realize you can’t have something until someone tells you oh no, not here, you can’t have that! Well, my head cold that I have had since Thursday is reminding me of the medicine I used to take in the United States and how I can’t have them anymore. With my first landing I brought with me Benadryl, I took it for my allergies and thought; it will be helpful there too so in it went. No, it didn’t help. The air and pollen is different, more potent and the Benadryl failed to ease my suffering like it did in the states. Yet on an entirely different note I learned that not only does it not work, it isn’t allowed. Sedatives are added to the mix, albeit small, they are still in there and a big no, no in the Netherlands.
You see, the drugs that you buy over the counter in Holland are weaker than what you buy in America. For one thing, anything with sedatives in it of any kind is prescription only so that means stuff like Vicks NyQuill or Tylenol PM are out of the question! Some of the extra strength drugs that you can buy in any drug store in American may not necessarily be found here over our counters. Extra strength isn’t something you see a whole lot of and if you feel you need to get something stronger than what is available then you need to see a doctor, which brings me to my next point on having a cold here in the Netherlands.
In living with another expat for a time while here I watched her interacting with doctors and pharmacists and how her Dutchman interacted with those very same people. The difference was astonishing to me. If you can recall, my fellow American readers, a typical pharmacy and what you can get there. Stuff for your head, stomach, back, allergies and just about anything you can think of. You can get it in mild doses to extra strength doses; you don’t need to pour your agony out to a doctor to get something to ease your suffering. The range of antidotes is large and the FDA has approved all of it for our consumption. We have doctors to get the stronger stuff or tend to the issues we have that a CVS can’t cure. They write out little prescriptions like giving candy to a five year old and off we go. I remember how easy it was to get pain killers after my surgery. I wasn’t in agony, two Tylenol and I was dealing fine but my doctor gave me a prescription, just in case. It expired before I used the pills but they were there, just in case.
Now let us get back to my expat friend and her Dutchman. Dutchman had an issue with his neck, a bad case of whiplash from a car accident. There were days when he wasn’t getting up it hurt that bad. He was informed that he could try working out the surrounding muscles so that his neck can get stronger, acupuncture and physical therapy. When it first happened they gave him something for his pain but when I was there I never saw him actually take anything. Not one pill. Alright I thought. The expat was a different matter. She had some aches and pains in her back and knees. Nothing life threatening, just her body telling her she was a tad overweight and needed to stop putting all this pressure on her knees. She went to the Dutch doctors here and asked for something stringer to help. The over the counter stuff was not helping her knees and her back wasn’t getting any better. She fought with them, tried bringing up every point under the sun to express her need. The Dutch doctors wanted her to walk more, her joints were stiff. Lose some weight and the problem should fix itself. The Dutch are direct, remember this. A dear friend she was but I personally didn’t see the need to get drugs when all she had to do was heed the advice of the doctors. No, she ranted on until she pushed hard enough they gave up and gave them to her. It isn’t as easy to get medication here in Holland as it is in America.
Mind you, if you have something serious, they will take care of you. Take for example the Dutchman. He had a serious case and they tried to tend to him as best they could; advice and pills for the pain, anti-inflammatory pills and other such treatments. Yet they are not big on just tossing prescriptions around, after all, it isn’t candy. Remembering how things worked in America and learning how they work here I can see a distinct difference. The difference between being dependent on quick fixes, over the counter stuff and doctors verses taking only when it is necessary.
Now I admit it, I miss my Vicks Dayquil and NyQuil. It kicked butt when it came to cold and flues. Going to the drug store for tissues, Vicks and a bag of cough drops was rather handy. Now I have stuff to help me sweat it out, make me cough to get the gunk out, sprays for my nose and the endless supplies of tissues. Let us not forget the cough drops to sooth the throat! Actually finding something to suppress the cold is a rather challenging feat. The medicine you find here forces your body to get it out. It helps your body fight it rather than make you feel better and have the cold fester and slowly die.
I am finishing my hot liquids to make me sweat and going to read a book. This cold has had me since Thursday but it is actually getting better. My body is fighting it now, not just suppressing it.

American expats, Netherlands, FDA, over the counter meds in Holland