You’re sick. Your doctor is booked, but here’s how to get better

With germs spreading and cold and flu season underway, no one wants to spend days in bed, especially during holiday season. Many of the illnesses spreading can be shortened and symptoms relieved by getting the right medication quickly.

But getting into a doctor’s office can be challenging. A doctor shortage in Florida has led to long wait times for appointments with internal medicine and family practitioners. But there are other options.

Your symptoms and timing should guide your path.

If you have aches, a cough, congestion, or a sore throat and want to feel better, you first will want to determine whether you have COVID, the flu, RSV,  or strep throat.  Getting a rapid test for these illnesses will give you a diagnosis.

A COVID test can be done at home. If the test is positive and you are at risk for severe COVID. If so, you will need to ask your doctor or a pharmacist for a prescription. Paxlovid must be taken within five days after symptoms begin.

If a COVID test is negative, an urgent care or clinic can do a rapid test to provide a diagnosis for the flu, strep and RSV. If you have the flu, a healthcare provider can give you an antiviral like Tamiflu, but it helps only if taken within the first 24 hours. Tamiflu lessens symptoms and shortens recovery to one or two days by stopping the flu virus from growing. If you think you exposed someone in your home or workplace to the flu, they also can take the medication as prevention.

If a rapid test shows you have strep which is a bacterial infection, doctors usually prescribe an antibiotic.

If a test comes back positive for RSV,  there are treatments, but they can be expensive and usually are given to those younger than five or older than 65..

If you are multiple days into the illness and just need medication to manage the symptoms, telehealth can be the answer, especially during the holidays.

Health systems, insurers and private companies operate telehealth companies that you can access through an app on your cellphone. Some of them are included as benefits in employer health plans.

“There are a lot of conditions we can evaluate over virtual care … upper respiratory infections, sore throats, UTIs,” said Prem Lund, a physicians assistant with Baptist Outpatient Services in Miami.

Baptist Health also offers a virtual care to in-person care option. Lund says a physicians assistant, nurse practitioner or doctor will see a patient virtually and if any tests are needed — flu tests, chest X-rays or a throat swab — the patient is referred to Express Care.

“The scheduling is done by a patient coordinator, and the patient just comes in and doesn’t have to wait,” Lund said. “They skip the line and don’t have to be exposed to others in the waiting room with infections. They just get tested and leave. The follow-up is done by the same provider.”

Lund says if someone has symptoms like a lingering cough or vomiting from stomach flu, there are treatments he can give via telehealth — medication to suppress the cough, or help with nausea. The virtual care is done through Baptist Health’s PineApp for a cost of $59 for a visit.

Gina Halley Wright of Miami says she was suffering for more than five days from a severely stuffed nose. “Dayquil wasn’t working,” she said.  A virtual provider called in a prescription for her and within an hour she was taking stronger medication that relieved the stuffiness.

Some illnesses, though, can’t be handled virtually. If you need X-rays, blood work or IV fluids, you will need to go to an urgent care. Almost every hospital system in South Florida including Baptist Health now operates urgent cares and MD Now has been expanding to add more urgent care locations in South Florida.

Lund said telehealth is a way to get your illness triaged quickly, but if you think you have bronchitis, pneumonia or severe dehydration, you are better off going to urgent care.

“There’s a lot we can do virtually,” he said. “It just depends on your symptoms.”

Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.

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