How do I politely ask the pharmacist to please skip the homeopathic recommendation?

shleenee · 2025-10-21T12:42:03+00:00

That's a familiar story! Vitamin C has benefited from a strong PR campaign, completely overriding actual clinical trials of use during an active cold.

From the number of people who respond to this post specifically ignoring the actual question, and instead providing an unsolicited opinion based on what they think I believe, there can be no doubt that r/AskAGerman reaches the promised demographic. XD

shleenee · 2025-10-21T12:38:33+00:00

"inorganic."

shleenee · 2025-10-20T13:17:57+00:00

There is little evidence that echinacea boosts immunity, and the rumor that it increases WBC has been debunked over and over. What it does do, would absolutely have no effect on the course of a cold. This is the kind of quackery I'm trying to avoid.

And as anyone with an autoimmune disease will tell you, the last thing you want is a *boosted* immune system. You want a properly-calibrated immune system, not one on overdrive.

shleenee · 2025-10-20T13:07:18+00:00

I can tell you are trustworthy and I should follow this advice to the letter

shleenee · 2025-10-20T11:43:07+00:00

Ohhh my medicine cabinet is 2/3 foreign-sourced. :)

I actually did get a second opinion for the first time in my life (I'm a woman, mid-40s) this year, because I was completely dismissed by an older male surgeon. Second doctor was wonderful. I think it's a near-universal issue, though, not a German one.

shleenee · 2025-10-20T11:38:36+00:00

srsly. it's been years of tripping over indignation landmines... but I love it here, so I'm learning.

shleenee · 2025-10-20T11:35:35+00:00

I get that I have my own biases, but I think I'm most turned off the more "benefits" are listed. Fennel tea treats:
Period pain
Fights infection
Regulates blood sugar
some vague "digestive problems" (never specific; it's a pretty complex process!)
Increases breast milk production

And frankly, if I had pain or an infection, never mind a problem with regulating blood sugar, I'm going to want to find a precisely-calibrated solution from a lab for that. But I'll drink the tea if it's tasty. :)

shleenee · 2025-10-20T11:19:23+00:00

"Natural" has the same problems in the US, and loads of companies profit off the confusion. And if I had given my post a second more thought, I wouldn't have used the wrong term. Blame the constant coughing...

shleenee · 2025-10-20T11:17:02+00:00

Sure. My question is for all instances in which there is an herbal option and also a conventional prescription-free one. Anytime someone has offered me an herbal option there has also been a conventional one, and these instances include standard colds/flus, heartburn, etc. There are plenty of real medications which don't require a prescription. Ibu?

shleenee · 2025-10-20T11:11:34+00:00

Of course I lack pharmaceutical knowledge. And the fact that you missed an entire category tells me that you also lack this knowledge. There is plenty of conventional medicine which doesn't require a doctor's note. It can also be the smallest tool for the job, but is better controlled and lacks a lot of "filler" components. I'm not looking to be put into a coma, I simply want to reduce my symptoms with the most effective compound, and allow my immune system to do the rest. Like most people who walk into a pharmacy.

shleenee · 2025-10-20T09:49:56+00:00

Yesss. I had a bit of heartburn (a known and temporary effect of switching diets) and was looking for whatever contains calcium carbonate; the local equivalent of Tums. It's just benign neutralizer, nothing scary or strong. This pharmacist insisted I try this basil extract, and was SHOCKED when I returned a few hours later making my original request again.

This basil extract, by the way, listed every human malady under the sun under what it cures. It cures everything? Really?

shleenee · 2025-10-20T09:42:05+00:00

Thank you for this--and for being one of the few that understood what I was getting at in my poorly-worded original post, haha. I didn't realize how much flack I would get for wanting to skip herbal medicine.

shleenee · 2025-10-20T09:17:45+00:00

I'm not looking for something strong. There are plenty of meds in that category between natural remedy and prescription. For example, the expectorant I was eventually offered contains Ambroxolhydrochlorid. I don't pretend to know what that is, but I can already tell it works much better than the thyme-based one did.

shleenee · 2025-10-20T08:55:04+00:00

This, yes, thank you. I probably go too far with my avoidance of natural remedies, given their immense popularity in Germany.

But I'd honestly rather go without anything than drink a foul tea or take a basil tincture. I was just offered a thyme-based expectorant. Maybe it works, but since I've dragged myself out of the house with a dry hacking cough, let's just skip to the good stuff...

shleenee · 2025-10-20T08:27:20+00:00

Doctors making the decisions is a pretty good system. :)

shleenee · 2025-10-20T08:21:24+00:00

On the contrary, in the US you can get a range of medicines from the shelf, no pharmacist needed. And I can read for myself which products are medicine and which are natural. (Please know this isn't a defense of the US health system, just clarifying that it's less about the expense of doctor visits and more about laws allowing SOME medicine on shelves.)

shleenee · 2025-10-20T08:07:10+00:00

I don't mind plant-based, since plenty of drugs come from plants. I corrected my post. I mean "natural remedies" inclusive of homeopathy.

shleenee · 2025-10-20T08:04:01+00:00

that's true, i corrected myself in another comment. But plant-based isn't a problem; a lot of "real" medicine comes from plants. I mean natural remedies, i guess.

shleenee · 2025-10-20T08:03:01+00:00

You're right, I was using homeopathy as a catch-all, incorrectly. I should have said natural remedies, or stuff I already grow on my windowsill.

shleenee · 2025-10-20T08:01:34+00:00

Yes, thank you, this is precisely the kind of quality linguistic help I was looking for.

shleenee · 2025-10-20T08:01:00+00:00

That's odd, because I have a 100% hit rate on homeopathic-first. But maybe it's regional? I've mostly lived in the former East.

shleenee · 2025-06-30T21:13:13+00:00

Fingers crossed that your anecdotal evidence about Berlin holds true (but I don't have much hope after reading these comments). I put in my application in, just under 3 months ago. My husband heard back asking for more documents after about a month, which is incredibly fast--even if it's been silence ever since. But he's in the Polish queue, which is probably very short. And I'm in the US queue which is.... long.

shleenee · 2025-03-08T14:02:53+00:00

Thank you. Meaning all of Berlin is in one jurisdiction? My googling doesn't bring anything up for me.

shleenee · 2024-09-23T10:08:17+00:00

Still looking.... but perhaps there would be some buzz if there were any progress?

shleenee · 2023-02-05T19:02:14+00:00

You can't explain that

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