The first time I encountered it I had *no* form of medical insurance whatsoever and couldn't afford to pay out of pocket. I ended up going to a community clinic and making arrangements to pay off the bill in small chunks, and they gave me 10 days of antibiotics and no pain meds. I needed a second round of antibiotics to finish clearing it up, and the leg still hurt (though not as bad) probably a full month afterwards, slowly easing up on the throbbing and the ow.

The second time around one batch of 10-day antibiotics (same ones you mention) cleared it up. I have insurance now, so they discussed pain meds, but my doc preferred I stay off them and use OTC ones if I absolutely could not stand the pain because (his words) I needed to know if it flared up, and the only way to tell is if it starts hurting more or in new areas.

I don't know that the demographic argument is a valid one, but I had to admit mine had a point with his :)

--sofaspud
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