Antibiotics.

[grasshopperglock]

Doing research into storing/making penicillin, I learned of the alternative. Having friends in the veterinarian business, I knew that they used the same drugs prescribed to humans. Like Tramadol. Given to my dog after he was fixed.

Stocking up the first aid inventory. One of the most important things are antibiotics. Wet penicillin has to be refrigerated and all the things it'd take to keep the fridge running in a specifically small range of temps. I need dry antibiotics and I'm sure my doctor won't prescribe 60 tablets of 500mg just so I can store them for the Clinton/Trump apocalypse.

Enter....Veterinarian antibiotics. Readily available and usually made under the same roof as human medications. USDA inspected and regulated ingredients.


Below is a list of 'Fish Antibiotics'. Dry, capsules that don't need to be refrigerated.


Penicillin
Penicillin is an antibiotic in the penicillin group of drugs. It fights bacteria in your body.
Penicillin is used to treat many different types of infections caused by bacteria, such as ear infections, urinary tract infections, septicemia, meningitis, intra-abdominal infection, gonorrhea, syphilis, pneumonia, respiratory infections, ear, nose and throat infections, skin and soft tissue infections.
More information can be found here, including side effects, allergic reactions, etc.
Veterinarian Equivalent: 250mg Fish Pen and 500mg Fish Pen Forte
Amoxicillin
A penicillin antibiotic. It fights bacteria in your body.
Amoxicillin is used to treat many different types of infections caused by bacteria, such as ear infections, bladder infections, pneumonia, gonorrhea, and E. coli or salmonella infection.
More information can be found here, including side effects, allergic reactions, etc.
Veterinarian Equivalent: 250mg Fish Mox (for children) and 500mg Fish Mox Forte (for adults).
Ciprofloxacin, or Cipro
Ciprofloxacin is an antibiotic in a group of drugs called fluoroquinolones. It is used as a potent, broad-spectrum antibiotic to fight bacteria in the body.
It may also be used to prevent or slow anthrax after exposure.
More information can be found here, including side effects, allergic reactions, etc.
Veterinarian Equivalent: 500mg Fish Flox Forte
Cephalexin, or Keflex
Cephalexin is in a group of drugs called cephalosporin antibiotics. Keflex fights bacteria in the body.
Keflex is used to treat infections caused by bacteria, including upper respiratory infections, ear infections, skin infections, urinary tract infections, tooth and mouth infections.
More information can be found here, including side effects, allergic reactions, etc.
Veterinarian Equivalent: 250mg Fish Flex and 500mg Fish Flex Forte
Doxycycline
Doxycycline is a tetracycline antibiotic. It fights bacteria in the body. It may be substituted in place of penicillin to treat common infections in those people who are allergic to that particular drug.
Doxycycline is used to treat many different bacterial infections, such as urinary tract infections, acne, gonorrhea, and chlamydia, Lyme disease or tick bite infections, anthrax infections, cholera, periodontitis (gum disease), and others.
Exercise caution with expired Doxycycline / tetracycline and -cycline medications. There has been some documentation of liver damage and some have even labeled it toxic if used past the expiration date. However, Doxycycline provides a great alternative to penicillin medications for those who are allergic.
More information can be found here, including side effects, allergic reactions, etc.
Veterinarian Equivalent: 100mg Bird Biotic

 

[Texas42]

Look antibiotics aren't benign. Don't take them willie nilly.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Look antibiotics aren't benign. Don't take them willie nilly.

Agreed. I haven't needed antibiotics for about 10 years. The last time being a throat infection. Other then that, I haven't had any ailments that chewed raw garlic didn't knock out in a day.

If I get a infection or I'm injured and there's no available antibiotics. I'm screwed.

I plan to store 60/500mg tablets of Cipro. 60/500mg of Amoxicillin. 60 of penicillin.

 

[Kosh75287]

If you know what you're doing, they can be a blessing. If not, they can be a nightmare. Make SURE of what you're doing. Storing some epi-pens and steroids would also be a wise precaution.

 

[Southpaw]

I have been stocking vet alternatives for years now.
Haven't had a need to use them, of course, and not really the type to need them on any sort of regular basis, but always thought it might be something nice to have when shit goes to hell. They do still have a shelf life, albeit, probably longer then what's printed on the bottle, so it's still good to rotate your stock on a schedule you feel comfortable with.

 

[BRD@66]

Is 50mg Tramadol (for old dogs - like me) worth mentioning?

 

[grasshopperglock]

I'm not a fan of pharmaceutical pain killers.

Tramadol is a synthetic narcotic with mood changing side effects. I'd avoid it. In a scenario where pain killers would be needed... Dried poppy pods.

Shelf life isn't a concern if you can grow your own poppies.


Other then that, anti-inflammatory meds. Naproxen. Ibuprofen has fallen out of favor due to the side effect of it causing stomach bleeding.

 

[Shuutr]

As a pharmacist, this scares the bajeezus out of me.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Of course it's scary. If the times change and things that once were common, become a rare commodity. The alternative of having nothing isn't an option.

 

[Southpaw]

As a pharmacist, this scares the bajeezus out of me.

Can you speak further about your fears?

 

[Southpaw]

Of course it's scary. If the times change and things that once were common, become a rare commodity. The alternative of having nothing isn't an option.

I guess that some will just decide to die from what we take care of with a simple doctors visit when SHTF.

 

[Texas42]

Antibiotics are not the treatment of a tooth abscess.
:P

 

[Southpaw]

Antibiotics are not the treatment of a tooth abscess.
:P

Well, whatever I had, my dentist prescribed them and it cleared it up. Whatever the medical term for it is, then so be it. Sure was glad to have them then. The pain pretty much knocked me off my ass until I relented and visited him.

 

[rushthezeppelin]

Look antibiotics aren't benign. Don't take them willie nilly.

At least you can make fermented foods easily in a SHTF situation so that you can rebuild your gut biome when you absolutely have to take them.

 

[Southpaw]

Look antibiotics aren't benign. Don't take them willie nilly.

And no one here is talking about taking these things "willie nilly". These are there as a last ditch effort in a catastrophic event that may or may not occur. Hence it's in the Prep section.

 

[Kosh75287]

Far better to have them and opt NOT to use them, than to need them and opt NOT to have them. You just have to be careful about matching the antibiotic to the infection, for not all of them are interchangeable. For whomever asked, keeping a small supply of tramadol around is also probably not a bad thing, and the same goes for the OTC anti-inflammatory drugs.

Tramadol has the in vitro capacity to inhibit the re-uptake of certain neurotransmitters, an effect which is ASSOCIATED with mood alteration. I'm not certain, however, that there are many well-constructed studies which suggest that mood alteration from tramadol is profound enough to amount to clinically meaningful differences, nor widespread enough to be reliably expected. And if you think "poppy juice" has LESS capacity to alter mood than tramadol, I invite you to review some of the better pharmacology texts currently in circulation.

It's all a huge cost/benefit analysis, and it's important to do the assessment correctly. FRANKLY, I'd rather that a prepper with hypertension or early-stage congestive heart failure be turned loose with a 1000 count bottle of Lasix (furosemide) to combat it, than to have to resort to foxglove extract (a source of digitalis) as the only treatment.

Drugs and guns share a great many similarities. When used prudently and with respect for their capabilities and hazards, they can be life-saving. When used haphazardly or without a very good grasp of their capabilities and hazards, they can be more lethal than the problem that they're employed to solve.

 

[Texas42]

Well, whatever I had, my dentist prescribed them and it cleared it up. Whatever the medical term for it is, then so be it. Sure was glad to have them then. The pain pretty much knocked me off my ass until I relented and visited him.

Look, I'm not saying you didn't have an infection. But a true abscess has to be drained. Antibiotics can't get to places that don't have good blood flow. The prevalence of resistant bacteria is common incredibly common.

If things really do get bad, supportive care is usually going to be the most helpful in any event than oral antibiotics. People die all the time from infections, from the flu. People aren't going to live as long if things go to pot. Even if you have some extra pills.

If you want to buy some extra antibiotics pills to keep on hand. . . . Great for you. I think it will just keep people from taking antibiotics for non-indications, increasing resistance in the community, increasing risk of C. Difficile, and having people wait longer to come in.

Maybe I just don't have a prepped mindset, but you'd be better off to have a clean water supply, and plenty of food. Some good antiseptics as well.

 

[grasshopperglock]

I've committed to buying two blue 55gallon barrels. Antiseptic inventory already includes hydrogen peroxide. 8 big bottles. It's alternative, a gallon of regular strength bleach. With bleach in commercial form being the stronger oxidizer of the two. Lots and lots of 50% alcohol.

Not much on hand but that iodine wound wash stuff, but some.

Two bottles of Bactine. I plan on getting more.

 

[Southpaw]

Look, I'm not saying you didn't have an infection. But a true abscess has to be drained. Antibiotics can't get to places that don't have good blood flow. The prevalence of resistant bacteria is common incredibly common.

If things really do get bad, supportive care is usually going to be the most helpful in any event than oral antibiotics. People die all the time from infections, from the flu. People aren't going to live as long if things go to pot. Even if you have some extra pills.

If you want to buy some extra antibiotics pills to keep on hand. . . . Great for you. I think it will just keep people from taking antibiotics for non-indications, increasing resistance in the community, increasing risk of C. Difficile, and having people wait longer to come in.

Maybe I just don't have a prepped mindset, but you'd be better off to have a clean water supply, and plenty of food. Some good antiseptics as well.

I have all all that covered. I didn't wake up one day, buy some antibiotics and assume I had everything covered.

And again, I don't know anyone buying these for use in place of available services. They stock them when or if those services are not available. When perhaps one more day alive might make a difference for them or their family. Might it be a crapshoot? Possibly, but in that situation your next breath might be as well.
I understand your concerns of improper use and resistance, but for the situation these are intended for, those concerns are most likely taking a back seat. Let's pray we never need them.

 

[peeps]

So how do you store the dry antibiotics? Box in the bathroom? Bunker underground? :-D