So what happens when a doctor is not available? When there is no drugstore around the corner,
no pharmacy, and you have an infection, or some other ailment, and are in need
of some help? My recent surgery and
rocky recovery has given me plenty of time to think. What would have happened to me had a
hospital, a doctor, and most specifically some form of antibiotics not been
readily available? Where would you go? What would you do? Where would you get the needed medication?
In this blog I deal mainly with bushcrafting, wilderness
living, self reliance issues and related gear. Sometimes however, I find myself in
possession of information that would be valuable to just about anyone. Survivalists, preppers, those who practice
total off-grid living, end of the worlders, you name it. Sometimes all of these hobbies, mindsets, or
ways of living share similarities.
Sometimes they intertwine. One of
the things we all share is a love of information. We love to be prepared. We love to have the necessary gear to make it
through the day.
I started to imagine a scenario where access to antibiotics
was not immediate. How does one prepare
for that? Since antibiotics require a
prescription, and most doctors will not write you a prescription for a year or
five of the more necessary antibiotics, what options would we have? If one wanted to legally prepare for such an
event, what would one do?
(see what happens when
they give a guy who has been through surgery, severe sickness, and has had a
lot of time to think; while being on some highly effective painkillers, access
to a keyboard during his convalescence?)
In a world where you have a societal collapse, or some such
incident, certain items become more important, and more valuable than
gold. Items like tobacco, alcohol, and
coffee, top every list for the most valuable barter items I could find. I began to think that antibiotics (and
possible other medications) would be in very short supply, and very high
demand. If you have an infection and
there is no doctor, antibiotics become more important than any other item I can
think of. How could one prepare, in a
legal way, to have a store of something so valuable on hand? Well, I have some information that may prove
very valuable to some of you, and since I am unable to get back to my gear
reviewing at the moment, I want to share it with you. I suspect a majority of your hard core
preppers are aware of this information, but I need to write, and it may indeed
help someone, so here it goes.
Before I proceed, here comes the obligatory disclaimer:
*NOTICE: The information contained in this blog
post is for strictly educational purposes only. I do not advise or advocate breaking the
law in any way. If any of the
information here happens to violate laws in your area, do not use it. I am not a doctor or medical
professional. This is not
advice. This is simply information gained
by my own personal research. It
could be wrong. I do not advocate
or advise taking any medication, natural or otherwise, that is not
directly prescribed to you by a licensed healthcare provider, and that you
are not absolutely certain of.
Again, never take any medication not provided to you by a licensed
and properly trained medical professional.
Taking improper medication of any kind can kill you. The medication listed below is legal to
buy without a prescription in my state.
It is not medically endorsed or approved. It is, in fact, not for human
consumption at all. (some of the
listed animal medication may in fact required a veterinary
prescription) For discussion and
educational purposes only.
In my research I have found that there are a variety of
antibiotics, as well as other medication, that are for animal use, that appear
to be the same medication as commonly available to humans. A majority of these are available at your
local pet store, or online at extremely reasonable prices, without the need for
a prescription. In my research I have
found that if one were to take a commonly available guide to prescription
medication (with pictures and descriptions of each item) and look up the pills
bought for animal use, you would find that they have the exact same markings
and labels as occur on the same medication as it is prescribed to humans. In short, in many cases they appear to be the
exact same medication, minus fda approval. (see disclaimer above)
Further research one could do on their own, would lead to
the conclusion that these medications are in fact identical to their human
counterparts, even at times being made by the same manufacturer, in the same
facility. I found this interesting. (sometimes dosage information is different,
sometimes not)
One could conclude that you could simply enter your local
pet store, (or order online) and purchase whatever quantity of these possible
life saving antibiotics you would desire, at lower prices than most people pay
to get a prescription filled. Now as it
is perfectly legal to do so for your dog, horse, fish, whatever, one would be
breaking no law. (as far
as I know, again see above disclaimer)
However, the law might frown on taking medication “not for human
consumption”, or giving it to others.
However again, if the situation were bad enough, perhaps there would be
no law, or maybe it simply would not matter.
The one problem I found is that the medications you buy for
your animal friend are not called the same thing as for humans on the package,
so unless you knew what to look for, you would have no idea what you were
getting, and it would be a gamble. If
you knew what to look for, an enterprising person could, with the proper cool
dark place, store away enough antibiotics for several years (or as much as they
wanted to buy) without much hassle or money.
That said, I have compiled a list of several highly
desirable antibiotics, their pet store name, their human equivalent, and what
they are commonly used for in humans. I
will not list anything other than antibiotics.
My information could be wrong, so I would advise doing your own educational
research. (again, see above
disclaimer) This information listed is
for animal use.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Veterinarian Equivalent: 100mg Bird Biotic
Pet Store Brand Names
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fish Cillin, 250 mg Ampicillin x 100 Capsules,
Non-prescription
Fish Cycline Forte, 500 mg Tetracycline x 100 Capsules,
Non-prescription
Fish Cycline, 250 mg Tetracycline x 100 Capsules,
Non-prescription
Fish Flex Forte, 500 mg Cephalexin x 100 Capsules,
Non-prescription
Fish Flex, 250 mg Cephalexin x 100 Capsules,
Non-prescription
Fish Fungus, 200 mg Ketoconazole x 100 tablets,
Non-prescription
Fish Fungus, 200 mg Ketoconazole x 30 tablets,
Non-prescription
Fish Mox Forte, 500 mg Amoxicillin x 100 Capsules,
Non-prescription
Fish Mox, 250 mg Amoxicillin, 100 Capsules, Non-prescription
Fish Mycin, 250 mg Erythromycin x 60 Capsules,
Non-prescription
Fish Pen Forte, 500 mg Penicillin x 100 Caps,
Non-prescription
Fish Zole Forte, 500 mg Metronidazole x 100 Tablets,
Non-prescription
Fish Zole, 250 mg Metronidazole, 100 Tablets,
Non-prescription
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I hope that the above information will inspire further
research. If anyone has any corrections,
or additions to the list, please leave them in the comments section and I will
update the post. Please leave the human
medication name, the correct dosage, and the correct animal brand name. Please list only non prescription medication.
* A special thanks to those of you who helped to provide this educational information.
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