Natural Living Outdoors: 2013

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

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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.

* For those awaiting reviews, I thank you for your patience. The review process will begin again shortly, and no one will be left out. My recovery time has been longer than I expected due to complications. Thanks to all my suppliers, sponsors, vendors, and friends for their support and their prayers. God Bless.

* A special thanks to those of you who helped to provide this educational information.

Natural Living Outdoors

Saturday, May 4, 2013

UPDATE!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

When there is no doctor?