antibiotics and pain meds

[uwe1]

In terms of storing pain meds, a couple of bottles of the NSAID of your choice and acetaminophen is reasonable and legal. Storing a controlled substance that was not prescribed to you is a big no-no.

In terms of antibiotics, a stash over the counter topical antibiotics is also perfectly reasonable. On the other hand, storing systemic antibiotics is dangerous. First, the vast majority of antibiotics that are prescribed (inappropriatly) in America are for respiratory infections and have not activity against skin flora that infect most wounds in a SHTF situation. Second, you run the risk of partial treatment of diseases when you stop medications prematurely. There is also a ton of misinformation about particular antibiotics that is largely due to the internet and overprescribing behavior by physicians as a means of patient satisfaction.

The take home message I'm getting here is that Even Medical Doctors Misuse Antibiotics!

Take azithromycin (Z-pack) as an example of a drug that has been so frequently and inappropriately prescribed for conditions such as "sinusitis" that it is loosing its effectiveness for the conditions for which it was designed. A layperson who self-prescribes is far more likely to suffer a side-effect than effectively treat a condition (i.e. 20% of people taking azithromycin for uncomplicated sinusitis will suffer a GI side-effect vs. 5% who get better only 2 days faster than those not taking an antibiotic).

In the eye related field there has been a huge increase in the use of Azasite and polysporin or erythromycin ung for the treatment of blepharitis and meibomian gland dysfunction when back in the day the patient would have been instructed to clean their eyelids instead.

[WS6]

What do you do to acquire and store some relevant antibiotics and pain medication in the event that a seriously injured person cannot make it to medical care right away and will need to be treated by you?

-I keep 2% CHG on hand, as well as OTC stuff like neosporin, etc. If that won't fix it, you have problems so severe that without medical help it's a lost cause, anyway. You aren't going to start an IV and hang Merrem or Zosyn in your basement. Tygacil is ridiculously expensive, and if it has gotten to that point, chances are without professional care such as the monitoring of renal function, etc. it's not going to work out well. You probably also aren't going to start a levophed drip, either. If it's that bad, try to stop the bleeding, elevate the feet when they start to black out, utter soothing words, and try to get some real help ASAP.
-Pain meds? I don't take them when they are prescribed to me and I don't throw them away, either. I guess I have that, but pills take time to work. Morphine, Hydromorphone, etc....don't keep that on hand, lol.
-Acetaminophen and aspirin can cause so many problems misused.

[QuietShootr]

You can buy fish and bird antibiotics from Lambert vet supply online. It is the same as sold for humans and yes I checked with a vet and a pharmacist. They have tetracycline and doxycycline. But don't just take it because you have a cold or the flue.

Aye, but do you know which version of tetracycline is toxic to humans - and sometimes it's found in aquarium meds?

IANAD. But I can culture, stain, view, and classify bacteria from a swab using equipment I have on hand- if you can't do that, and then know what drug is appropriate to treat what you found, you probably don't have any business screwing around with unconventional drug sources. Having professional knowledge of PK/PD would be good too, and if you don't know what THAT means, you sure don't have any business experimenting with weird antibiotics.

Legality aside, of course.

[WS6]

Aye, but do you know which version of tetracycline is toxic to humans - and sometimes it's found in aquarium meds?

IANAD. But I can culture, stain, view, and classify bacteria from a swab using equipment I have on hand- if you can't do that, and then know what drug is appropriate to treat what you found, you probably don't have any business screwing around with unconventional drug sources. Having professional knowledge of PK/PD would be good too, and if you don't know what THAT means, you sure don't have any business experimenting with weird antibiotics.

Legality aside, of course.

You can ID the bacteria, but can you perform C&S tests on it? That is the most important part of determining what to give.

Further, can you perform a BMP to determine renal function?

There is a lot more than just determining the shape of the bacteria.

[QuietShootr]

You can ID the bacteria, but can you perform C&S tests on it? That is the most important part of determining what to give.

Further, can you perform a BMP to determine renal function?

There is a lot more than just determining the shape of the bacteria.

Yup. I have 6 different antibiotic discs for susceptibility testing here at home, and in a shtf situation, I could draw my blood and do a chem-20 on it with equipment I have access to easily. If I needed to I could even move the equipment to a more secure location.

[WS6]

Yup. I have 6 different antibiotic discs for susceptibility testing here at home, and in a shtf situation, I could draw my blood and do a chem-20 on it with equipment I have access to easily. If I needed to I could even move the equipment to a more secure location.

Well...you're rare.

[QuietShootr]

Well...you're rare.

I know. Which is why I was saying, don't screw around unless you really know what you're doing.

[WS6]

I know. Which is why I was saying, don't screw around unless you really know what you're doing.

Which I agree 100% with.
I would like to further add, don't screw around unless you know what you don't know.

[rickp]

If you have a good relationship with your doctor tell him what you need and for what and he might write a couple of scripts.

pain meds are pain meds, get some good stuff and they work. As far as antibiotic, I had some cypro that I always kept handy overseas. it clears up just about anything if taken for a week.

[WS6]

If you have a good relationship with your doctor tell him what you need and for what and he might write a couple of scripts.

pain meds are pain meds, get some good stuff and they work. As far as antibiotic, I had some cypro that I always kept handy overseas. it clears up just about anything if taken for a week.

I highly doubt your MD is going to write a script for Lortab 10 for your bug-out-bag. Many of them paid nearly 1/2 a mil for that license, and they aren't going to piss it away just so you can have a bottle of pain-killers at home so you don't have to make an office visit.

As to meds being meds, some pain meds work for some types of pain on some people, and some don't. Pain meds are not just pain meds.

Cipro is a great antibiotic, but worthless (even harmful) if given for a bug it isn't going to kill. Without a C&S, or knowledge of the bacterium causing the problem, it's a dangerous crap-shoot.

Self-medication without a working understanding of all of the systems and chemicals involved is almost never good.