Acquiring Antibiotics

Bring Your Own Bandages:  Medicines and Supplies to Have on Hand Before Disaster Strikes is now available on Amazon.  Read the reviews and see for yourself.  Available in digital and hard copy.

 

Disclaimer:  The following is for educational and informational purposes only.  No medication, prescription or over-the-counter, should be taken without consulting a licensed physician.

Sooner or later, those who choose to prepare for interesting times ahead wish to acquire some antibiotics.  We've all taken them at some point in our lives, and we know what a difference they make.  These wonder-drugs, some of the greatest medical advances ever, are often taken for granted and may someday become ineffective due to overuse and misuse.

But still, we want to have them on hand, so that a physician can treat us or our loved ones when the time comes.  The problem is, most people don't know what they want, or where to get it.

Dr Cynthia Koelker, author of Armageddon Medicine, recommends storing the following quantities of these antibiotics for a family for a year.1

Amoxicillin, 500 mg, 100
Amoxicillin-clavulanate (Augmentin), 500 mg, 100
Cephalexin, 500 mg, 100
Ciprofloxacin, 500 mg, 100
Doxycycline, 100 mg, 100
Erythromycin, 400-500 mg, 100
Metronidazole, 500 mg, 100
Penicillin, 500 mg, 100
Tetracycline, 500 mg, 100
Trimethoprim-Sulfa (Septra), 100

No, we should not need all these within a year, especially if we have stored good quality food and have good sanitation and hygiene practices in place.  But when you need a specific antibiotic, you might need a few courses of it for a few family members.  Also, while some antibiotics can be substituted for another, many cannot.  Don't just get one and plan on using it for everything. It won't work.  You are getting these antibiotics to have on hand for a licensed physician to administer appropriately.

So now, how do you go about acquiring antibiotics?

Ideally, you have a family physician with whom you have a good relationship and who understands the need to prepare.  These are getting harder and harder to find.  If you're looking for a new physician who will share your ideas about preparing and be willing to help you (after you have established a good relationship with him/her), you are going to have your best chances with an older physician who maintains paper, not electronic, records.  Good luck.

Sometimes you can get your physician to prescribe an antibiotic for just in case.  Like you take your child in to see him with what is probably only a bad sore throat, but it could be strep.  If the child is not feeling better in a day or two, he gives you a prescription to fill.  (Make sure you get pills instead of syrups--pills have a much longer shelf life.)  Or you are planning to travel and ask for a prescription or two to deal with diseases you might encounter and wish to avoid ruining your trip with a case of traveler's diarrhea.

Do not try to build your antibiotic supply by not taking the full course of antibiotic therapy when it is prescribed.  One reason for the rise in antibiotic resistance is that people do not finish the course of treatment, the bad bacteria making you sick are not wiped out, and superbugs develop resistance and emerge.

Most readers have heard of fish antibiotics.  These are not made out of fish and they are not fed to fish, especially in the same dosages that are used for people.  They are designed to be added to aquariums to treat specific bacterial infections in fish.  Although you cannot purchase antibiotics for people or non-aquarian pets in the US without a prescription, for some reason we still have a loophole in this country that allows these very same antibiotics to be sold over-the-counter for aquarium use.  Most of these fish antibiotics are of the same quality and dosage as antibiotics for people.  It is illegal to sell these medications to treat infections in people or pets.  The FDA has been cracking down on retailers, especially those marketing these products to people who clearly are not obtaining them to keep their pet fish healthy.

There are still a few aquarium and survival supply stores that sell these fish antibiotics online.  Amazon did until a few years ago, but certainly not now.  Walmartpetrx.com carries fish antibiotics at competitive prices.  Another place to obtain fish antibiotics is at your local ranch and feed store.  They cost a bit more at the feed store, but you can pay with cash, so there's no paper trail for anyone to follow.  (Update:  The US government closed the fish antibiotic loophole in 2023.)

If you're uncomfortable with the idea of using fish antibiotics, you can make a trip across the border, north or south.  I've never done this, so I have no experience and can't comment on the process.  Your other option, and, unless you live right near the border, a lot easier, is to order from an overseas pharmacy.  I've used All Day Chemist (alldaychemist.com) several times.  Their medications are all for use in people.  And their prices are extremely reasonable, unlike many other overseas pharmacies.  While the website indicates that you need a prescription, the people there tend to be flexible, especially if you use an e-check as opposed to a credit card.  

 

Regardless of what method you choose to obtain your antibiotics, you probably want to do it soon.  Our government has shown a certain propensity for making responsible self-reliance difficult for people.  You never know what they'll do next.

1.  Dr. Cynthia Koelker, Armageddon Medicine, 549-550.

For more information:
https://survivalblog.com/seven-antibiotics-to-stockpile/

29 march 2021

Book Review: Alton's Antibiotics and Infectious Disease: The Layman's Guide to Available Antibacterials in Austere Settings

Dr. Joseph Alton and Nurse Amy Alton continue their stated mission "to put a medically prepared person in every family" with their latest book, Alton's Antibiotics and Infectious Disease:  The Layman's Guide to Available Antibacterials in Austere Settings.  It is clearly not directed to medical professionals or microbiologists, but is written for the average layman with no medical training whatsoever.  In fact, it's written at a level that a competent high school student could understand and utilize.  It's a "primer on the infectious diseases most likely to rear their ugly heads" when our advanced medical care is no longer an option.  Some information is hypothetical, as the Altons extrapolate lessons from history and draw on the experiences of disasters in underdeveloped areas.  They also devote significant attention to diseases that have been mostly eradicated in the US due to improved sanitation and hygiene, clean water, and antibiotics--all advances that will quickly disappear when our society collapses.
You can check out the table of contents and the first 60+ pages on Amazon to get a brief overview of the topics they address.  What I like in here that I haven't seen covered elsewhere, or covered as well, are the following topics:

• distinguishing between viral and bacterial infections--without the benefit of laboratory tests for diagnosis--so that you don't waste antibiotics on viral infections
• how to treat childhood diseases that we currently vaccinate for
• determining whether a person has a true allergy to a medication, or just an adverse side effect--this may be critical if you've got only one or two options to save a life
• exact adult dosages of various antibiotics for specific diseases
• how to make liquid suspensions of antibiotics for young children
• the use of "expired" antibiotics

The Altons do not teach you how to make intravenous antibiotics.  The potential is too great for introducing a worse infection than what you are trying to treat, right into the bloodstream.

What may escape the reader the first time looking at the title and reviews, is the word available.  Lots of times we read about what we should have in a medical kit, supplies we want to have on hand, but because we are not licensed physicians, we can't get these critical items.  What the Altons have done in this book, and really, what they have been doing for years, is determining whether fish and bird antibiotics can be safely used with people.  Of course, the ideal is to use antibiotics that are manufactured for people and that have been prescribed by your personal physician to treat a specific condition.  This book, as stated at the beginning, end, and entirely throughout, is for a time when there is no higher help available now or in the foreseeable future.  They have compared antibiotics that are for people with antibiotics that are sold, without prescription and without restriction, for use with birds and fish.  And they have found that they look the same, have the same batch numbers, and the same dosages as pharmaceuticals for people.  And they use them themselves.

So in their book, the Altons only focus on antibiotics that are manufactured for fish and birds but that are sold in the same dosages as what are prescribed for people.  And yes, physicians may in some cases have other drugs they would prefer to use, but in an austere situation, we may not have what we would like to have and have to make do with something less.  You're not learning everything smarter people in medical school take years to master.  The Altons are just hoping to help us understand the basics of treating some of the more common conditions we'll encounter when advanced medical care is unavailable.  Dr Joe and Nurse Amy cover each available antibiotic, the exact dosages for adults, and the exact conditions each is used for, and duration of treatment, as well as contraindications.

This book is definitely a must have in the medical library.

Links to related posts:
Herbal Antibiotics (book review)   
Herbal Antivirals  (book review)  


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