Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Several broad-spectrum ABTs are available without Rx in other countries. So if you're willing to risk the authorities to save your fishies, that is an option.
And before anyone gets on the "other countries are substandard" schtick... these are the exact same meds, produced by the exact same companies or their contract facilities, they just have different packaging.
Wilson, no reason to get your panties in such a bunch. I was just making a comment on the part of your post.
BY the way, I had no idea I was allergic until the Dr. gave me an injection in his office and I had a reaction.
Go ahead and self diagnose and self medicate all you want, more power to you.
Maybe you can buy chill pills too.
BY the way, I had no idea I was allergic until the Dr. gave me an injection in his office and I had a reaction.
You were very lucky that you were given an injection at the doctor's office rather than written an Rx that you filled and took at home! If you'd popped a pill at home and had an allergic reaction, you might not have had enough time to get help.
I was also lucky to have been given injected morphine in the hospital, so I could at least keep an eye out when I was later written an Rx for codiene to take at home. I knew that a reaction could be possible, so I was prepared and called the ambulance at the first signs.
Many people are allergic to commonly prescribed medications and don't know it. Some reactions are mild and some are extreme. In extreme cases, taking those meds outside a control hospital environment (as many are)can have deadly consequences.
Wilson, no reason to get your panties in such a bunch. I was just making a comment on the part of your post.
BY the way, I had no idea I was allergic until the Dr. gave me an injection in his office and I had a reaction.
Go ahead and self diagnose and self medicate all you want, more power to you.
Maybe you can buy chill pills too.
Hehehe. I was still smarting from the accusation above that the thread was illegal, dangerous, etc. Sorry. Too bad you are allergic to penicillin. Do you take eyrthromycin, or allergic to that too?
Anti-biotic are all not all the same. Depending on the ilesssness some wil do no good unless. Then of course the most powerful have to be feed thru a IV and are not avilable by mouth dosage. Penacillin is proably the most useful. Like human drug whch often can not be used in animals many vet drugs can have harmful side efeects. You ned to know what you are doing.
Anti-biotic are all not all the same. Depending on the ilesssness some wil do no good unless. Then of course the most powerful have to be feed thru a IV and are not avilable by mouth dosage. Penacillin is proably the most useful. Like human drug whch often can not be used in animals many vet drugs can have harmful side efeects. You ned to know what you are doing.
If a veterinary drug has the same generic or brand name as a human drug it is the same drug these are internationally unique. There is no differentiation at the pharmaceutical plant whether a batch of a drug is going for veterinary supply or to Walgreens.
It would be inefficient for the company to run two lines for the same product with a "higher" quality and a "lower" quality, and with many drugs being produced in Europe (where the regulation of veterinary drugs is as stringent as human drugs) or to European standards for example of the top 7 pharma companies: -
Roche (Tamiflu) and Novartis(Ritalin) are Swiss
GlaxoSmithKline(Wellbutrin/Relenza) and AstraZeneca(Nexium/Symbicort also owns vaccine manufacturer Medimmune) are British
Aventis (Ambien) is French.
Rounding out the top 7 are Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.
Now antibiotic use really needs to examine whether the infection is by aerobic (e.g. Upper Respiratory Tract) or anaerobic (Urinary Tract Iinfections) before deciding on which antibiotic to use. Penicillin and derivatives are very effective against aerobic infections, less so against anaerobic, where metronidazole would be more effective, if the infection is mixed (many oropharyngeal, and GI infections) then treatment with both is effective.
If a general infection is viral not bacterial, then taking an antibiotic as a prophylaxis for secondary opportunistic infections is not really an issue (this is sometimes done by registered physicians too).
Although anti-viral are available they're overall effectiveness is questionable Tamiflu for instance reduces mean flu symptoms by 2 days to 5 days from 7 days. Also note this is mean time, you may take Tamiflu and have symptoms for 10 days.
If the infection is fungal then an antibiotic may still be useful, depending on the infection imidazole/triazole (less toxic than imidazole) can be used for this, however the most common form of fungal infections are candida, which is rarely a primary cause of life threatening illness, the most dangerous is cryptococcal meningitis (which is normally fatal regardless of medical assistance due to rarity anyway). Candida should not be treated using antibiotics anyway, since they eliminate natural symbiotic microbes that help to keep candida in check.
Public health issues when applied to individuals are simply absurd. The "misuse of antibiotics" causing mutation of antibiotic resistant strains of organisms is quite true at the public health level. However, that misuse has absolutely nothing to do with what we are talking about here on this forum.
If Mrs. Smith takes an antibiotic every time she has a sore throat without any confirmation of the bacterial cause (as opposed to a virus for which the antibiotic will be ineffective), she will not develop some monster strain of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Nothing bad will happen. She will not cure the virus, but she will have prophylactic protection against a secondary bacterial infection. Its all good for her.
If 20,000,000 children are given antibiotics every time they have a sore throat with or without confirmation of a bacterial source, then bit by bit, inch by inch, there may be some mutation of the organisms that populate these children. And, antibiotics have evolved to accommodate these changes. In Vietnam, millions of soldiers were administered antibiotics in courses of treatment inadequate to kill the bacteria. (Some one handed out a handful of pills and when it stopped hurting to urinate, they threw the rest of the pills away). So, after tens of millions of doses there were strains that did not yield to the existing antibiotics. The antibiotics were modified and soldiers today get antibiotics for gonorrhea and recover just fine.
And, it is virtually impossible to do any harm to a single person with unnecessary administration of antibiotics other than avoiding correct diagnosis of the illnesses from which they already suffer. Read the adverse effects on the package of amoxicillin. There are worse side effects from drinking homogenized milk.
People who are afraid of doctors and in awe of their prescription pads spread this tripe. Its just fear mongering and doctor worship. 95% of all Rx medications in the US could be safely self prescribed by any intelligent adult, but for two problems: (i) abuse potential, and (ii) failure to properly diagnose the actual illness.
With all due respect, you're way off base here. If any person takes antibiotics just until the symptoms abate (e.g.,four to six days), what they've done is kill off the micro-organisms that are susceptible to the antibiotic. What does that leave? Those that are less susceptible.
A few days later, our subject has another bout of the infection. This time the infection is largely caused by the micro-organisms who survived the first round of antibiotics. He or she again partakes of antibiotics until the symptoms abate, thereby again killing off the weaker micro-organisms.
By the third round, our subject is now infected by antibiotic-resistant micro-organisms.
This is not a hypothetical case. It has happened, my friend, hundreds of times.
I keep meaning to post this because a lot of SHTF preparedness persons do not include antibiotics in their plans. Aquarium antibiotics do not require a prescription and are identical to what the doctor prescribes. Buy a 100 and put them in the frig. They are good for years regardless of what the label says. And, if you get an infection in the meantime, well the trip to the doctor is avoided.
Just an FYI, tetracycline antibiotics of various names are not safe to use after the expiration date as they can become toxic. If you plan to store antibiotics, please research the antibiotics you store. Also, make sure you include a drug reference guide with your preparations.
ETA: I can't remember where I read this but I believe that the government is trying to close this loophole of buying fish meds without a prescription.
With all due respect, you're way off base here. If any person takes antibiotics just until the symptoms abate (e.g.,four to six days), what they've done is kill off the micro-organisms that are susceptible to the antibiotic. What does that leave? Those that are less susceptible.
A few days later, our subject has another bout of the infection. This time the infection is largely caused by the micro-organisms who survived the first round of antibiotics. He or she again partakes of antibiotics until the symptoms abate, thereby again killing off the weaker micro-organisms.
By the third round, our subject is now infected by antibiotic-resistant micro-organisms.
This is not a hypothetical case. It has happened, my friend, hundreds of times.
-- Nighteyes
I never said that, cite some medical research that supports your assertion that a person who takes an unnecessary course of antibiotics (which is what I posed) develops antibiotic resistant strains.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
