Blammo said:
...NoNONONONO...The best antibiotic for abrasions or minor wounds is Keflex/Cephalexin.. 500 mg...
That is an EXTREMELY broad & dangerous generalization to make! It is a very commonly prescribed antibiotic but definately NOT "the best antibiotic for abrasions or minor wounds". All wounds and often more important...patients are different. You might get away with using it but maybe not. Further,
most "abrasions or minor wounds" should not be treated with antibiotics in the first place unless there is something else more serious going on with the patient.
Longbow50 said:
...Your best bet is to carry a good antiseptic instead of antibiotics. Mainly because if you are going to be taking anti-biotics, you need to take the entire recommended dosage for the recommended number of days. Otherwise you will make the bugs resistent to the antibiotic...
Absolutely. The other issues include adverse drug reactions (i.e. see Alco's response above) and anaphylaxis...allergic reaction. It takes multiple exposures to develop an allergy. What you may not be allergic to one day you suddenly find you are allergic the next day...not good to find out in the woods...with your airway swelling shut!
Rainmaker870 said:
...pharmacist says expiration dates are misleading: they reflect only the length of time a drug was tested for efficacy, not its actual life. Thus, a given drug with a 1 yr expiration date could be just as effective 5 years from now.... or it may not...
Yep,
expiration dates are NOT any kind of guarantee. . Furthermore,
how a drug is originally shipped and stored has a great deal to do with its longevity. I ordered some vaccines for my dog by mail/courier once. I got home to find a cardboard box on my door step in mid summer. The contents were basically cooked for all intensive purposes...more later.
dartanyon said:
...playing with antibiotics without training is not only threatening for the user but also threatening to us.
If you use an antibiotic that is well past its use by date (resulting in a much lower dosage) then the result can be a bug that evolves being resistant to the antibiotic that was used and passed on to someone else who also cannot use the origonal antibiotic ... and the chain rolls on, effectively helping to create another "superbug"...
I greatly agree...as does much of the CDC. There is extensive talk about making antibiotics more controlled then narcotics! Infectious organisms are developing resistance far more rapidly then we can develop drugs to kill them. A large component of this is the proliferation of self treaters and over use/innappropriate use by healthcare providers.
Skammer said:
...Not sure about the UK but in North America the VAST majority of antibiotics for pets role off the same assembly line as human drugs and just gets diverted for that market (info from my VET).
I store my meds unopened in the freezer in zip lock bags and then in hard plastic containers to protect them and I have had no problem using them 4 years past their due date...
I have approached this topic before with some of the same individuals in this thread. I am not going to get into a prolonged pissing match on this one. I am simply going to post this reply in the hopes of preventing individuals from falling into the trap of (as suggested by some in this forum)... the meds for million dollar champion horses are cheaper and of better quality and start buying it for THEIR family.
You are entitled to your OPINION...even if your wrong.
Not all vets are payed by pure bred champion horse breeders. Again,
the quality of shipping, handling, and storage, etc... is not regulated at the same level...deal with it. Human meds have a different level of regulation in packing, distribution, storage, etc... then does vet meds. This of course will also impact on the cost...vets cheaper cause dogs matter less in our society then do people.
While I was at AMEDD training with a large assortment of vets,
the vets (from all over the country) kept spouting how "unethical" it was to mail order meds and vaccines because....quality of shipping, handling, and storage, etc were not well regulated. They stated how important it was to pay them for the service...though they used the same distributors. Basically, they argued my point to benefit their check book. Something to keep in mind is that a vet will often make a good deal of their income selling medications. There is a fundamental conflict of interest in prescribing and/or selling something that you are vested in and depend upon its sale. Physicians are not allowed to own the pharmacy...kind of a seperation of powers. That is also why there are increasing regulations on what pharmaceutical sales people can give a physician...i.e. no more Tahiti trips. Vets do not have these restrictions in the same manner.
They not only prescribe the drug (i.e. tell you it is necessary for "Fido") but they then sell it to you for a profit.
If you are going on a trip, carry the basic first aid stuff. You can check with your primary care provider and they can prescribe you whatever travel meds are recommended by the CDC. I took ciprofloxacin with me to a South American country once as it was recommended by the CDC (for a specific indication and potential treatment course) and prescribed by my physician.
From an ethical and professional standpoint, I find this topic to be dangerous. It continues to trouble me to see it arise time and time again with the "pet meds" promoters in one way or another encouraging people to follow down this path....frightening.
