Antibiotics

[xrMike]

Dont you need to know what kind of bacteria you are infected with, in order to use the right antibiotic? Some are gram positive, others gram negative...

[TheChief]

Dont you need to know what kind of bacteria you are infected with, in order to use the right antibiotic? Some are gram positive, others gram negative...

There could be trade value in them, but for me, I keep a supply for common maladies like sinus, ear, skin and other infections that my Doc has prescribed for the family without doing tests. That and some good book resources.

If you choose not to, that's cool too. to each their own.

[twinfin]

Dont you need to know what kind of bacteria you are infected with, in order to use the right antibiotic? Some are gram positive, others gram negative...

Yes, absolutely. One has to be smart about how they proceed. It is not enough to have this or that antibiotic on hand. A person has to also have knowledge or access to knowledge as to which antibiotic to use for which malady along with dosage, timing and duration information.

It would be my hope that those who choose to have these type of medications on hand would also make the effort to develop accurate and reliable information sources to guide the proper use of each specific antibiotics they have.

[FeuerFrei]

The drugs link I posted above has the info needed as long as electricity is flowing and internet is available. Get a PDR for that no power situation. Buy a version that's a couple years out of date to save money.

Physicians' Desk Reference 2013 (Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR)) 2013th Edition

https://www.amazon.com/Physicians-Desk-Reference-2013-PDR/dp/1563638134

There are many good general purpose ABX to use. Knowing what you're allergic to is key.
If you are not sure then stock doxycycline, metronidazole for instance. Course details in the PDR.

Do your own homework people.

[Twins_Dad]

FYI. The Physician's Desk Reference can be found for much cheaper on FleaBay. I have had great luck with book sellers there.

[TheChief]

Yes, absolutely. One has to be smart about how they proceed. It is not enough to have this or that antibiotic on hand. A person has to also have knowledge or access to knowledge as to which antibiotic to use for which malady along with dosage, timing and duration information.

It would be my hope that those who choose to have these type of medications on hand would also make the effort to develop accurate and reliable information sources to guide the proper use of each specific antibiotics they have.

This is great info! Get informed, do research, read, and then make the decisions.

[71MUSTY]

Meh, If one doesn't seem to be working switch to the other. This approach seems to have worked for my doctors for 60+ years

[xrMike]

There could be trade value in them, but for me, I keep a supply for common maladies like sinus, ear, skin and other infections that my Doc has prescribed for the family without doing tests. That and some good book resources.

If you choose not to, that's cool too. to each their own.

Yes, absolutely. One has to be smart about how they proceed. It is not enough to have this or that antibiotic on hand. A person has to also have knowledge or access to knowledge as to which antibiotic to use for which malady along with dosage, timing and duration information.

It would be my hope that those who choose to have these type of medications on hand would also make the effort to develop accurate and reliable information sources to guide the proper use of each specific antibiotics they have.

Agree with both of you, and I'm going to do some digging on the links here and some additional research to see which ones have the widest utility. My wife is an ER/Surgical nurse, so she can probably serve as my PDR, to some extent.

[Librarian]

This has come up several times.

Look at https://www.amazon.com/Altons-Antibi...dp/057841452X/

Alton’s Antibiotics and Infectious Disease is a unique simplified guide to using antibacterial and antifungal veterinary medications. It is meant to help the non-medical professional in disaster, survival, and other austere settings where modern medicine is non-existent.

See also the doom and bloom website, https://www.doomandbloom.net/?trigge...&s=antibiotics

ETA I bought it, of course, a couple years ago.

He also has a new - 2021 - 4th Edition of the Survival Medicine Handbook

Seeing that so many already realize the need for medical preparedness, the Fourth Edition of the Survival Medicine Handbook spends less time trying to make the case for it than previous versions. Instead, the book covers more issues than ever before and covers almost every subject in more detail. Every topic is meant to help the family medic identify, treat, and/or prevent sickness and injury in austere settings. This may sometimes veerfrom a purely medical aspect, but also include common-sense advice.

The sheer amount of information made the Fourth Edition too cumbersome, so you might notice this book is physically larger. This was necessary, as every section has been updated or amended in some way. We hope that this book will serve as a useful reference guide for your family.

Be sure to get the 2021 edition - older editions are still available, and while I started with 2nd and then bought 3rd, 4th is a good update - my copy arrives next week.

[FeuerFrei]

This has come up several times.

Look at https://www.amazon.com/Altons-Antibi...dp/057841452X/

See also the doom and bloom website, https://www.doomandbloom.net/?trigge...&s=antibiotics

doom & bloom deliver great info covering medical nitty gritty. bookmark worthy for sure.

[ginman]

Yes, absolutely. One has to be smart about how they proceed. It is not enough to have this or that antibiotic on hand. A person has to also have knowledge or access to knowledge as to which antibiotic to use for which malady along with dosage, timing and duration information.

It would be my hope that those who choose to have these type of medications on hand would also make the effort to develop accurate and reliable information sources to guide the proper use of each specific antibiotics they have.

I was an EMT for a few years, just being in the medical field for that time I was able to soak in plenty of info on antibiotics.

[Librarian]

Yes, absolutely. One has to be smart about how they proceed. It is not enough to have this or that antibiotic on hand. A person has to also have knowledge or access to knowledge as to which antibiotic to use for which malady along with dosage, timing and duration information.

It would be my hope that those who choose to have these type of medications on hand would also make the effort to develop accurate and reliable information sources to guide the proper use of each specific antibiotics they have.

I have long been curious on how doctors pick the antibiotics.

Here's a nice web site for that process: https://idmp.ucsf.edu/guidelines-for...therapy-adults

This is interesting, but perhaps a bit advanced for non-medical folks, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3031442/
but even hospitals have to deal with unknown pathogens for the first little while

Because microbiological results do not become available for 24 to 72 hours, initial therapy for infection is often empiric and guided by the clinical presentation. It has been shown that inadequate therapy for infections in critically ill, hospitalized patients is associated with poor outcomes, including greater morbidity and mortality as well as increased length of stay.3,4 Therefore, a common approach is to use broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents as initial empiric therapy (sometimes with a combination of antimicrobial agents; for further information on these combination regimens, see “Use of Antimicrobial Combinations”) with the intent to cover multiple possible pathogens commonly associated with the specific clinical syndrome. This is true for both community- and hospital-acquired infections.

For example, in an otherwise healthy young adult with suspected bacterial meningitis who is seen in the emergency department, the most likely pathogens would be Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitidis, and thus a combination of a third-generation cephalosporin (ceftriaxone) plus vancomycin would be recommended as empiric therapy.

Hospitals do keep track of infections they treat (a lot because they worry about hospital-acquired infections). I suspect county public health data has that, but I don't know how to dig that out. But I would expect a difference in frequency of specific kinds of pathogen based on location; Oregon should be a little different from Arizona and both from Florida. Knowing what is common and probable could guide what ABX one stocks and uses as front-line treatment.

[Librarian]

Merged 4 threads and made a sticky.

[junlin]

One thing you need to understand, you can become allergic to meds over time, my wife was given a sulfa antibiotic it wasn't working so the doc gave her another kind that worked. He told her to hold on to the sulfa, a few months latter she got sick again and he told her to use the sulfa.