The most important thing you should know about antibiotics!
Never expect a doctor to phone-in an antibiotic prescription without first seeing you. Why? In reality, guaranteeing the disease is a bacterial infection, as viruses don’t react to antibiotics.
Influenza, for example, is a virus infection-that ‘s why your doctor will never prescribe antibiotics for this.
Knowing the difference between a bacterial and a viral disease can save both time and money. Here are four guidelines for helping you decide whether a disease may be bacterial or viral. Just take this advice when you are unable to see a doctor (when SHTF does):
- Location:A viral disease typically causes symptoms which are widespread. A bacteria usually cause symptoms that are specific to the site, such as those involving the sinuses, throat, or chest.
- Phlegm color: A virus can produce mucous, clear or cloudy, if any. Typically, a bacterial disease causes colored phlegm (green, yellow, bloody, or brown-tinged).
- Duration of illness: Most viral diseases last from 2-10 days. Commonly, a bacterial disease will last longer than 10 days.
- Fever: A viral infection may cause fever or not. A bacterial illness causes a fever notoriously (normal body temperature is 98.6, fever is considered to exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit).
If a bacterial illness is diagnosed, typical antibiotic treatment is 10 to 14 days.
Once on an antibiotic, a person is no longer considered contagious for 24 hours and any fever has been resolved. (Source-Dr Petter Linda)
If your symptoms don’t resolve, or if you develop severe headache or neck pain at any time, persistent nausea/vomiting or fever, see a doctor promptly.
What Antibiotics to Stockpile
No antibiotics are effective against all kinds of microbes. Some will kill aerobic bacteria, others will be used for anaerobic bacteria, others will be effective against resistant strains, and some people will be allergic to different antibiotics or intolerant.
Instead of buying 10 types of antibiotics (many having similar substances) you should consider 4-5 with completely different actions, so if one of them is resistant to the bacteria, you have 4 completely different “solutions” to try.
This, of course, only if you have no access to a clinic where they can first test the resistance of the bacteria to these antibiotics.
For example, if you have taken Amoxicillin without effect, there is no need to try other antibiotics based on penicillin (Carbenicillin, Cloxacillin, Flucloxacillin, Oxacillin, Methicillin etc.) so you can exclude a wide range of antibiotics.
But the antibiotics mentioned below will work for most bacterial diseases, including Most Common Biological Weapons (like Anthrax – 90% mortality without treatment in the first 3-6 days).
The 4 Antibiotics You’ll Need:
1. Amoxicillin
Amoxicillin is a penicillin antibiotic used to treat several forms of bacterial infections, such as tonsillitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, gonorrhea, and ear infections, nose or throat infections.
Amoxicillin is also sometimes used to treat stomach ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori infection along with another antibiotic called clarithromycin-the second.
Related: How to Make the Most Powerful Natural Antibiotic
2. Clarithromycin
Clarithromycin is used to treat the skin and respiratory system for several forms of bacterial infections. Unless the bacteria tend to be immune to Amoxicillin, so this is the next best thing to do while SHTF is on.
Contains and can be substituted with erythromycin. Don’t take any of these antibiotics at once.
3. Ciprofloxacin
Ciprofloxacin is an antibiotic in a group of drugs called fluoroquinolones.
Ciprofloxacin is beneficial for anthrax, urinary tract, and prostate infections, diverticulitis, and certain types of bronchitis, and pneumonia.
Related: Making Raw Apple Cider Vinegar at Home
4. Metronidazole
Metronidazole belongs to a class of antibiotics known as nitroimidazoles.
Metronidazole is used to treat infections of parasites and bacteria, including Giardia infections of the small intestines, colon infections, liver abscess, vaginal infections (not yeast), fungal wounds, intra-abdominal infections, lung abscess, and gingivitis.
How to store antibiotics?
Each antibiotic has its own particular rate of decay, as proteins (oligopeptides) are subject to hydrolysis, the principal form of attack (the enemy is heat and moisture).
So, if you plan on long-term storage, the best choice is to choose the individual foil packs. Then load them with desiccants in sealed containers, to be sure.
For how long is it still safe to take antibiotics after the expiration date?
The American Medical Association (AMA) performed a survey and found that certain items’ real shelf-life is longer than the advertised expiry date.
“Manufacturers put expiry dates for marketing, not scientific reasons,” Mr. Flaherty said, a trained pharmacist at the FDA. “It’s not profitable for them to have products on a shelf for 10 years. They want turnover.”
With time, the majority of antibiotics only get less successful.
So perhaps the question should be “how long are these antibiotics still expected to have effects?
Amoxicillin (tablets) – 5 years after the expiration date.
Clarithromycin and Doxycycline (tablets) – 5 years after the expiration date.
Ciprofloxacin (tablets) – 10 years after the expiration date.
Metronidazole (tablets) – 3 years after expiration date.
I hope you found this information useful.
