Replies

Your link is most informative. Allow me to add one scenario the retired doctor missed, teeth.

I had a crowned lower molar tooth go bad the Day before Christmas. It was sore and the jaw was aching. I used Oragel for toothache for a few days, but then the glands below my jaw began to be sore, indicating an infection dumping into the lymph system.

An abscessed tooth can kill you, because of the circulatory system proximaty to the brain and heart. I happened to be storing Keflex (generic form) so I went on four per day (QID) until I could get to my dentist more than a week later. By the time he examined, the abscess was under control and he will be doing a root canal tomorrow, right through the gold crown.

Without the antibiotic and a PDR for referencing. I was at the mercy of doc in the box during the holidays. And if we get to the STHF period, any abscessed tooth can kill if not treated properly ... and I doubt that dental offices will be up and running then.

Moral of the story, store antibiotics. Below is the pertinent excerpt from the doctor's essay:

The drugs are listed below and the bottles list the antibiotic as the sole ingredient. They are:
•FISH-MOX (amoxicillin 250mg)
•FISH_MOX FORTE (amoxicillin 500mg)
•FISH-CILLIN (ampicillin 250mg)
•FISH-FLEX Keflex 250mg)
•FISH-FLEX FORTE (Keflex 500mg)
•FISH-ZOLE (metronidazole 250mg)
•FISH-PEN (penicillin 250mg)
•FISH-PEN FORTE (penicillin 500mg)
•FISH-CYCLINE (tetracycline 250mg)
These medications are available usually in plastic bottles of 100 tablets for much less than the same prescription medication at the pharmacy (some come in bottles of 30 tablets). The dosages are similar to that used in humans, and are taken two to four times a day, depending on the drug. The 500mg dosage is probably more effective in larger individuals. Of course, anyone could be allergic to one or another of these antibiotics, but not all of them. (Note that there is a 10% cross-reactivity between "-cillin" drugs and Keflex, meaning that, if you are allergic to Penicillin, you could also be allergic to Keflex). FISH-ZOLE is an antibiotic that also kills some protozoa that cause dysentery.

One more addition to the stockpiling routine should be a Merck Manual and a fairly recent Physician's Desk Reference (PDR of drugs and their prescribing data). As a self-trained gunsmith for weapons maintenance in the SHTF period, I am also going to double as a 'field medic' when called for.