About those fish antibiotics...

I had some scratches get infected with staph about 2 months ago, and having had it about 2 years ago I knew I needed Keflex to knock it out. Keflex is Cephallexin, so I grabbed the bottle of Fish Flex 500 mg that I had bought in August. I took one pill (500 mg) 3 times a day for 10 days. No result. By this time I had some bad looking places on my arms and a few on my face, so off to the Doc I go. She explained that it was staph again (duh) and prescribed Keflex. I asked for Cleocin since I knew I had just stopped Cephallexin two weeks ago but she wanted to hold that in reserve in case the Keflex didn't do the job. She prescribed one 500 mg pill 3 times a day (just like I did) but for 7 days and by day two I was seeing improvement. It is now day 6 and the sores are almost totally healed.
I just threw out the second bottle of Fish Flex and now I'm wondering what was in those capsules. It damn sure wasn't Cephallexin 500 mg. This was my one and only experience taking fish antibiotics and is my last. I'm just glad that I didn't suffer ill effects (that I know of) or depend on them working in a survival situation. I'm pretty sure I can get her to give me a script that I can keep on hand rather than trust the fish stuff, and just toss it every year and get another.
YMMV

 

Whoa... what was your source?

 

Cal-Vet

 

Two good posts in a row. How do you know for sure that the fish-vet antibiotics are real, the right dosage, not out dated, don't contain contaminants? How do you know for sure that even the junk coin silver or rounds are real and that goes double for a coin worth over $1,000 in value like many gold coins? Even if you are sure, will you be able to convince any one else. I have a coupe of CSA bonds passed down thru the family, but no USA bonds from the Union side, they were all redeemed after the war. Dollar will only be good as long as people accept it and inflation, as happened in Germany, Zimbabwe, and many other places would seem to indicate that beans, bullets and band aids are superior to cash in the intermediate run, cash may be ok in short run, and that a safe self sufficient place is best for the long run. That said it would seem that if I lived in Puerto Rico, a few days after the hurricane it would be nice to have a good water filter, a few solar cells, some lights and a battery, a couple weeks food and a tent etc all put away somewhere high, dry, and capable of surviving the wind.

 

@Tempstar You didn't say what the expiration date was on the Cephallexin bottle from Cal-Vet. I would guess that if the bottle was still within it's expiration then you stumbled upon some knock off antibiotics probably from China. The FDA probably doesn't monitor fish antibiotics as well as they do the stuff for human consumption. The other thought is was it sealed well?

I don't store a lot of antibiotics but the ones I do I have the wife bring them back from Central Asia with her where you can purchase them legally over-the-counter, legally one can bring back a 90 day supply into the states. Dammit! I just checked my cache and my Augmentin (Amoxicillin/Clavulanic) expired 4/2017.

 

05/18 was the expiration date. The FDA does not monitor pet meds, only ones for human consumption. And yeah, it had a seal under the cap that had to be pulled off.
I've heard a lot of folks talk about stocking these, but can't recall anyone saying they have used them.

 

Well, that is a good point... but it should have worked so one has to assume it was a knock-off. There is so much counterfeiting of everything that this does not surprise me especially since it would pay really well and chance to get caught would be pretty slim since most folks don't speak fish.

 

We have used them when needed and haven't had any problem with potency yet. We do watch the expiration dates and look for the ones made by Thomas labs. That may change as Thomas labs may or already has dropped some formulas. Also we don't take antibiotics unless they are really needed whether internal or topical.

 

I would not risk my health taking fish Meds when I could get people Meds. I do stock a lot of fish antibiotics but they are for when I can no longer get scripts. I also don't worry about throwing out expired Meds. If they are not liquid and stored properly, they should last well past the expiration date and would be better than nothing. I am not an expert. This is just my opinion from what I have read, mostly from Dr. Joe Altman.

 

Yes, that is a good point.The potency would go down certainly but they still would be better than nothing.

 

There is one monkey that I know has used fish antibiotics and had success. You had a staph infection and staph is a vicious thing. It takes a lot to get rid of one. I had one but did not know what it was until the Doctor diagnosed it. I tried all sorts of herbal remedies when it first started but no success. it took antibiotics and cream to kill my infection.

 

I too have had success using mine!
No complaints here!

 

All, look, this is really important information - the fact that you all have actually used fish antibiotics to cure an infection is really precious information. What I am trying to say is experience weighs much heavier than theory. For me, I always give experience the nod...

 

I agree that people sharing experience with fish antibiotics and their experience is very important. I have not put any away because I haven't heard of that many people actually using them.

 

Totally Agree but if the whole US has been Nuked and there are no more ways to get prescription medicine, taking (if necessary) fish amoxicillin is better than taking nothing

 

Not discounting or disapproving of preppers learning anything & everything medical knowledge/skill wise >>> just the opposite ...

But there's going to be empty handed medical pros of all degrees roaming the SHTF wastelands - don't deprive your med stockpile of any legally obtainable supplies for the lack of current professional skills in your group >>>> better to have the supplies than not ...

 

I think the entire family might be coming down with strep after a visit to the in-laws this past weekend in Indianapolis. I have several different types from Thomas Labs and I will test them on myself while the rest of the family takes the prescription version.

 

Assuming it was even cephalexin if it was formulated for fish it may not be absorbable for people. The so-called inert ingredients make a difference with different bioavailabilities for things like pH, liver metabolism etc. You might have gotten by if it had been formulated for pigs or dogs, but fish, birds, reptiles are all very different