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| Fish antibiotics I ordered online |
I've read over and over that this is common knowledge. People take antibiotics intended for use in aquariums. Someone forgot to send me the memo. I just found out.
I thought,
No, F'n way! It can't be safe, can it? Does it work? You be the judge. It is, after all, your life.
Before we go any further, I want to make sure everyone understands that the manufacturer/distributor of this product has done nothing illegal or ethically questionable. The product shown in the images is clearly marked "Not For Human Use." I have no specific knowledge that it has been used in any capacity other than specified by the directions. The manufacturers have not, to my knowledge, encouraged anyone to misuse their products.
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| Showing second half of pill imprint |
Are fish antibiotics the same type of amoxicillin the doctor prescribes?
I found that, for example, the amoxicillin in the images (according to the pill imprint - not product literature) is the exact same capsule produced by human pharmaceutical companies and prescribed by doctors. Don't believe me? Good. You should always fact check everything. Enter the imprint number A 45 from the pictures into any online medical pill identifier. Here are the links for
WebMD and
Drugs.com. I'll wait...
See? There you go. It's the same stuff. Or is it? It looks the same but you have no idea. Not really. For the sake of argument, let's say it
is the exact same pill made by the pharmaceutical company.
Okay, great! I can take it, no problem. Right? Maybe. You don't know. Even if it is the same medicine made at the pharmaceutical company, once they sell it to a company that repackages it to sell for fish, there is no FDA oversight. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the FDA is all that, but they do have their uses. One of them is that they enforce the regulations concerning medications intended for human consumption. For instance, they would enforce the regulations relating to the transportation, storage and expiration of this medicine. Antibiotics don't like heat or moisture. Heat can render them ineffective. Moisture could cause yeast to grow. Combining the two might end up making you sicker than you were to start with. Not good.
Is it illegal to take these pills?
Obviously, it's legal to sell them. I tried to find a definitive answer on whether it is illegal to
take fish antibiotics and failed. There were tons of sites talking about buying, selling, possessing and taking controlled substances like meth, cocaine and oxycodone. You would think there was a war on drugs or something. But I couldn't find a single page that addressed non-controlled drugs like antibiotics. (I'm sure there is something out there, but I couldn't find anything.) Before you start in on me... Antibiotics are classified as non-controlled because they are not listed in the Controlled Substances Act passed in 1970. Most people confuse needing a prescription with 'controlled substances'. Personally, I don't get it either. I understand why the FDA and doctors want you to have a prescription to get antibiotics. I don't understand why they are not classified as controlled substances and you still need a prescription. But, hey, it's the government, it's not supposed to make sense. In any event, I would assume that taking fish antibiotics is illegal, just to be safe.
Antibiotics are cheap and it's easy to get prescriptions for them. Why would anyone take the risk?
Lots of reasons.
Doctors are not all equal. Some are good, some are bad, some don't have the time and some just don't give a damn. I have been to the doctor's office many times (different doctors) for the same infection and was blown off every time. I had this infection for 3 years. The only reason it finally got taken care of was that I had to have my gall bladder removed. Even though this was an emergency situation, the surgeon took one look at me and refused to operate until the infection was gone. He sent me to a dermatologist who had a fit about the way I had been treated. She wanted names. A week on antibiotics and the infection disappeared.
A week. Anyway, I went through 3 years of agony because these doctors either couldn't tell their butt from a hole in the ground or they really liked insulting me. And there are a lot of people with similar stories or much worse.
What if you are going hunting for a couple of weeks. You are going to be out in the middle of nowhere, days from civilization. Do you think your doctor would give you a prescription for antibiotics, just in case? Probably not. This is not a slam. Laws and penalties being what they are, a doctor would have to be crazy to openly hand out prescriptions,
just in case. The same applies to preppers. They stockpile everything needed in the event a crisis does happen, including meds. Doctors are not going to write a scrip for a stockpile.
Some people simply can't afford to go to the doctor. You might think,
That's what Obamacare is for. Sure. Obamacare still costs money, though. Ask anyone that was forced to take it. And, do you know how many hoops you have to jump through to get government assistance? It takes 5 months to qualify for disability, for Pete's sake. What do you do in the meantime?
These are just a few of the reasons some people might feel compelled to risk using these pills. If you know someone that has used these type of antibiotics and they worked with no adverse effects, that's fantastic! I'm glad it worked out for them. I am not here to condemn anyone. As I said, it's your life and your choice. But know the facts and risks BEFORE you order them.
Regardless of your opinion on the subject, during the next zombie apocalypse, everyone should remember to hit the pet stores too while you're out raiding for supplies. ;0)