Search Results for: Making Penicillin at Home

Editors’ Prepping Progress

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…Be sure to sign up for the email notifications, they send out good growing articles and notifications. PatrickHenry2051 TR, couldn’t agree more. Thanks for your comments. As a believer in the Spirit that was behind the founding of our nation, I often feel very alone. Good to know I’m not alone. Avalanche Lily Diesel Dan, You need to join the Home School Legal Defense Association (www.hslda.org) first, before removing your children from school. This group will defend your home schooling rights if any public school officials challenge your right to home school. They also will give you every help and pieces of information that you will need to home school. It is an AWESOME resource. Call and sign up. 540-338-5600 Then Look up in HSLDA’s website your State’s requirements to home school: their curriculum guidelines. Because your kids have been in the public school system you have to jump through…


Survival, Thirteenth Century Style- Part 2, by Snow Wolf

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…process. The fact that most items are made by machines only makes the situation more difficult. To make the things a diabetic needs, we must first make the machines that make the things. Penicillin There are articles about making your own penicillin at home, but I doubt this is a viable alternative. (Is there a high-powered microscope in your bugout bag? Who can identify the Penicillium notatum mold? Who knows how to isolate it or in what cultures to grow it?) Once found, the mold doesn’t instantly become a medicine; it took years for Oxford scientists to purify and utilize it as a drug. Although the mold was discovered in 1928, it was 1941 before it was first used on a patient. Value of Paper-Stored Knowledge Alas, Babylon depicts an incident that shows the value of paper-stored knowledge. When the settlement runs out of salt, the people have no idea…


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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…Expedient Antibiotic Production: A Final Report. This includes a how-to guide to build/rebuild antibiotic production facilities if they were damaged or destroyed. It has a map of the location of such production facilities in relation to a possible nuclear attack on industrial or military facilities. Today, most of this capacity is gone, as manufacturing has been outsourced to the cheapest supplier. In 2004, the last U.S. penicillin production facility, in Syracuse, N.Y., closed. It was also making the starting material for cephalosporins. Launched in 1943, the facility had made 70% of the world’s penicillin until the mid-2000s In the 1980s, the Chinese government began to invest in the production of penicillin ingredients, and by 2001 had built vast industrial capacity. China had the great advantage of rules that tolerate massive air and water pollution, and antibiotic production is dirty industrial work. From 2004-2006, Chinese companies dumped penicillin ingredients on the…


A Crash Course in Veterinary Medicine, by 3AD Scout

…few books on veterinary care, unfortunately most of the books have a problem. As the books age, many of the veterinary medicines are replaced with newer drugs. Recent FDA guidelines are also making it harder for a farmer/homesteader to gain access to certain drugs for the care of animals. One of my solutions was to look back at publications printed before the advent of penicillin and modern drugs. I found some great publications from the late 1800s and early 1900s on the USDA website. There are also a great selection of veterinary medical books available for free on the Project Gutenberg website. Besides books, there is the Internet that is full of information. Some of it good and some not so good. The source of information we found the most helpful was just asking others who have been raising and caring for livestock for years for their thoughts. You can…


Seven Letters Re: Type 1 Diabetes–There Has to Be a Way to Prepare

…it–long after Cleopatra was drinking iced drinks made by using these overnight in a dry area. How well they function depends on humidity. A warning about these coolers is that they can hit freezing temps which would be bad for insulin. It shouldn’t be a problem in the summertime especially if you use 2 wide mouth planters, but Egyptians and Romans could make small amounts of ice overnight. Duct tape would be effective to use with the holes on the bottom of planter pots: Roman pottery cooler. Making Penicillin at home. Making Insulin. I have a diabetic friend who I printed out instructions for but past the 6 months that insulin can be stored,he would probably have to take the recipe to the nearest teaching hospital, along with a live pig or bull. – Steve M.   Dear Mr. Rawles: In regard to the letter from the father of a diabetic, on needing a…


Medical Action Sheets by K.B., M.D. Part 4

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…and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value). Third Prize: A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value), A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value), Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC, Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances. Round 80 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging. Hope They Help May you never need these medical action sheets and accompanying information. Though, if you do, my hope…


A Doctor’s Thoughts on Antibiotics, Expiration Dates, and TEOTWAWKI, by Dr. Bones

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…essential for when the medic needs a medic! Accumulating medications may be simple when it comes to procuring aspirin and other non-prescription drugs but may be problematic for those who cannot write their own prescriptions or don’t have a relationship with a physician who can. I would like to focus on the issue of procurement of antibiotics for the treatment of infection in this essay, as there are already a number of good essays on this site that discusses various aspects of medical care in the post-SHTF era. I heartily recommend that everyone read these in detail. For all intents and purposes, it is highly unlikely that even basic antibiotics like Penicillin will be actively manufactured in an apocalyptic scenario due to the complexities in said manufacture. Those who say, “it’s just bread mold” are naïve if they think just making prepper bread and letting it sit will produce anything…


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

…area for a more rural and conservative region about four years ago. We didn’t move that far, but we were able to pay off debts, own our property outright, and remain close to family and friends. However, we are seriously considering moving for the following reasons. Anywhere along the Interstate-5 corridor invites trouble. Up and down the west coast, drugs, crime, and homeless drug addicts thrive. And the absolute worst trend for me has been the rise in fires caused by arson. There’s no stopping the fire starts from “ warming fires” for the homeless, busted cars pulling over and burning up, the passed-out drug addicts, the deliberate arsonists, and I haven’t even mentioned the illegal grows. Anyway, I realized that no matter how elections go, or laws change the huge amount of drugs fueling dysfunctional behavior isn’t going to stop for a long time. So I’ve been researching moving…


Three Letters Re: Stocking Up on Prescription Medicines

…in treatment of diverticulitis, some gynecological infections, and would be a welcome addition to cephalexin in the event that a “home appendectomy” is to be tried on the kitchen table (just kidding…sort of). This drug can also treat (or cause…go figure) a severe, and oft-fatal type of diarrhea, called Clostridium difficile colitis (aka, pseudomembranous colitis). Don’t mix alcohol with this one! But then, who will have booze in TEOTWAWKI anyway? (no offense to the home distillers out there!). Sold by prescription only. Amoxicillin (common brand name: Amoxil) – usually dosed 500 mg every eight hours – Good for ear, throat, urinary tract, and some soft tissue infections. If started immediately, may prevent bad infections secondary to animal bites, including humans, but if the infection has already begun, bigger guns are usually needed (different bacteria are problematic with various species, but we’re talking generalities here). Bacterial resistance has cut into the…


Survival Labor and Delivery, by John O. MD

…to be more regular with the average woman dilating about 1 cm. per hour. Woman will usually want to get up out of bed, especially in the late phase. Encourage it, laying in a bed during labor is a bad habit that is really only necessary in hospitals due to the use of epidurals and intravenous (IV) narcotics. I have found that squatting really does help speed the progression as well as minimizing labor pains. You will note in the hospital that a woman’s cervix is checked frequently, I would urge strongly against this practice at home. In the hospital setting, a woman who is not progressing may get a dosage of the labor hormone pitocin [(“pit”)], or may even go for a caesarian sections, neither of which you will be doing at home. In addition, they have a limitless supply of sterile gloves, so the risk of introducing infection…


Herbal Medicine for Preppers, by Chris S.

…you can make yourself works just fine, I’ve saved many of my livestock that managed to eat something poisonous with it. Powdered charcoal has a mechanical action, it’s not some miracle thing, it just has microscopic pores that somehow absorb immense amounts of poisons and hold it fast. I use it internally and externally. Internally for any ingested poison, for instance, when my dog eats the rat poison, or externally for things like snakebite or spider bite. For cases of blood poisoning I clean the wound and keep a charcoal poultice on the area 24 hours a day until the red line is gone. This has worked well for everyone I have used it on. Making charcoal is easy, simply make a nice hot fire with clean hardwood, willow is very good but most any other non resinous hardwood will work fine. Don’t use old barn boards or treated lumber….


Protecting Your Family From an Influenza Pandemic

…you can’t get to it. Live there, and become accustomed to getting by self-sufficiently. Plant a big vegetable garden, using non-hybrid seeds. Raise small livestock that can forage on your own pasture. Get your digestive system accustomed to consumption of your bulk storage foods. Home school your kids. Develop a “hunker down” lifestyle with minimal trips to town. Each trip to town will constitute another opportunity for infection. To make self-quarantine effective, it is essential that you are prepared to live in isolation for many months, and possibly years, to avoid contact and subsequent risk of infection. This can be practical for anyone that is retired or self-employed in an occupation that does not require regular face to face contact with clients or customers. (For example home-based mail order, self-publishing, recruiting, medical/legal transcription, or telecommuting.) But for anyone else it may mean having to quit your job and live off…


Protecting Your Family From an Influenza Pandemic

…to enforce draconian quarantines of cities, counties, or perhaps entire states or regions. Having a well-stocked retreat is useless if you can’t get to it. Live there, and become accustomed to getting by self-sufficiently. Plant a big vegetable garden, using non-hybrid seeds. Raise small livestock that can forage on your own pasture. Get your digestive system accustomed to consumption of your bulk storage foods. Home school your kids. Develop a “hunker down” lifestyle with minimal trips to town. Each trip to town will constitute another opportunity for infection. To make self-quarantine effective, it is essential that you are prepared to live in isolation for many months, and possibly years, to avoid contact and subsequent risk of infection. This can be practical for anyone that is retired or self-employed in an occupation that does not require regular face to face contact with clients or customers. (For example home-based mail order, self-publishing,…


A Call to Arms Toward Thriving – Part 2, by PrepperDoc

…enough of that to go around. Find every laptop that was sitting in corners and you may have plenty of computers–even if there are repeat attacks! Medical Survival Against the Onslaught There is a reason that modern medicine developed, and it wasn’t because homeopathy produced such great survival. The development of penicillin from mold saved countless lives, and was re-purified from the patients’ urine since it is largely renally excreted, unchanged. That can be done again. Without modern antibiotics, the more primitive and more susceptible bacteria (that don’t waste energy on exotic defenses only necessary against 3rd or 4th generation antibiotics) will re-emerge on top again, and simple penicillin and other very simple-to-make antibiotics will be life-saving. Here’s one example: It isn’t the greatest antibiotic, and it has very significant toxicities of which practitioners must be aware (particularly “gray baby” syndrome and aplastic anemia), but old-line chloramphenicol can be found…


The Top Five Lethal Infections — How to Prevent and How to Treat

…patient begins to improve.  You probably won’t have this luxury.  The strongest antibiotics (which you should probably reserve for the sickest patients) are Avelox, Levaquin, Biaxin, and Augmentin.  Appropriate first-line choices to treat pneumonia include erythromycin, clarithromycin, azithromycin, doxycycline, amoxicillin, and cephalexin.  Other possibilities include penicillin, ciprofloxacin, any cephalosporin, possibly trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole or tetracycline.  The length of treatment is another concern.  Five days may be sufficient in a patient making a rapid recovery, but 7-10 days is more typical, and a very sick patient, or one with underlying asthma or COPD may require two weeks of continuous, full-dose therapy.  With a limited supply of antibiotics, rationing will likely be a necessity, and you’ll have to decide early on what criteria you plan to use. Kidney infection.  Kidney infection (pyelonephritis) is primarily a disease of women and the elderly, and occasionally children.  Usually, but not always, kidney infection starts with a bladder…