ANTHRAX !!!

Who me cowardly ? Maybe. But I personally feel that if anthrax ever went into plague proportions, there might not be enough to go around. I would note that the nominal dosage is 500mg twice a day for 30 days for pulmonary anthrax - that's 60 pills ! I've seen them on the internet for U$ 2.50 to 7.00 per pill. The cheapest I've seen in Tijuana is 154 pesos per 28 pills (500mg)- that's about than 60 cents (US) per pill.

Where ? Drug Depot - 416-20 Revolucion (west side between 5th & 6th). Caution - Make sure you get the right Drug depot !! The one on Revolucion between 2nd & 3rd charges 1/3 more for the same product !

SP, thanks for the info. But Anthrax is not contagious...and it is also a bacteria, not a virus. Other antibiotics can be used to treat it. Your best prevention is just keeping things clean. Thanks for the info, but the great thing about going TJ is NOT hearing the words Taliban, Osama, and Antrax!! Just my MO, don't take it personally.

Does Cipro cure the clap?

Sorry to be a downer, Pollo. I just a little over cautious.

Pollo: Actually, the drug of choice for cutaneous (skin) anthrax is doxycycline, the same stuff the County of San Diego hands out at the STD clinic.

When I had Chylamidia the treatment was a single dose of Cipro.One big pill,maybe 500mgs, or 1 gram.

No, X, you were given Cipro to cover gonorrhea, not chlamydia. Cipro will not cure chlamydia in a single dose, although it may respond to longer duration therapy.

If you were treated for Chlamydia I'll wager you received either doxycycline for 7-10 days or you took a single dose of azithromycin (Zithromax) either four pills at once or perhaps you drank a suspension of the powder form in water. At least, those are the most commonly used Chlamydia treatments recommended by the CDC.

BTW, X, I should have said "you should not have received a single dose of Cipro for Chlamydia", I just jumped to the conclusion that you are in error, but that might not be true.

However, if your physician really only gave you one pill of Cipro as complete treatment for chlamydia, he was not following recommended guidelines, and you may not have been adequately treated. That much I can say for sure.

Yes, Cipro will cure the clap-it will treat both
gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Best
Regards.........

Hey Gooddoc,

Did you ever make that trip to Cuba you gave a prelude on a couple of months back? I am going 2b in CR again next week...thinking about going to Cuba for a few days...Thanx in advance, Let me know if you'd rather e-mail,

Talk to you soon, PL

I personally make a habit of (2) 500mg Cipro and 4 Zithromax on the flight back from Rio just to be on the safe side!

Kingtuttheslut,

Do you take all those pills at once? What are the side effects?

I would not recommend a course of just 2 Cipro, a better dosage is one a day for 5 days.

Personally I take 1 cipro at a time over 12 hour intervals and the rest a one time shot. Personally I have not experienced any side effects as a result. To treat gonorrhea you only need one dose of 500 MG cipro but I like to be on the safe side.

Actually GC responds to a single 250 mg dose of Cipro. I know -- I just looked it up in the PDR for a "dear friend" who just called me from LOS and has suffered a grievous injury.

What are the 4 Zithromax for? Never heard of the stuff.

Zithromax is an erythromycin derivative and can be used to treat either Chlamydia or GC. Dose for Chlamydia is one gram-- 4 tablets as one dose not over 4 days. Dose for GC is 2 grams or 8 tablets -- one dose again. Not the first choice for GC however . Cipro is.
Doxycycline is a cheaper alternative for treatment of Chlamydia and works just as well.

Doxcycline does work just as well except you have to take 2 X 100 mg for 7 days as opposed to the one dose treatment of Zithro

I only said it was cheaper not more convenient.

You guys that take Cipro, Doxy, and other antibiotics to "be on the safe side" are doing nothing but creating antibiotic resistant bugs. You're not taking enough to kill all of any bug you've contracted, but you're killing enough of it so that your body's defenses can generally take care of it. But, and this is a big but, your body won't kill all of it, you'll become a carrier, and what you spread will be resistant to the antibiotics that you took "to be on the safe side". If you feel you have to take the antibiotics, take the full course under the direction of your doctor. If you don't want to wait to see your doc when you get home, at least discuss it with him/her before you leave.

Who says we're not taking enough to kill all of the " bug " we've contracted ? The above mentioned courses ARE full therapeutic doses, not half assed amounts. I am doing this at the direction of my doctor. Where's your degree?

This raises a question I have had for some time. Is the problem with overuse of antibiotics that mere overuse can contribute to the development of resistant strains of bacteria, or does this happen ONLY when not enough of the antibiotic is taken? I used to think the former, but Khun Mor's response (and I know he is informed about these things) suggests it is the latter.

If it is the latter, though, it raises the next question, specifically what constitutes taking enough of an antibiotic to prevent resistant strains of bacteria from developing in one's body? The answer might be simple if there were only one bacteria in the world, and only one prescribed treatment for it. But that is not the case. An extreme example is gonorrhea and anthrax. The former can be treated with cipro in one day, the latter requires 60 or more days of treatment. Does this mean taking cipro for one day might contribute to the development of antibiotic resistant strains of anthrax, assuming you were just exposed to anthrax (but have no symptoms yet), take one day of cipro for prophylactic treatment of gonorrhea, stop, and then have to start up again once the anthrax is diagnosed.

While this possibility would seem extremely remote with anthrax owing to its rarity, I am wondering about more common bacteria and whether such a scenario could play out with them. Although such a risk might apply ANYTIME one takes an antibiotic to cure a specific diagnosed bacteria that requires a lesser dose than some other bacteria, the risk would seem to multiply if antibiotics are used multiple times for prophylactic purposes rather than rarely to cure confirmed bacterial infections.

Because all of us have to balance risks in our lives (both to ourselves and others), the above is motivated by a desire to better understand the respective risks. I would be grateful for anything that could further illuminate these issues concerning antibiotics and bacteria resistance.

Resistant strains can develop even if the apprpriate dose of antibiotic is taken. Both the intended organism and/or any other bacteria sensitive to the antibiotic can become resistant. Obviously when you take it ,it does not act only on the disease you are trying to cure but all other sensitive organisms in your body at that time. If enough bacteria happen to mutate into a form that is resistant to the antibiotic- then a new strain can be started . This is NOT a common event fortunately but does occur.

If I have to choose between getting GC, chlamydia, etc., or risking the miniscule possibility of generating a mutant strain -- I think I know what I'm going to do.
Rickm0755 can take one for humanity if he desires, I choose to protect my family jewels.

To Khun mor: If you're taking it at the direction of your doctor, then the comment was not directed at you. But since, by your own admission, you're not a health care provider, keep your comments to yourself. As it turns out, I am a health care provider, with some experience in this arena. The only reason I made comment at all, was to safeguard your health and safety. I'm not trying to tell you what to do. If you're so smart, why didn't you bring up the fact that you can get AIDS just as easily from a BBBJ as you can from intercourse, if you've got any kind of gum problem, where your gums are bleeding(ie: brushing your teeth with a little too much bravado.) That includes the garota you're getting the service from as well. You also didn't say anything about the fact that Hepatitis B is spread through intimate contact. Hepatitis A is even easier to get(spread through casual contact), and both of them will kill you a whole lot faster than AIDS will. So, if you're so interested in protecting your jewels, you better go back to your doc and get the inoculations if you haven't already done so. Otherwise, you don't need to was your time worrying about the diseases for which you're taking the Cipro.

I do believe I see something coming here!

Mr Rick

You're obviously not a very smart health care provider, whatever the fuck that politically correct piece of crap title means. What ever happened to doctors ? When did we become " Health Care providers. When did I say I was not a doctor ? Most regulars on this board know full well I am a physician. A board certified Internal Medicine specialist, with subspecialty certification as well. What kind of " provider " are you and what is the vast experience you refer to ??

You're misinformed on several of your points.

1. It is definitely NOT as easy to get HIV from oral sex as it is from intercourse. Where is the literature that indicates any risk from oral sex above a trivial incidence ? Never been published.

BTW I don't give BBBJs, I receive them , therefore the state of my gums is irrelevant . If her gums are bleeding that's her problem not mine, as long as she doesn't bite me.

2."Hep A and Hep B will kill you faster than HIV"

Hepatitis B is not going to kill you in 90-95 % of contracted cases. Most cases recover with no liver damage and no persistent Hep B antigen . Hepatitis A will virtually NEVER even cause significant liver damage and people recover fully . 99% of people who contract it are never even hospitalized.

You're telling me you would rather have HIV than hepatitis ?? If so then you're a fool.

3. Most of the hombres on this board are smart enough to have already been vaccinated against Hep A and B anyway.

Initially I was only addresing your initial mis-statement that we were advising doses of antibiotics that were sub-therapeutic when in fact the doses were accurate and adequate for FULL treatment. Where the fuck did the rest of your ignorant tirade come from ? We were not talking about preventing every disease known to man - only GC and Chlamydia , Einstein.

Have a happy New Year.

(Message edited by ModeratorK on December 31, 2004)

You're not worth the time. I never meant my comments to be a personal attack on anyone. If you remember, I said "you guys" not addressing any particular person. I also said that I was just concerned for other guys health, by suggesting that whatever they take, they do so under their doctor's supervision. If you take that to be some sort of personal attack, that's for you to deal with. Your accusation that that I'd rather have AIDS than Hepatitis is ludicrous at best. I just said it would kill you faster. Granted, Hepatitis is curable, but it can also leave you on the list for a liver transplant as well. It's too bad you feel you have to resort to insults and foul language to get your point across. I hope you don't use that type of discourse with your patients...

I'm just against any ill informed person however " well intentioned " spreading pseudo science and mis -information. If you can refute anything I said please do so. It's a common expression ,but a little knowledge is dangerous.

Sorry if my language offended you, but your response to my initial post offended me. I said nothing personal, only pointed out that the doses of antibiotics described were therapeutic. From that came a vitriolic attack on me and my ability to say anything on the subject because I did not identify myself as a doctor. Go back and re-read the thread to see who started the abusive behavior.

My patients are not that impulsive or abusive thank you. I treat them with the respect they deserve. You , after your response to an innocent statement do not warrant the same treatment.

BTW If I'm not worth the time please do not bother to respond.

Even though Rickm0755's posts were not directed at me, I found them very offensive, both from the standpoint of improper tone, and the spreading of mis-information. He should apologize to Khun mor. Although I'm not much interested in hearing any other of his mis-informed medical advice, I would be interested in his elaborating on his claim to being a "health care provider." For example, what type of credentials does he have?