satpak77

Is Cipro still widely used or has the military gone to another antibiotic ?

Thanks

KC10 FATboy

This is a vague question. The military uses all kinds of antibiotics. What is it exactly you are wondering?

satpak77

yes vague I agree, sorry. I carry Cipro in my "travel kit" due to extensive travel to 3rd world countries. That and Z-paks.

just wondering what you guys carry or use

galaxy flyer

Talk to MedLink in PHX, there are many new anti-biotics especially for stomach ailments. I carry Cipro, on my travel doctor's advice, but every time I have had someone sick, MedLink says open the kit and get these drugs, not Cipro.

GF

satpak77

Thanks Galaxy, appreciate it

Grumble

Cipro is a broad spectrum anti-biotic, which is nullified by Vitamin D (produced by the skin in sunlight). Usually used for in-patients.

Abroad the military vaccinates for a slew of random crap before you go, and then gives us doxy or mephloquin for malaria prevention. Also kills all the bacteria in your guy and gives you a year long case of mud-butt.

Billy Pilgrim

When I was in Afghanistan Cipro was pretty popular for those dinning out with the locals (winning hearts and minds and all that). I was lucky to never venture further than Afghani bread.

Everyone is also on Doxy for the Malaria...^^^

nfnsquared

Yup, dumbass Flight Surgeon prescribed doxy for Malaria (Rwanda). Didn't say a damn thing about the whole gut thing. I had no warning whatsoever. You have to take Doxy for the entire time you are in the endemic area and continue taking it for a full 28 days (life cycle of the organism) after leaving the endemic area. In my case, it was a total of 46 days. About a week after I stopped taking it, the bloating started...

My issues lingered for 3 years: alternating random bouts of "no notice" diarrhea and painful constipation, GERD, countless nights of poor/no sleep, long term DNIF (with great skepticism heaped on me by the dumbass flight surgeons and the sq/cc), loss of flight pay... It was a nightmare. (FWIW, the dumbass Chief of Flight Med was a DO, not an MD). As a side note, I got him fired and censured by the VA Board of Medicine for violating my HIPPA rights

In addition, I also contracted H. Pylori as a result of the depleted "good bacteria". The dumbass flight surgeon's office never bothered to test me for H. Pylori. A nurse practitioner saw the light and had me tested.

I'd highly recommend dosing yourself with pro-biotics during and after any long term use of an anti-biotic like Doxy. I hope no one has to go through what I went through.

Grumble

The year I was taking it, I tried to incorporate plain yogurt at least once a day. Helped a lot once I started doing that, recovery wasn't nearly as bad as yours.

Mephloquin is a whole other animal, that stuff makes people crazy. Case in point, SSGT Bales. The guy who went nuts and killed 16 Afghanis. He was on meph. Best thing is to stay out of third world dumpsters.

satpak77

fully agree