Amoxicillin from the pet store?

[KaraBulut]

It is the same drug.

In the US, the FDA has standards about how much foreign matter (such as rodent hair and feces) can be in the drugs we take. It's the drugs for human consumption that are regulated and expected to adhere to certain quality standards.

The same is not true of the stuff given to animals. It's much lower grade and is allowed to have more foreign substances. That's why it is specifically labeled as "veterinary grade".

I wouldn't take the veterinary grade stuff.

 

[dunno260]

If you are taking it for maintenance you probably won't need to go in every month or so for a prescription. If you are worried about the cost of the medication itself, amoxicillin is cheap.

As for taking pet medication, well it really depends. The problem as stated is that the quality regulation isn't as substantial as it is for human consumption. All pharmaceuticals for human consumption have to follow GMP standards which are a pain in the arse to follow. That being said, I would imagine that the material is from the same manufacturers and most likely of the same quality in regards to impurities present and formulation. But there aren't any guarantees and that would be enough to worry me. In addition, the formulation of the medication might be different to target it for different digestive systems for an oral tablet/capsule.

However the distinction between say human grade and veterinary grade is probably worthless. Essentially human grade is just GMP certified which means that the process for the making the drug was followed exactly (ie if you spec 90% ethanol for a step it has to be 90% ethanol every time, using 95% ethanol would be a problem). All the reaction vessels have to be certified as clean, you have to have procedures that are followed for weighing reactants and products/etc. If you followed the synthesis exactly in a non GMP environment and ended up with the exact same quality of the drug at the end (which you would), it doesn't matter. You could go a little further and improve the purity say from 99.5% to 99.75% and it would be a no go.

In my year in the industry before returning back to grad school I worked in a discovery chemistry group at a small biotech and produced a few kilos of drug for some rodent toxicity studies (a first step in bringing a drug to clinical trials). Despite following (and in large part establishing) the synthesis for the two drugs that we made, and despite getting purity of the final product higher than the final spec for the process, it could never be taken by a human.

But I put a high degree in confidence in the quality of pharmaceuticals that are sold. There are some occasional problems (the heparin problem recently is an interesting story). There is no real guarantee of quality with veterinary medicine, though I again expect it to be of more then sufficient quality, particularly if its for dogs (they are still used in pharmaceutical testing because their livers are much more sensitive than humans or most other mammals that are similar to humans and will show you if you are likely to have some liver toxicity issues).

So short answer, go to Wal-Mart where its going to be the cheapest. It should be $10 a month or so or under.

 

[Kirbster66]

Walmart and Kroger (I know of) have 30-day supplies of many common generic drugs available for $4 and 90-day supplies for $10. Great way to save money when you're uninsured (as I am).

 

[decaf]

lol okay why don't we have a look at this rationally?

1. you are treating acne, not a life/limb threatening illness;
2. of all the possible problems that could come up in using vet medicine, probably 9/10 of them are worse than getting a zit;
3. the pet shop drug is probably not that much cheaper;
4. if anything happens to you, you wont be entitled to anything, because its your fault for being stupid;
5. would you eat dog food? no? - then why eat pet drugs?

 

[s3xiboy]

don't do that... i work in the medical field, i guarantee you that this amoxicillin treatment is temporary. Taking antibiotics for a long period of time will build up your resistance and stop working even on an increased dose. If your doctor is giving them to you long term then he's an idiot, get a new doctor. also you need to be careful with getting it from the pet store because of additives and dosage measurments... you don't want to end up with c-diff and a perferated bowel.

 

[elvnguardian]

Also, let's not forget that Amoxicillin is almost the cheapest antibiotic out there, save possibly penicillin... The stuffs so old, that very few people can even recall what the original brand names for either of them where.

 

[BenF]

Amoxicillin for acne?

That's a pretty odd choice of antibiotic.

 

[KaraBulut]

Amoxicillin for acne?

That's a pretty odd choice of antibiotic.

*nods* ......