Prescription Meds

Here is one I haven't quite figured out. If someone was on medication that would cause life threating problems if suddenly stopped, and one can only get these refilled monthly at the pharmacy, then how does one go about stocking up for a major scenario?

reply to post by texas thinker


Contact your medical insurance to see if you can do a mail order supply.....sometimes you can stock up to 6 months.

reply to post by Starwise


Thanks,, I believe my insurance limits mail order to 90day supply.

Good question you could say that you lost a batch and need more but I think after the 3rd time they would cotton on to it and depending on what the med's are they may get the Law involved.
If SHTF I think many many people would think this and pharmacies would be cleared out very quickly that goes for hospitals as well.
Remember that Med's do lose their effectiveness after time and have a use before date on.
Depending on your condition and type of med's you may be able to get some relief from natural plants etc but their effectiveness wouldn't be as good as the Med's.

What about trying to get supplies from south of the border? Good or bad idea?

And if one did what is the best way to long term store a prescription drug? Don't they generally have a shelf life of a year or so?

Originally posted by texas thinker
What about trying to get supplies from south of the border? Good or bad idea?

Probably a really bad idea right now. Most of the mexicans I work with won't even visit mexico right now.

reply to post by texas thinker

Ohh Iam surprised how long some last.

1. Have been stored in a cool, dry place
2. Have not been in the sun or exposed to the sun
3. Have been sealed(closed tightly) for the entire time
If you follow this they should last quite a time.
Here is some more reading for you
www.post-gazette.com...

reply to post by texas thinker


There are three categories of drugs that the withdrawal alone is lethal:

1) Alcohol
2) Benzodiazepines
3) Barbituates

Hey brother. There is only one way that is not illegal. Take slightly less than you are prescribed. For example, let's say that you are on 3mg of Xanax per day. You are supposed to take a 1mg pill three times per day. Summon the willpower and if necessary, work your way down so you can get by with 2mg per day. Save the extra pill. The goal is to amount a stash large enough for you to wean yourself off of. If you couldn't get anymore and you knew you couldn't get anymore but you had 200 pills -- that's enough to wean down and quit. You must wean down very very slowly. The trick is never to increase the dosage. You can be on a schedule where you lower your dose by 1/4 mg every two weeks but you are having trouble. It's okay to wait until you are ready to take another step down, but do not go back up under any circumstances. Same principal applies with barbituates. With alcohol, it will be available for barter but if you were in the end stages of alcoholism, chances are you would not be posting here because you wouldn't care about tomorrow.

The largest problem will be opiates, but despite the word around the streets you can't die from opiate withdrawal. Sure, you would rather get hit in the face with a baseball bat then suffer through that withdrawal...but it won't kill you. If unable to quit on your own, seek help.

If the drug is a non-narcotic such as medicines for cancer, AIDS, etc...let me know so I can at least point you in the right direction. Cholesterol medicine is extremely easy to get off of and substitute with something far less harsh.

Other than storming the local pharmacy with a team of nine others with semi-auto weapons...this is the only way. Again, if the drugs of your concern are non-narcotic, please tell me the category and I will steer you in the right direction.

Keep your head up brother.

Originally posted by texas thinker
Here is one I haven't quite figured out. If someone was on medication that would cause life threating problems if suddenly stopped, and one can only get these refilled monthly at the pharmacy, then how does one go about stocking up for a major scenario?

I suspect "natural selection" would become the default scenario in that case.
Not trying to be flippant or unfeeling, but all bets are suddenly off if/when (?) TSHTF.

I am one of the people you refer to. Unless I can get more drugs after the ones I have on me at the time, I will die within 7-10 days later. But acccording to one doctor i should at least die a fairly apinless death.

cheers

reply to post by texas thinker


the blunt answer - some people are going to die , the way i see it , if they are currently being kept alive by drugs then they already " should " be dead

reply to post by texas thinker


Planning to do this very thing in the next few months. Got maintenance meds in my home that need to be taken daily. I don't know of any insurance provider that will allow you more than a 90 fill at a time and if you say it was "lost" they will have you go get a 30 day supply at your local pharmacy in most cases. Then there's trying to get your Dr to cooperate as well. They won't write multiple 90 day scripts......

reply to post by ignorant_ape


Hope to God that no one you love and care about needs important medication, and this is a survival forum, the idea is to prepare so that one's loved ones might stand a better chance of .....SURVIVING.....which is why I posed the question for responses you twit.

And see you can die from Barbiturate withdrawl. Perfect advise , I have done this myself. I now have a two year supply. I am prescribed 2mg a day, I now am down to taking .5 a day. That was no walk in the park either. I figure the stuff I need, and that will be a good barter too. In fact I save ALL unused medication.

reply to post by amatrine


This is my initial plan...the loved one I am concerned about has weaned off these meds before when the doc at the time had way too much of them going on, but I saw the first hand effects when stopped suddenly, not pretty. Being off them in a safe way is not the grandest choice, as this persons life is much better and normal with them, I started this discussion thinking that others that use things such as high blood pressure meds, heart meds, and especially those that need insulin would be in dire straits once they ran out. If a person was on a medication that is a lifetime deal, such as the insulin example, then why one could not get six months or even a years worth to store because of beauracrats just blows my mind.

I worried about my son's medication. Not life threatening, but he has autism and without his meds, cannot function in any sort of normal fashion. I've managed to build up almost a years worth by:

* Refill as soon as the pharmacy will let you - most mail orders will allow reordering 10-14 days prior to the pills running out to allow time for shipping. This gives me an extra week per month if on a 30 day refill, week per quarter if on a 90 day.

* Whenever son's dose was adjusted, doctor gave a new prescription. If ok'd with the doctor, I'd use the older medication first. For example, moved from 10mg to 20mg, I use 2x10mg until the 10mg are gone then move on to the 20mg. This can get you an extra 1-3 months depending on when the medication change goes into effect.

* Ask. I asked for an extra 90 day prescription, which I filled out of pocket. I simply told the doctor that I was worried about hubby's job security and I would feel much less stressed if we had an extra 3 months to rely on in case our insurance & income went away.

* My final solution is substitution. The med my son is on is an SSRI (antidepressant) which helps stop self injurious behavior and lessens self-stimming activities (hand flapping/pacing/humming/etc). I'm also on an antidepressant in the same category. I know from experience that I will live without my medications - not happily, but I'll survive. I've done all the same stock up techniques for my medication. In the event of med disruption I'll wean him off his meds and have him use mine.

THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE AND ESPECIALLY #4 SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED BY NON-MEDICAL PERSONS UNLESS IT REALLY IS TEOTWAWKI!

Originally posted by texas thinker
Here is one I haven't quite figured out. If someone was on medication that would cause life threating problems if suddenly stopped, and one can only get these refilled monthly at the pharmacy, then how does one go about stocking up for a major scenario?

you don't! You start studying day and night on what is already in nature that can take care of the same problem that you are taking meds for. You will have to slowly phase in natural meds and slowly phase out the chemical meds. So I am NOT advocating you stop your chemical meds, just saying.. STUDY!

I have been doing this for years, and I went from 7 chemical/manmade meds to ZERO, for dif problems.

reply to post by texas thinker


oh dear - the mind set that you are just going to carry on ` as before ` and " preparation " is going to make everything cosy - is your biggest stumbling block

time to get over it

like i say - people are going to die - and attmpting to micro-manage everything so that no one dies is an exercise in futility

PS - if buying medicine in advance is a complex task for you - then you need help

my friends parents are setting off on a ` round the world ` cruise - on thier yacht in 2 weeks time - and they are stocking a 1 year supply - plus through aquantances in asutralia - have the paperwork in place to pick up further stock there to get them home