Medicine

[Milluw]

How do you build up a storage of the medicine you need? Isn't that impossible?

If its a medicine you need to keep you alive, wouldn't that mean that in a bad situation you would well.. die as one of the first?

[applepansy]

Its not impossible but will require your doctor to help. Your insurance company will probably not help.

[Milluw]

But can a doctor write perscriptions for that large an amount of medicine? I've been told that they couldn't

[faif2d]

Have your doctor, if he is willing, write 2 or more 3 month prescriptions. Try to get generic drugs as you are going to have to purchase the extra ones with cash. You will have to go to separate pharmacy with each set of prescriptions.

[Milluw]

Thanks for the answers! So you just tell him about food storage and such to explain? What is generic drugs?

[NeuroTypical]

Depending on the medicine, storing a supply of it can be anywhere from easy to illegal.

If you take any controlled narcotics (certain brain meds like amphetamenes, etc.), then your doctor could get in legal trouble for writing out more than you need. My wife's doc says he has to do it in 30-day increments.

Basically, if anything you take has a 'street value', you can expect resistance. But if there's no mind-altering component to it, you can have much better luck at getting a doctor's help with storing a supply. Although it still depends on the doctor. The line between common-sense preparing and evil nefarious hoarding, is often drawn in the mind of the person hearing your request. Your best bet is to say something like "Now, I'm not trying to cheat my insurance company, and I'm not a druggie. I just believe in preparing against difficult times like extended bouts of unemployment and whatnot. I try to keep 3 months of food and water in the house, and I'm trying to do that with other consumables like medicines. Can you help me accomplish this goal with my prescription medicines?"

The doc might think you're a survivalist nutcase, or he'll help you.

LM

[beefche]

If you are able to do it, this is definitely one item you need to rotate. Medicines (whether OTC or prescribed) lose their potency after a time. So, while taking meds past their expiration date may not kill you, they may not work as well at that point.

[Raven21633]

As long as you don't need a prescription medication, most other (OTC) medications can be grown herbally.

Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) for example, is merely the inner bark of the White Willow tree combined with Rose Hips (Vitamin C). The Vitamin C counter-indicates the stomach upset caused by the acetylsalicylic acid.

Raw honey is not only bacterial-static, but anti-bacterial as well, and is believed by many to have been used to treat wounds during the construction of the pyramids to prevent infection.

I am going to limit my reply to those two examples, but there are many more. Since most of the synthesized medicines we have today began as herbs and plants, most of your medicine cabinet can also be found in your garden.

Good books on herbalism and a well stocked alchemical garden will supply a good deal of your medicinal needs even in these times. (why wait for a disaster?)

[marshac]

Since most of the synthesized medicines we have today began as herbs and plants, most of your medicine cabinet can also be found in your garden.

To a point. Taxol was first isolated from the Pacific Yew, but you would need a whole forest to medicate an individual. In the case of insulin, you're out of luck. What about Asthma medications? "Mormon Tea" might help for a very short time (it's the ephedra plant), but I can't think of a single herb that would function as a beta2 agonist, or would function similar to a corticosteroid.

Unfortunately most of the drugs people take for chronic conditions don't have herbal analogs simply because the potency of the herbal product wouldn't be of any therapeutic value.

I like natural remedies as much as anyone and have a serious interest in them, but saying that most things people take have an herbal replacement isn't quite right.

My doctor will not prescribe me 'extra' drugs.... I need to find a new one.... I wish I could write scripts for myself :)

[Wingnut]

My doctor will not prescribe me 'extra' drugs.... I need to find a new one.... I wish I could write scripts for myself :)

Darn that code of ethics!