[Brokenfriend]

I hate to ask this question,but I'm going to ask this question anyway. As you know,there could be a National Disaster where things could get very tough. What if a disaster happens,and you cannot get your proscriptions refilled. I asked my doctor,and I didn't really get a answer. They keep telling us that there is a elevated chance that there could be a terrorist attack. Do they mean this,or not? If there is a chance,why can't they develope a way that we can have access to a emergency supply of medication in some way, shape,or form if a catastrophe happens,and we survive it. Even if we have enough food,what good is it going to be if we don't have our medicine. This worries me when I hear those gloom,and doom report's on the news. Is there a answer for this concern? Could they give us three months of emergency medication,and we can turn it in every year for a new supply,and store it? We could leave it sealed,and not open it unless there is a definite catastrophic event. Could there be another way? Do other people consider this a concern? Brokenfriend

[mrsD]

to your question that won't make you anxious.

We live on a thread, IMO in our complex society. Many of our drugs come
from abroad, so any terrorist or even anti-Israel action may cut off a great
percentage of our supply.

If a disaster struck, we'd have no water, electricity or fuel (gasoline).
The insurance companies will not allow early refills for storage, and even if they did, people would waste the drugs (experience has shown this).
Many drugs today are short dated, some only 6mos now, for expiration.
So you cannot safely stockpile them.

The Y2K disaster was a small taste of panic and paranoia..that I had to live thru. And with all the hype and media frenzy nothing happened.

The heparin situation right now is critical, and that only involves one drug.
Sometimes a standard drug will have problems and become unavailable for months. Sometimes patents are moved and interrupted distribution results.
People on controlled substances are not going to be viewed with favor for stockpiling either.

Our food supply is constantly at risk, IMO. One never knows when one is consuming some tainted lettuce/cheese, meat whatever, anymore.

If you feel you need to stock a cushion...then get your refill a few days early, if your insurance allows. After several months, you will have your safety stash.
You have to be organized, and rotate your pills so they don't expire. 3 days early for 10 months gives 30 extra at one a day.
But there is no way to predict what will happen if a major disaster affects supply or distribution of goods. Just a huge fuel shortage, could stop distribution of drugs and food cold.

You could obsess about this along with all the other disaster scenarios. But remember I grew up with Duck and Cover (1950's cold war), and as a child I thought any moment I'd be dead. I even had blood drawn at kindergarten for a Civil Defense Tag to keep with me always...it was very traumatic for me. But I still
have it in my wallet...I have a rare blood type! I will be prepared still and can still Duck and Cover.

[dllfo]

Like MrsD says, you can carefully plan for it.

I sleep on a ventilator, so electricity is critical. I bought a little Honda 1kw generator that requires VERY LITTLE gas. Solar panels are good. I have a few of those.

I am on morphine, so I have already got a few pills ahead.

Find out where your nearest Civil Defense Shelter is. You might be surprised to find it is in the basement of your elementary school.

Read up on the Mormon faith and how they store ... uh ..sorry, I have had my opiates already and my memory is fading. We have Mormon friends who keep 6 months of food stored (I think it is 6 months).

If you can afford it, put a bomb shelter in the back yard. They come "ready made" now, including air filters, etc.

I had a LOT of training about WW III while flying in the Air Force.
But you are also right, getting Class II meds might be impossible in the short run.

I hit withdrawals at about 30-32 hours. I considered taking my Class II and writing the day and time down. Set the alarm and take the next capsule 32 hours later. You could do that right now. Hmmmm 30 days x 24 = 720 hours? Divide that by 30 hours and you consume 24 capsules in a month, saving 6. NOTE that I am NOT talking about your quality of life, just surviving.

I have a boyhood buddy who joined a survivalist group in Southern Missouri/Kansas. You would NOT believe what they stocked up on. They bought shipping containers and buried them (so I have been told). They allegedly bought cases of toilet paper and uh... feminine hygiene products. Knowing the mentality of my buddy, I didn't ask why they chose those two items. But I swear to you, he DID use poison ivy to clean his private parts while we were camping in Osage County, OK.

You can also ask for a vacation package and might receive 2 months of meds at once. Again, in 60 days, you could be 12 ahead. 12 x30 is 360 hours and so on.

There may be other meds available to help you, but I would NOT buy any Class II products in Mexico, etc. I am probably wrong, but if they think you are not using the meds, you might spend some time south of the border. Without your pain meds.

Let us know if you come up with a plan. I learned the hard way in 2005 I think it was. I could not get my Class II refilled in Washington and the Walgreens in my home town had the Class II prescription. Weird. Last summer, while spending 6 weeks at the National Jewish Hospital in Denver, CO I found the easiest way to get my Class II was to have them sent to the pharmacy of the hospital. If I saw a pain med dr. at NJC, my Pain Med dr. in my home town would not see me until I jumped through all the hoops again. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Excellent question.

[Brokenfriend]

Thank you for the information. It was well said,and very informative.

Why do the medicines become ineffective so quickly? Are they treated to do that? You said that some only last six months. Are they tablets,or liquids?

With all the pandemonium that would happen in a natural disaster,like a super volcano,or a disaster from space like a asteroid,or comet,or a possible man made disaster,causes me to be concerned in many ways. I know that some of it is hype,and I try not to get caught up in it. I don't think about this subject very often,but it's in the back of my mind that it could. If we survive it,we might have some food,and shelter,and a few other things to survive. If we don't have our medicines on top of all that,it would be much worse. It's a valid concern. I thank you again for the ideas,and insight that you have given me.

Now I speak on the possibility of putting the medicine in a vacuum sealed,high tech,and sophisticated storage scenario that would last for years without the medicine breaking down chemically. Is this possible? I know that Insurance would never agree to pay for it. Insurance is out of the question for sure. We can send space probes to land testing devices on asteroids. We are working on many things. Are any groups working on this possible? I'm just talking about worse case scenarios.

If it's possible to survive one of these natural,space,or man made disasters,I'd want to. If I don't have my medicine,I'd probably wish I where near the epicenter of the disaster.

[dllfo]

Brokenfriend,

If you watch the news or listen to the media too much, you may wind up hiding in a cave until the 2nd Coming of Christ. OR, if you don't believe in God, until your bones are picked clean by our very efficient eco-system.

Global Warming is BS. Yes, of course the earth has warmed 1/100th of a degree or whatever bilge they are telling us. They had the same people at the Global Cooling Conferences in the 1980s I think it was.

My opinion is that these people can't make a living unless they are given GOVERNMENT MONEY. Our tax dollars. Some of these people mean well, but if you could talk to some of the scientists who disagree, you would learn a lot.

Meds going bad is BS. Sorry for the rough language but it is 1am and I don't feel good. The military stores tons of meds. So awhile back they started pulling certain meds and testing just how good they might be. After all, if every bomb shelter or military preparedness group bought new meds every year, $$$$$ so they sent a certain number of each pill to be tested for potency. Many, many, many pills are still "good" after the "gone bad" date. Ask an honest pharmacist and they may tell you when the use by date is reached, the meds are still at least 90% effective. That said, of course some meds will go bad. But nothing like 100% of them. So keep your meds. I have some CIPRO 500mg that expired over a year ago. I keep them in a dark area, cool, etc. and expect they will be better than nothing for a long time.

I subscribed to a website called --- uh --- forgive me, Worst Pills or something like that. Cheap. $15 a year or something like that. No, I did not renew it because I felt I had learned what I was looking for. Point is, the truth is almost always in the middle. The AMA wants more power. So they try to control everything on the earth (IMHO). And the opinion of many medical professionals. I would think you could research life span of meds or something like that for info.

IF this subject stresses you a lot, ask your PCP if he would write you a prescription for a month, or 3 month's supply, telling him you are going to Canada to fill the prescription and it will be cash. If he realizes you are stressed over this concept, he might do it. Obviously, I would doubt that he will write you a script for 500 Oxycodone, but for a 6 month or years supply of celebrex or something like that, he might just do it. After all, MANY of the rules we fight about are due to cost. Insurance company costs.
My wife needs Thyroid meds, can't remember the name, but our insurance insists she trys some meds she already tried and failed at. Of course, we have changed doctors enough we can't find the old records. I told them to go xxxx themselves, we can buy this Synthroid, that is it, at Costco for $52 for a 90 day supply.
Her doctor would probably write a prescription for a years supply because it is OUR money. No one will gripe at him and he trusts her that she won't take an overdose.

I don't know if any of this helps you, but I hope it does. I am truly blessed that I don't stay awake nights worrying about nuclear war, etc. Heck, when I was in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) on Guam in 1973 or 1974 I was preflighting our KC-135 and for some reason I was at the end of the stbd wing when a lot of people went running past our plane. I asked why and was told they were loading a nuke and it fell several feet to the tarmac. I jumped off the wing, did a PLF and ran with them.
We were afraid of the High Explosives, not the nuke part. I went to sleep just fine that night. I have slept within a hundred yards of enough nukes to destroy several countries and never worried.

I can't remember if you mentioned your specific meds, but what if you contacted the manufacturer and told them of your concerns, or lie to them and tell them you are cruising around the world in a 25 sail boat. Whatever... ask them if you could buy a supply of pills they have pulled off the shelf. Who knows, if you approach them correctly, you might be allowed to buy the meds. Either way, good luck and please try not to worry.

[Brokenfriend]

I agree. Global warming is hype. I don't know who's trying to do what,and where. I've studied the Earths weather changes over about 6 thousand years. At some point BC,the earth was allot hotter. There was a warming period around 1200AD. I did a little study on Greenland. I did a study on the solar cycles. Right now the Sun has been getting brighter since 1950. It's just a solar cycle. It happened according to the graphs that I've studied around the late 1700's,and at other times. There are no facts,or truths about man causing the Earth to warm up. I'm a scientist in heart,and people are blindly believing what they hear. What we hear is being manipulated all the time. As a matter of fact,I use to want to be informed,now I don't want to be influenced falsely. It's going from a little hype,to more,and more. Technology is all out of control,but at least we are advancing in technology. Is technology making mankind more humane? Heavens no,It's making mankind less humane. I have been watching values that have been obtained in thousands of years,go down in a half of a century.... I enjoyed what you wrote,and consider you a friend.

[mrsD]

it seems the media and TV cable shows specifically dwell on disaster.

I just saw one about Yellowstone National Park... that it may blow up and
destroy the whole USA! WHEW! Duck and Cover!

[Brokenfriend]

Yes. They said Yellow Stone National Park is the epicenter of a super Volcano Region. If it blew up,the only places in the USA that would survive it would be the East coast,and Florida. They are saying worse things about asteroids,and comets.They say that the velocity of the darn things would be so quick,that we wouldn't see them hit the earth.Then they said a fire ball would go around half of the globe. They say,"It's happened before,and it will happen again."Gee thanks. All I here is doom,and gloom. It's the,where is that fire engine going around the corner,that compels us to watch the bad stuff sometimes. It would be nice if they could bring BALANCE to the news,and give us some good news,with the Bad,and not hype the bad. If their ratings are high,it does not mean that we appreciate the way that they reported it. They need to calm it down a bit. BF

[Victor H]

Don't worry about what you cannot control. It will just drive you nuts. The earth/climate/solar system will just keep moving along regardless of your worries.

However, what you can do is to prepare for minor incidents wherein survival is likely (i.e. an earthquake or a flood). You can stock up on necessities slowly and store them in a simple place, like a plastic trash can. This will serve as your emergency kit.

You can get additional medications for the emergency by telling your physician that you need another perscription. Heck, if you just picked-up a perscription refill and then lost it, I am sure that you could get a replacement.

Hang in there. The world will just keep chugging along.

-Vic

[dllfo]

Brokenfriend,
Your concerns are valid in any day and age. I have relatives who live in Mexico and have lived there for about ten years. They get good meds from their local doctors and pharmacies for a fraction of what we pay. The problem is .... bringing them back to the USA.

But I have been told you can buy from Canada with a prescription.
Period.

I have BAD respiratory problems, so I have one room I can seal pretty well. We keep about 20 gallons of water here (for when we travel), but if we needed drinking water, it would last us awhile.

We traveled back to a hospital in Denver last summer and I had 2 months of prescriptions. My meds run $25-30k a year. I called my homeowners and asked them what would happen if they were stolen? I was told I would be covered, minus my deductible.

Another person I know is a diabetic. They do volunteer work at a local hospital, so they feel like they would be taken care of by the staff at this hospital. Hmmmm. Maybe.

Thank you for the kind words. There are many books available with ideas on how to survive. Cut your dosage down. Full tablet on Monday and a half tablet on Tuesday. LOTS of ways.

I read that there was a survival group who kept all their meds they didn't use. Example, I quit using Prevacid and I kept the half bottle. My wife started using it a couple months later, so we saved everyone a few bucks. We still filled her prescription, but she is "ahead" about 20 days.

Another thing that is weird about meds, if you have a sympathetic doctor, you might need one Nexium a day, but he writes your prescription for 2 a day, leaving you with a free month with no copay.

I quit watching the news a few years back and I feel fine about it. News is propoganda, why get upset over it. Thanks for the compliment about being your friend, I feel the same way. We have sources of help all around us, we just have to ask.