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Posted: 1/30/2012 7:25:54 AM EDT
people need to start thinking about the medications you take and how you would obtain more of them when the world goes to sh#t also think more broad like think about a

nuclear attack or  or invasion from other countries, bio attack from other countries as well, WROL think about this stuff it will be important... think about what you would go

to the store for first, think about how you would make your house defensive, what first aid or medical training do you have do your kids know how to fish or hunt who in

your family knows how to purify water. people we need to start thinking about it.
Link Posted: 1/30/2012 8:47:27 AM EDT
[#1]
Absolutely agree.  We've put together a basic trauma kit and added OTC meds.  The issue is always cycling meds with expiration dates.  When SHTF you want to be stocked up, but if it doesn't happen for a long time, you've wasted a ton of money on expired meds.  We do keep stocked up on antiseptics.  People on prescription meds have a much bigger problem.

I'd love to get some real information from medical professionals about expiration dates.  Are the drugs really ineffective or just start going down hill?
Link Posted: 1/30/2012 8:56:37 AM EDT
[#2]
Quoted:


I'd love to get some real information from medical professionals about expiration dates.  Are the drugs really ineffective or just start going down hill?


I'm not a medical professional, but everything that I have read seems to indicate that solid state drugs (regular tylenol etc) really do not degrade very much.  While some degradation might happen, the drug companies put expiration dates on them to
A) Sell more medicine
B) Avoid liability if someone stored it improperly for a long time and the drug was not as effective, or was ineffective.

Regarding storage: Take them OUT of the bathroom cabinet.  This is a room that is constantly hot and damp.  Nothing stores well in hot/damp conditions.  Put them in the same place that you store other things that like to be cool and dry.
Link Posted: 1/30/2012 9:06:04 AM EDT
[#3]
I've always stocked OTC stuff pretty heavily. I made myself start to buy 1-2 items everytime i went to the store for groceries. My biggest problem was non OTC stuff, but after recently reading through discussions in the survival forum i ordered through a website suggested there by a few people. I am still waiting for my order, but i have enough antibiotics coming to fight off any infection and last my family a while. I'll store them in the fridge for now, so they should be good atleast 2-3 years after there 2013 or 2014 expiration dates.
Link Posted: 1/30/2012 11:44:36 AM EDT
[#4]
I have at least two "go bags" already set up with med supplies and
survival stuff, including first aid kits. Wife and kids know where it is
and the fisrt thing to be grabbed in an emergency.
Link Posted: 2/2/2012 4:21:11 PM EDT
[#5]
The big thing isn't necessarily having supplies, but having them available at all times. I keep four large trauma FAKs, one for each car and one for the house.  

Knowing how to use everything and practicing with the actual supplies themselves is important too.  Dont be too cheap to buy a couple extras of everything so you can rip a couple open and see how they actually work beforehand.

One aspect a lot of people miss is trauma items.  They generally don't come in store bought kits, but are possibly the most important prep.  Tourniquets, pressure dressings, occlusive bandages, hemostatic agents, bulk gauze, etc.  You gotta get a kit and add all that stuff.














Link Posted: 2/2/2012 4:29:36 PM EDT
[#6]
Just learn how to make basic penicillin.

Cultivate opium poppies.

Not hard.
Link Posted: 2/7/2012 8:57:55 PM EDT
[#7]
I am on several medications (low level quadriplegic) and have over a years supply of them and other related items I need medically.

Most people who are on prescription drugs regularly get 90 day supplies refillable around 30 days before you run out.  So they should have between 30 - about 120 days on hand.

Medications I take as needed (not on a regular basis), I have around 60 days.  This is more then enough for 18 - 24 months.

Now I need to seriously look at my long term food storage.
Link Posted: 3/13/2012 5:56:34 AM EDT
[#8]
Quoted:

I'd love to get some real information from medical professionals about expiration dates.  Are the drugs really ineffective or just start going down hill?


My dad.. navy doc/ RN

said medicine in a solid state IE Pills etc dont go bad as long as they never got wet , but anything liquid usually goes after a while

he said for the most part you are good on pills for years after n liquid he couldn't give me a time frame

exp dates are put on meds to keep the stock flowing and money flowing.

lets say you have some Tylenol that is good for the next 20 years according to the exp date would you need to ever buy more?
Link Posted: 3/13/2012 6:14:07 AM EDT
[#9]
Not a doctor or a pharmacist.

Many medicines are good well after their expiration date.  Expired meds get donated to Africa and they give them out like candy there.  

The problem is that some medicines turn deadly after expiration.  An example is the antibiotic tetracycline.




What I see as curious is the number of arfcommers who have 20 years of beans, rice, and water but who would not survive without modern medicine for long.  It's great to have all that stuff available but if you're going to stroke out from hypertension without your pills, maybe work on losing weight and other things so that you don't need the pills anymore.
Link Posted: 3/13/2012 1:34:44 PM EDT
[#10]
Quoted:
Not a doctor or a pharmacist.

Many medicines are good well after their expiration date.  Expired meds get donated to Africa and they give them out like candy there.  

The problem is that some medicines turn deadly after expiration.  An example is the antibiotic tetracycline.




What I see as curious is the number of arfcommers who have 20 years of beans, rice, and water but who would not survive without modern medicine for long.  It's great to have all that stuff available but if you're going to stroke out from hypertension without your pills, maybe work on losing weight and other things so that you don't need the pills anymore.


Great post. I see a lot of chat about how people are going to survive tough times with all of their decked out ar15's, but wonder how many could run even a few miles if they had to.

As a medical practitioner i feel the patients that are going to have considerable trouble during tough times are the insulin dependent diabetics and epileptics.

Heart conditions that require thinners could also be a problem, but most of those pts have multiple health problems anyways.


Simple medications i would keep on hand for tough times would include benadryl for allergic reactions, tylenol for fevers. Hydrogen peroxide and triple antibotic ointment to keep smaller wounds from becoming major problems due to infection.

Outside of that, best to leave other treatments to pros.
Link Posted: 3/14/2012 6:41:16 PM EDT
[#11]
penicillin is basically worthless now. I am of the opinion that if you keep yourself in shape though, all you need is something to stop bleeding. I have suture, hemostats and needle drivers, quickclots and ACE wraps. I know everyone will say you need antibiotics, but if you have a large enough wound to need antibiotics and your body wont fight it then you probably arent going to last long
Link Posted: 3/14/2012 6:54:18 PM EDT
[#12]
Duct tape and paper towels....crevats made from cheap fabric.  I have about a dozen tubes of triple antibiotics ointment from getting tattoos.  My wife also brings me exprired stuff from her vet clinic.
Link Posted: 3/14/2012 11:28:36 PM EDT
[#13]
In case anyone is curious about insulins and diabetic type shit, I am a type 1 diabetic so I have to directly inject insulin. I will say this. From when I was first diagnosed with this bullshit condition, insulins used to have roughly a 3 year expiration date as long as you kept em refrigerated. Now they have a 1 year expiration date. Just like with reloading manuals from years ago when the maximum powder charge with the same bullet, powder and recipe is WAY more than they say it is now....... IE, too many people worrying about getting sued for dumb shit and too many lawyers and liability.

And if you are wanting to stock up on insulins.... some of the newer fancier insulins you need prescriptions for and are only allowed "X" amount per month. If you want to buy more, you have to pay insane amounts for them. However you can go to most any WalMart and buy the old school Regular R (short acting) and NPH (long acting) over the counter without insurance or scripts for $26.25 per bottle (as opposed to over $150 for most of the newer insulins). Not as good of an insulin as the Humalog or Lantus or what have you but hey, good in a pinch and cheap to stock up on!!

But on a side note.... My best idea for medicines and what I am stocking up on for the most part is NATURAL stuff...... it worked for centuries for people, why not now???? Good heirloom seeds and produce, herbal oils, plants and remedies etc. etc. Yes some of the inventions of modern medicine are incredible.... but how many of these modern diseases could be avoided if we ate and lived like they did in the old days??? Just my 2 cents.
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