By The Maj
Do you or someone in your family take a daily medication that is necessary for survival? If so, what are your plans post SHTF? Many people have conditions which require daily medication and missing a prescribed dose may be the start of a very bad situation. Most of these people do not consider what happens when the power fails and refrigerated medication goes bad or the trucks stop rolling or the factories quit producing it or money become worthless or all of the above. What then? Do you just pick out a nice shady spot for your final hours or days? These are hard questions to answer and unfortunately for some there really is not a good answer but it is definitely something that can be overlooked.
The first thing that anyone in this situation should do is consider stockpiling the necessary medication. In many cases daily medication is available in long term amounts of six months to a year, especially if they are ordered through the mail. The sticking point here is most medication has strict storage requirements and expiration dates associated with them. So, if your plan is to stockpile a year’s worth of medication, you need to make certain that you have a strict rotation schedule AND a viable plan for meeting the storage requirements for it without the aid of electricity. Spending money on a year’s worth of medication that goes bad one month post grid failure is not going to do you any good. Also, as a side note, I am not advocating that you attempt to stockpile through illegal means by foreign mail ordering medication, doctor shopping, or falsifying prescriptions – you can go to jail for these actions, so be forewarned. However, you can talk to your doctor and even ask them about long term prescription possibilities, which are perfectly legal.
While you are having that discussion about long term prescriptions with your doctor, go ahead and ask them if there is anything additional that you can do to lessen your dependence on prescription medication. Depending on your condition, your doctor may have already informed you of lifestyle changes that you should make but if he/she has not had such a discussion with you, ASK. If you can change your lifestyle (diet, exercise, etc) and improve your condition, then you need to incorporate those changes into your planning and preparation strategies right now. If a lifestyle change will not have any added benefit to your condition, the next question you need to ask your doctor about is are their over the counter or natural alternatives to the medication(s) you are currently prescribed. Most doctors are slaves to the pharmaceutical industry in this country, so do not expect a straight forward answer here, unless you have a really good relationship with your doctor. It never hurts to ask and if you feel comfortable doing so, let them know you are a prepper and are concerned about a grid down scenario or potential medication shortage.
Other alternatives include doing your own research over the internet but there is inherent danger here. One thing the internet is full of is porn and snake oil salesmen, so you have to be very careful of the latter in this situation. However, there is a lot of useful information for Holistic and natural medicine available at your finger tips. Try to find naturally occurring, unprocessed items that can substitute for your medication post SHTF. I do not recommend ignoring your doctor right now, but post SHTF all bets are off and if that medication is vital to your survival, you will have to find some type of alternative in order to survive. You will probably be surprised what a little research will yield and you might even find that what you need is growing naturally around you. If you do find what you believe to be a viable alternative, try to verify the information you have among several different sites or other forms of reference.
Ignoring the problem will not make it go away, so you need to take action now to ensure you have the ability to stockpile the medication you need OR can acquire it through a natural means post SHTF.
3 comments
I think there are a few other options people need to consider when it comes to medications. For antibiotics and other similar medications there are many veterinary products that can be had over the counter. There are plenty of places on the internet to find out fish tank antiobiotics for example that have the same active ingredients as many used by humans. You just need to find out the dosing conversions.
I’m new to prepping and a type 1 diabetic on an insulin pump. If I don’t have insulin, I would become ill within 2-3 days, and unable to help myself within a week. There aren’t any alternatives to insulin.
Insulin can stay viable at room temperature for 30 days, but after this time think I would be looking for that shady patch.
Any advice to avoid the shady patch?
You would be in a real pickle in a grid down or other long term catastrophic situation. You are right, there is no substitute for insulin. You might start by being ultra strict with your daily intake of sugars and starches. You might be able to barter some vials or scavenge empty homes, but honestly everyone else who is a diabetic would be in the same boat and probably would not part with any of their insulin and they would be scavenging empty homes, pharmacies and other places as well. My husband faces the same problem. His answer to the issue is to have an exit strategy. Waiting to die from insulin depletion is a truly grizzly death. I am a retired RN and I can’t count the amount of diabetics who have come into the ER that had no access to insulin due to financial issues and no insurance. Most were already in a coma, others were in various stages of multiple organ failure. Many died before we could help them. I hate to say this to anybody but thinking ahead is your best bet. Get your affairs in order, say what must be said to your loved ones and do the research on an exit strategy that you can live with. Discuss it with your loved ones. It’s a real tough call. My sympathies to all who would face this fate.