What about people like me in a SHTF situation?

[Tobashadow]

I went to thinking this morning while worrying over my soon to come (Feb 10th) cancer surgery to remove my Thyroid.

And thought about how i will be on a adjusted medication for the rest of my life or die since i will have 100% no thyroid left after the surgery.

What happens if the SHTF on a big scale as in people in the streets looting and killing for supplies.

I can take care of food, water and security with no problem.

But what about that med?

I know i could stockpile some but i am so far had a allergic reaction to two they have tried so it narrows it down to only four left i could take. And the doc will not write a long term extra since they want to change the dose size every three months or so. And any stockpile would only be a stop gap measure and i could literally count my days.

Do i join the looters and hit the pharmacies first?

Guess the doc is going to find out i have a survivalist frame of mind or think i panic too much and want to put me on other meds.

I wonder if he knows i am always packing when i visit and I'm still trying to figure out what to do while I'm in the hospital with it.

[Guest Arko]

First of all, good luck with the surgery!

As far as stockpiling..well, I think you may have to express your views with the Doc, which may be a crap shoot, but is probably the most direct.

Otherwise, perhaps mail/Internet pharmacy?

[G27]

That one's tough - I'm not going to promote any other sites here as that wouldn't be cool, but there are a few decent prepping/survival sites around where people have addressed this sort of issue.

I'll tell you this - there's no consensus on the best way to approach it and most every answer is short term (<1 year) at best as medications don't often have long shelf lives, even if refrigerated or frozen.

[Guest HexHead]

I'm with you, without meds our life spans will be considerably shorter. On the plus side, when you have nothing to lose, you can be more bold. That may prove necessary in a SHTF scenario.

[analog_kidd]

You could get a month's supply, then "accidentally" lose the bottle. Ask your doc for another prescription to replace it. Then just rotate the extras into your monthy supply so they don't get old.

I'd think one extra month of meds would get you past just about anything but total mayhem.

[timcalhoun]

Well, if humans make it you can make it, so figure out how to make it. Where there is a will there is a way.

[pitt2magic]

I have concidered the same question. Not fi

for myself but for a close friend who is diabetic. He is young and in better shape than most of my friends but is on an insulin pump. I really haven't come up with a good solution to his problem.

Good luck with your surgery.

[Guest bkelm18]

Well, if humans make it you can make it, so figure out how to make it. Where there is a will there is a way.

I've got a feeling that making it will be a little be harder than making a sandwich. Maybe if there were a pharmaceutical manufacturer nearby you could break in and steal the equipment, but I'd say for most folks, making it themselves might not be an option.

[TNRobocop]

Main thing about meds is that they are not infinite.

They expire and some actually turn toxic after awhile.

Basically if you are on long term meds that are essential to survivial, you are pretty much ****ed in a true shtf situation.

[Guest mustangdave]

Toba...good luck with the surgeory...we'll add you to our prayer list. As far as the meds go, once you are "stable" on which ever medication works BEST...there should be no issue getting a 90 day supply. My insurance plan prefers that I get them in bulk...check with yours see if they have a policy on that...plus you can also get the meds over the WEB as well.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Toba...good luck with the surgeory...we'll add you to our prayer list. As far as the meds go, once you are "stable" on which ever medication works BEST...there should be no issue getting a 90 day supply. My insurance plan prefers that I get them in bulk...check with yours see if they have a policy on that...plus you can also get the meds over the WEB as well.

Agree

That is going to be tough. If a SHTF scenario happened hopefully it will be short lived if a political one(and I do think it will be political) and maybe our

health system won't be too diminished. Stock up as best you can. Something like this won't happen overnight. It may even be already be happening the right way, now. Prayers always help and you have them, already. You won't be left behind. Plan ahead and let others around you know. We still are the most caring nation.

[Guest ab28]

Well, if humans make it you can make it, so figure out how to make it. Where there is a will there is a way.

Not without a PhD in chemistry, a lab, and the raw materials.

[timcalhoun]

Not without a PhD in chemistry, a lab, and the raw materials.

I guess I wouldn't dismiss it so quickly if I had the problem. I know a large number of pharmaceuticals can be duplicated with limited equipment so says my local pharmacist. But I don't know you may be right. But I will tell you that if I listened to everyone that said that it was too hard and that can't be done without yada yada I would be in a very sorry place today.

Plus, if it were me, I would not rule out going back for more education to address the problem.

[molonlabetn]

...become good friends with a pharmacist.

[tntnixon]

You will not die, in the short term, from not having your thyroid medication, but you may get fat. The big concern is if they remove the parathyroids in the process (they are small glands imbedded in the thyroid that regulate calcium level in the blood and are sometimes impossible not to remove) but this is an easy fix by taking a calcium supplement, which you can easily "stock up" on.

The good news is that thyroid cancer is generally one of the easiest cancers to cure (I say generally because there are some rare types that are more problematic) and you should be just fine. That being said, I'll put you on my prayer list (even though I consider myself a medical professional and believe in science, I never discount my firm belief in the power of prayer).

[Guest Ae-35]

I feel for you brother, being a heart-transplant recipient, meds keep me alive. Getting them through the VA. has made it impossible to have more than a 30 day supply. Good luck with your surgery, will be praying for you.!!!

[Guest jimdigriz]

I'm sure that you could prevail upon your doctor to give you an extra month or two month supply. Bring up your concerns to him, and give the example of the people in Kentucky last year who had the winter storm that for weeks left them without power and complicated travel.

If you don't mind me asking, what is the medicine you take? Is it perchance Levothyroxine (Synthroid)? This medicine expires fairly quickly, and it is difficult to build a long term stock. My wife takes it, and I've been trying to figure out how to prepare for a SHTF situation for her. I've read up on Armour, the medicine that was supplanted by Levothyroxine. If I'm not mistaken, it will not expire nearly as fast as Levothyroxine. You might be able to obtain a backup supply of it to switch to if the SHTF. That is probably what I will try to do for my wife.

[TNRobocop]

Not super familar with meds, but what makes them go "bad/expire"?

Is it exposure to light, air, or just the breakdown of the ingredients in general.

Just wondering if typical food prep ideas would be helpful to meds, like vacuum sealing to keep out air, storage in cool dark places in sealed containers, etc. would help. And if it did, by how much?

Edited January 19, 2010 by TNRobocop

[Guest jimdigriz]

Not super familar with meds, but what makes them go "bad/expire"?

Is it exposure to light, air, or just the breakdown of the ingredients in general.

Just wondering if typical food prep ideas would be helpful to meds, like vacuum sealing to keep out air, storage in cool dark places in sealed containers, etc. would help. And if it did, by how much?

Probably it would help, at least a little.

A lot of meds like Aspirin are good past their expiration dates. But Levothyroxine is different.

"The government found that often levothyroxine sodium drugs do not remain potent through their expiration dates, and tablets of the same dosage strength from the same manufacturer have been found to vary in potency from lot to lot in terms of the amount of active ingredient present. This lack of stability and consistent potency has the potential to cause serious health consequences to those of us taking these drugs."

Synthroid and other Levothyroxine Drugs Have Significant Stability and Potency Problems

Of course, the OP may be using a different medicine entirely.

[strickj]

You could get a month's supply, then "accidentally" lose the bottle. Ask your doc for another prescription to replace it. Then just rotate the extras into your monthy supply so they don't get old.

I'd think one extra month of meds would get you past just about anything but total mayhem.

That would be a crime.

If you're doing that with a narcotic, you could find yourself in a double whammy...

I wouldn't chance it for a few extra pills.

Best bet is talk to your doc, like mentioned.

[tntnixon]

Not super familar with meds, but what makes them go "bad/expire"?

Is it exposure to light, air, or just the breakdown of the ingredients in general.

Just wondering if typical food prep ideas would be helpful to meds, like vacuum sealing to keep out air, storage in cool dark places in sealed containers, etc. would help. And if it did, by how much?

All chemicals have a time span under which the degrade, that's how carbon dating works. Everthing, if given enough time, will degrade down to hydrogen atoms (the building block of the universe). Expiration dates on drugs are regulated by the FDA and are very strict, actually more strict than the probably should be usually well within the drugs actual degradation time. "Expired" drugs are routinely taken on foreign mission trips and are used with good results. There are some notable exceptions to this, though.

[Guest .45]

best of luck to you with the surgery... prayers for a fast, complete recovery are headed your way.

that said, I think the cold, hard, uncomfortable truth is that in a true SHTF/long term scenario, there is no real answer for those who are terminal without their meds.

as others have already said, a stockpile would be both illegal, as well as ineffective (the meds would most likely spoil).

the sad truth is, that many among us with illnesses/conditions requiring modern meds/treatments simply would not have survived just a few generations ago. and they most likely will not in a long term SHTF scenario.

a sobering reminder that there are just some things that we cannot prepare for or prevent. let us hope and pray that SHTF never happens... if it does, prayer may become the only treatment available. we may do well to practice it ahead of time...

.45

[Tobashadow]

If you don't mind me asking, what is the medicine you take? Is it perchance Levothyroxine (Synthroid)?

Don't know yet, my case is a bit different and Ive had to fire 2 doctors already that i felt did not know what they where talking about and i feared for my life if i stayed with them.

One of them swore up and down there was nothing wrong with me even while i sat in his exam room barely breathing and my heart beating really really slow. And was naming of symptoms of hyperthyroid and called it hypothyroid based on my blood test (but had his info 100% in the wrong direction) and said mine did not match hypo but it did for everything on the list i found out later so he said it was all in my head. (FIRED)

Went to another doc for a second opinion and he named off the correct info but the treatment was out of his league and experience sent me to another doctor. (understandable)

Went to this doctor and he put me on Levothyroxine and three days later i ended up with a very near heart attack that would have happened if i was two minutes later to the ER from complications from the meds. Called him up and he said that was bull**** and continue taking them (i think not) then wanted to do a biopsy on the 8 growths he found but flat refused to explain the procedure to me saying the info is on the sheet they gave me which had all of three F'n lines. (FIRED)

Now im at a new doc that agreed with everything i thought it was and told me the other two where flat wrong, he tried a few more options but my biopsy he did (after explaining the procedure) came back 98% sure of cancer cells. So the only option is total removal and maybe more.

The real problem is the meds i have only 4 left on the list they can try but he has really hi hopes for this one (forgot the name) since its chemically a exact clone of real human thyroid hormones but after the other problem i get to take a few days in UT while they play the does it kill him game after the surgery.

Does anyone know if UT has wifi in the rooms?

[Jasongar8]

Best of luck bud. I am praying for you.

[tnextreme01]

I wish you the best of luck on your impending surgery. May I say if you do plan to take path of looting and killing. You would be wise to plan ahead. Most if not all looters go crazy with no plan of attack.