Another thing to think of re:Rx meds-If they are in Pill or tablet form & are Buffered(Hardened) the potency will last quite a bit longer than Non-buffered,this really applies to Pain meds for the most parts,they are Buffered so breaking them down for Intreveinious use is difficult & for longer preservation of potency in stocks.

Sorry to have to disagree:

Buffering has nothing to do with hardness (hardening) of the pill or tablet. Buffering is the addition of buffering agents/chemicals that resist changes in pH. For example in bufferd asprin, the name brand Bufferin uses MgO. Other preparations use CaCO3.


Pete

I've never had issues with medications when travelling. We have a long standing relationship with our Dr and she has always prescribed an extra month or 2’s med etc if we are travelling. Sometimes the pharmacist is not too keen to fill it but you just need to say “I’m travelling” and then its no issues.

Because we’re often remote, we also get some antibiotics and other prescription meds (for just in case), once again it has not been an issue because of the good relationship with the Dr.

I guess the moral is to develop a good relationship with a Dr who you trust, if you don’t like the Dr, then try and look for another (I know this can be difficult depending on where you live …)

That is a very important point, Aussie. Having a doctor who listens can be crucial to your health, too. And, like it or not, there are doctors out there who are nuts, who are control freaks, who just don't care, etc.

Here in the U.S., payment for meds is usually tightly linked to insurance. If someone asks for extra, the automatic answer is NO, and people think that is cast in stone. If they quiz the doctor or pharmacy, it turns out that the ins. co. will only pay for one month at a time, and that if YOU will pay for the full prescription cost, your doctor can write a separate prescription and there is no problem.

Like with most things, when someone says, "NO", ask questions. Often times, the answer is really, "No, but..." and there are exceptions to the rule.

Sue

Very good points Sue.

Even if there is cost in buying extra meds, I think it is a good investment, just like I have invested in a spare knife (… ok perhaps more than one …) or keep extra food in the pantry etc. These things cost, but I think we happily spend money on all manner of ETS equipment, and duplicates, so we should approach meds as a necessary cost in the same fashion. It seems that if you get a good Dr and can explain what you want, and if you have the money, there is no reason not to have a sufficient stock of meds, even in the US !

I think I'd rather have a 3 months of lifesaving meds in my bug out bag than a great knife, PLB and everything which shines. For those who need meds its got to be about priorities.

Hey, I just had a thought on the old axiom :
3 min without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food
How about :
3 min without air, 1 day without meds, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food ?

I have a very tight-fisted sister (aka 'cheap'). She is more concerned with her savings account total than getting prepared. Occasionally, I have to ask her, "How much would you be willing to pay for it if you really needed it and didn't have it? That's when the price REALLY goes up!"

The time that I really pounded it into her head was with storing water. She has a 155' well and no generator. Then her power went out for a day... Finally she stores some water!

Sue

I have this problem because one of my children has Cystic Fibrosis, and takes several specialty medications. Paying retail prices out-of-pocket for the three most important meds would cost me over $10,000 for a 30-day supply. So this is a prohibitively expensive option to consider.

Trying to get the doctor to write a prescription for more doses than needed is generally pointless. All prescription meds have FDA-approved dosing limits. Unless there is enough flexibility in the limits for your med, no pharmacy or insurance company will honor a script that exceeds the FDA-approved limits.

However, most pharmacies now offer 90-day refills, you just need a doctor's prescription requesting that duration. If I recall correctly, the doctor can prescribe up to a 90-day supply with 3 refills on a single order. Pharmacies and prescription plans usually allow you to get a refill once you've used 90% of your meds if refilling at a local pharmacy, 75% if using mail-order. This window slides with each refill, which you can take advantage of to build your emergency supply. You just need to be patient and diligent in pushing the limit.

There are some bumps in the road, though. One med in particular, Tobi, has been a huge problem. My son takes this in alternating 28-day cycles; 4-weeks on then 4-weeks off, at a retail cost of almost $5k per 28-day supply. Because of Tobi's 28-day on/off cycle, the insurance company said they can only send one 28-day supply at a time (two 28-day supplies would account for 112 days, exceeding the 90-day limit).

Ultimately, after months of arguments, threats, and a letter from my attorney, the best I could do consistently is get two 28-day supplies shipped out for each refill. But sometimes they screw-up and send me three 28-day supplies, other times only one. When they send one by mistake they will send the second supply immediately when I call.

Just make sure you don't get lax in maintaining your supply of meds once you build it up, and always rotate your emergency supply with the fresh refills. My mail-order plan lets me place a refill order any time, and it will be shipped as soon as its eligible. This helps make things easier if you can get the same kind of service.

Refrigeration might not be an issue for your meds, but it is for my son's. I have an Engel 12V/DC refrigerator for medicine storage hooked-up to two deep-cycle batteries and maintained 24/7 by a charger, and I have two portable generators with enough gas to run them for 3-days without resupply. The idea is the batteries would hold the meds if the power goes out when I'm away, then I'd use the small generator to keep the batteries charged (and run an adjacent fridge/freezer for food -- the larger generator would power the main fridge, furnace for heat/hot-water, and sewer holding tank pump). Once I got into my 3rd-day of gas I'd have to decide whether to continue to stay put, using the generator an hour or two each day to recharge the batteries, or move to a better location.

But I like the idea of making ice to keep things cold in 5-day coolers. The Engel can be used as a freezer, too. So I could move frozen foods and ice-packs to the Engel, and rotate frozen ice-packs to coolers to keep both meds and food from going bad. If I only need to run the generator 2 hours a day to recharge the batteries, that 3-day supply of gas becomes a 36-day supply, and I wouldn't even need to change the oil and spark-plug in the generator (only 72-hours run time).

Hi Mark_M, looks like you have really taken control of the situation. Great work, well done, you deserve to be proud.

Best wishes for your family and especially Tobi.

Here is a possible idea for refrigerating your meds: Solar Power Beer Can cooler

For Mark and others who have life-dependent needs for refrigerators...

I know I posted this before, but I believe it was in another context and may have been skipped over.

An Aussie by the name of Tom Chalko took a standard chest-type freezer, added a thermostat (uses 2 AAA batteries), and wired the freezer to turn off when the programmed refrigerator-level temperature was reached. It uses only 1/10 of kilowatt per day, running about 90 seconds per hour.

The .pdf article and wiring diagram is shown at BuildItSolar.com: 0.1kW refrigerator from a freezer

I don't know how well this would suit your requirements, if it could be adapted to a smaller freezer, etc, but it's food for thought.

Sue