Suggestions for Building Your Personal Medication Stockpile

Several methods for building personal prescription medication supplies have already been presented here on the blog:

• Overseas pharmacies sell numerous prescription medications for people.
• Over-the-border pharmacies are another popular choice for those living close to Canada or Mexico.
• Farm and ranch stores often carry so-called "fish" antibiotics, dewormers, and other vet-grade pharmaceuticals. (Update:  "Fish" antibiotics are no longer available in the US.)
  
• Online retailers generally carry a wider variety of fish antibiotics than feed and ranch stores.

Here are a couple more ideas, particularly important since there aren't "fish" options for many medications.  They won't let you build a huge supply, but every little bit helps.  Begin by developing a good relationship with your doctor.  This includes following his recommendations.  Once you've established a good relationship, broach the subject of preparedness.  There are different routes to take here for building your supply, and not all of them will work for every pharmaceutical.   Keep in mind also that physicians are coming under increasing scrutiny from insurance companies and state and federal governments.  Some are genuinely concerned about running afoul of some petty bureaucrat, and you can hardly blame them.  They may honestly be reluctant to write extra prescriptions for you just to protect themselves from any government hassles.

• Ask if he can prescribe a higher dose.  This is a particularly good solution for those drugs that come in many different strengths.  If your normal dosage is 75 mg, ask if he will prescribe 150 mg tablets instead, and you can split them at home.  
• Ask for extras for "vacation."  While some people rationalize that they are just trying to build a supply, dishonesty can harm the relationship with your doctor and make him reluctant to help.  It's better off to just be honest about your concerns regarding the fragility of a just-in-time delivery system and a world becoming crazier by the minute.
• If s/he is still reluctant, ask if he would be willing to let you purchase the needed medications and keep them in his office with your name on them.  
• Some medications are cost-prohibitive without insurance to cover them, which will be the case if you are asking your physician to write more than your insurance company and your doctor says you need.  Ask your doctor if there is an older drug, which will likely be cheaper, that can be substituted.  It may not be ideal, but if it can get you through an emergency it will be appreciated.  
• Often, doctors have free drug samples from the pharmaceutical companies.  Sometimes just mentioning you are trying to build an emergency supply is all you need to do.  My husband just came home with several vials of very expensive insulin this way--the first time he's asked in the 35+ years of being a type-1 diabetic.  
• Refill all prescriptions as soon as they can be filled.  Many companies don't require a full month before reorders.  
• Above all, maintain your doctor's trust in you.  Keep appointments, follow directions, and heed suggestions.  If your doctor wants to see you more often to be sure you are using the prescriptions as recommended, do so. 

Even the good folks at the CDC recommend having enough of a supply of prescription medications to see a person through an emergency.  But there are always those people who refuse to prepare for such an event.  Though this clearly does not apply to readers of this blog, here's a suggestion for those of you with non-preppers in your life who depend on life-sustaining medications.  The following link and address are to a document on the CDC website.  That document has links to the laws for each state in the country governing the issuance of emergency prescriptions.  In some cases, those medications can be dispensed by a pharmacist without a regular prescription from a doctor.  The laws vary by state and situation. 

https://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2019/09/prescription-preparedness/

Links to related posts:
Acquiring Antibiotics
Antibiotic Chart to Guide Acquisition
Feed and Ranch Stores for Medical Supplies

 4 august 2020