Basic Pharmacology Concepts for Preppers

We all store the medicines out of the reach of children for good reason—because they are potential poisons.  Drug manufacturers have come a long way in making their product look and taste less like candy (I really liked baby aspirin as a child, and I still have fond memories of a pretty good tasting teething numbing syrup we had in the cabinet for my youngest sister—wonder what was in that?), and making it almost impossible for children young and old to open pill bottles or packages, such that there are fewer cases of accidental poisonings in children now than in previous generations. 

All Drugs Are Potential Poisons

However, it is crucial to bear in mind that all drugs have the potential to poison, and this includes the obvious as well as seemingly innocuous:

• Prescription medications 
• Over-the-counter drugs
• Herbal cures
• Natural preparations
• Chicken soup

Basic Pharmacologic Rules for Everyone

• All medications are poisons.  Even food-grade items such as salt or alum (a preservative used in making pickles and play dough) can be poisonous if ingested in sufficient quantities.  People can die from drinking too much water—not often, but it happens. 
• If you don't know what the drug is, don't use it.  This shouldn’t need any further explanation.
• If you don't know the indications for the drug, don't use it.  If you don’t know exactly what conditions or illnesses a particular pharmaceutical is intended to treat, don’t use it.  Pain relievers like Tylenol and Advil are not necessarily interchangeable—sometimes they are, but sometimes they aren’t.  Neither are antibiotics. 
• If you don't know the dosing of the drug, don't use it.  If you don’t know whether to take one or two pills, or half a tablet for a child, or how often it should be taken, don’t just guess.
• If you don't know the side-effects of the drug, don't use it.  Some drugs have side effects of nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, or raising or lowering the blood pressure, among hundreds of others.  Benadryl can relieve the runny nose and itchiness associated with allergies.  It can also make a person very sleepy, which isn’t good if that person is driving or operating heavy machinery.  You don’t want to risk making a bad situation worse.
• If you don't know the contraindications for use, don't use it.  Lots of medications should not be used in young children or pregnant or nursing women. 
• If you don’t know the potential interactions with other drugs, whether prescription, OTC, herbal, or food, don’t use it.  There are drug-drug interactions as well as drug-food interactions.  Some of these work synergistically to potentiate the drug, while others completely inhibit the drug.  Grapefruit potentiates opioids, and interferes to some extent with hundreds of drugs.  Calcium renders tetracycline almost useless. 
• If you can't treat the possible complications, don't use it.  Some drugs, like penicillin, can cause life-threatening allergic responses.  If you don’t have epinephrine to treat anaphylaxis, don’t use penicillin.
• If it has been damaged or contaminated, don't use it.  This also shouldn’t need any further explanation.
• Do get a drug reference in your kit, something like a nurse’s pocket guide to drugs.  Leave the Physician’s Desk Reference on the bookshelf.
• Know the drugs you carry, use, or store.  You don’t have to memorize everything about them, but you better have a reference.  Even if you did have them memorized, in a crisis that could all go out the window.
• Know what you can substitute for drugs you use regularly.  If your supply is exhausted, learn what you can substitute in a crisis. 
  

There Are Thousands of Drugs

• Not even physicians or pharmacists know all of them.
• Become familiar with drug classes and subclasses, especially those you are most likely to need in your family.  

Understanding these basic pharmacology concepts will go a long way towards keeping your family safe, healthy, and prepared for uncertain times ahead.

Links to related posts:

Calcium

Tetracycline

Acquiring Antibiotics

Antibiotic Chart to Guide Acquisition

Food and Drug Interactions

OTC Pain Relievers--How Physicians Use Them for Maximum Relief

 12.1.20