When To Use Imodium (Loperamide)--And When Not To

Disclaimer.  This is not medical advice.  I am not a licensed health practitioner.  This is just another post on an item you might wish to have available if needed so that a physician can treat you and your family as best as possible.  No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.

Loperamide, generally known better by its trade name of Imodium, is one of those handy little tools to have in the medicinal toolbox.  But it's not so critical as to merit discussion right up there with antibiotics and OTC pain relievers.  I don't know that I've ever taken loperamide in my life, but my husband does occasionally and very much likes to have it on hand. 

So why discuss it now?  Why not wait until much later and cover more essential medications now?  Because loperamide could soon go the way of Sudafed.  If you recall, Sudafed used to be available over-the-counter right next to all the other cold remedies.  However, due to its use by meth-heads in manufacturing methamphetamine, you now have to go to the pharmacy counter, show your driver's license, and sign for it.  And you are limited in how much you can purchase each month.

Loperamide may follow suit at any time. That's because it's also known as "poor man's methadone."  Loperamide is actually an opioid, and abusers have turned to taking it in extremely large doses, like 200+ pills at once, to treat withdrawal symptoms.  So now the FDA is considering limiting our access to larger quantities.  They've asked manufacturers to package the tablets in blister packs of eight tablets.  And you really shouldn't need more than that to treat a simple case of diarrhea.  But, we're preppers, and we like to stock up.  As recently as April 2018 one could buy 400 tablets at Sam's Club for about $4.00.  I can't find any now at Sam's online.  Walmart's largest package contains 24 pills, for about twice what I paid for 400 tablets a year ago.  The cheapest I see on Amazon today (14 September 2019) is $6.20 for 96 tablets.  Still, when you need it, you need it. 

Loperamide, used medicinally since 1976, is on WHO's List of Essential Medicines for its use in treating diarrhea due to gastroenteritis, irritable bowel syndrome, and mild traveler's diarrhea.  It is NOT used for treating cholera, salmonella, typhoid, or Clostridium difficile; you want to get the bacteria causing these conditions OUT of the body ASAP.  Loperamide's job is to slow down intestinal motility and keep fluids IN the body.

Loperamide should not be used by pregnant or nursing women or in children under the age of five years.

For further reading:
https://solvingtheibspuzzle.com/imodium-fda-regulation/
http://faith-seeking-understanding.org/2018/06/19/loperamide-regulations-tightened-by-fda/
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2018/01/31/New-restrictions-on-Imodium-aimed-at-limiting-dangerous-misuse/8691517402527/

Copyright 2018, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com.

1 january 2019

The Medicinal Uses of Pomegranate

I was born and raised in Southern California, and while our subdivision was previously an orange orchard, all kinds of fruit trees could be found. One of the most popular was the pomegranate. We were fortunate to have a neighbor with a tree. The neighbor was not so lucky, however, since most of the fruit hung on our side of the fence. My mother often made pomegranate jelly, but what we children really loved was eating the pomegranate seeds.

Before ever breaking one open though, we had to change into our worst clothes; pomegranate juice stained everything. And we had to make sure to crack the pomegranates on the sidewalk at the side of the garage. My parents didn't want the driveway stained, either. 

Nutritionists have been touting the health benefits of pomegranates and their juice for several years now. East Indian medicine, Ayurveda, has used pomegranate to treat numerous conditions for thousands of years; unfortunately, precious little research has been done in the West. However, there are a few conditions that pomegranate peels and rind will treat that are worth mentioning now that fresh pomegranates are in season. For all conditions, the pomegranate peel and skin, basically every part of the pomegranate fruit except the arils (the seeds that we eat and extract juice from) is dried and powdered in the blender. Pomegranate peel and rind infusions are used to treat:

• cholera; 
• Salmonella;
• Shigella;
• typhoid fever;
• dysentery;
• O157:H7 enterogenic diarrhea.
  
  

In all cases, add one teaspoon pomegranate peel and rind powder to one cup of boiling water, cover, and steep for 10-15 minutes. 

Also, pomegranate rind and peel powder is synergistic with ampicillin, tetracycline, gentamicin, and oxacillin. If you are taking any of these antibiotics, pomegranate powder will help them work better for you.

Links to related posts:
Cholera

For further reading:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3671682/
https://www.healthyfoodhouse.com/pomegranate-peel-for-treating-numerous-diseases/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22820239

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com 

6 september 2021

The Problem with Zebras

"When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras."

That was one of the gems that Dr. Steve shared in his off-grid medicine course.  It's something taught to all students in medical school.  And what is means is this:  Common things happen commonly.  The child in the waiting room is more likely to have an ear infection than appendicitis.  The young adult is more likely to have type-2 diabetes than a gunshot. 

We naturally gravitate toward the sensationalized rather the common.  If we decide to learn something new, it has to be something cool, different, unique.  Quick and easy would be really good, too.  Macho survivalists want to learn how to DIY an appendectomy on themselves, sans anesthesia.  But learning to satisfy the essentials of good nutrition to stay healthy in the first place?  Leave that to the grannies. They want to be able to stitch up that GSW or finish off an amputation or place a tourniquet (and argue about which tourniquet is best).  They want to be able to treat the rare injuries, the zebras, that likely aren't even once in a lifetime or once in a family's lifetime, but can't manage the common problems (the horses).  They don't know which OTC meds are best for which conditions or when to suture and which wounds must be left open.

Spending money on stuff is easier than learning a new skill. The acquisition of that box of ammo, bottle of fish antibiotics, or solar rechargeable penlight provides an immediate reward of having accomplished something.  And with online shopping, you receive that reward twice--once when you purchase, and again when it arrives.

Learning a new skill takes time. It's not glamorous or sensational.  On top of that, the macho guys are even ridiculing your choices, which makes it harder.  They're sure the hoof beats coming are zebras, and it's silly to waste time preparing for horses, mules, or donkeys.  So you just have to put your head down and plow on.

Which brings us back to the problem with zebras.  For a very long time the US, figuratively, has been a nation of horses treated by horse doctors, horse doctors that have been trained to treat only horses.  Not zebras.  Even though zebras bear some physical resemblance, there are significant differences.  Because the zebras carry some vastly different diseases.  And those diseases have symptoms and presentations that are quite similar to those for horses, but the treatments may be totally different.  The horse doctors might have read about these zebra diseases, but they have never seen them.  Most American doctors have never seen even one case of the following:

• diphtheria
• tetanus
• rabies
• scabies
• mumps
• German measles
• cholera
• yellow fever
• typhus
• tularemia
• plague
• anthrax
• botulism
• measles (though this is changing with increasing numbers of people who are not immunized)

When American doctors hear hoof beats, they think horses. Scabies gets diagnosed as psoriasis.  Improperly diagnosed rabies patients are given steroids for pain and sent home.  Is it influenza, or anthrax?  The symptoms are very similar. What about plague or tularemia?  Even with experience, these can be hard to differentiate.  Without experience? You probably don't want to go there.

Unfortunately, many of those hoof beats in the distance are in fact coming from zebras.  Most physicians in US have never seen the actual zebras making a comeback and crossing our borders.  Measles is only the beginning.  Lots of other communicable diseases are on their way.   We currently have the problem of physicians unable to identify more exotic diseases now, while the technology is available to help them.  What happens when our society collapses?  They will not have their technology to help them diagnose anything.

Now, there are a few horse doctors who hear the hoof beats of zebras in the distance.  Some of them teach off-grid medicine to preppers.  Some write books or blogs.  No one physician covers everything, so it's best to acquire at least two or three different sources--hard copies.  Make sure you're prepared to deal with the ailments common to horses.  That's what you'll see the most of.  But it would also be wise to have the means of dealing with communicable diseases, parasites, and infectious diseases of third world countries, as well as bioweapons.  Zebras can be heard in the distance.

Links to related posts:
Cholera
Rabies
Scabies
Tularemia 
Typhus
Armageddon Medicine  
Survival and Austere Medicine, 3rd Edition  
The Survival Medicine Handbook 

For further reading:
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900041016/utahn-dies-from-rabies-a-first-since-1944.html
https://www.healthline.com/health/psoriasis/psoriasis-vs-scabies

 © 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com  04.23.24

Katadyn Micropur MP 1 Water Purification Tablets

Disclaimer.  This is just a review of another item you might wish to have in case of an emergency.  I have no financial interest in the manufacturer or in any company that sells their products.  And I have not received any compensation or free products to review or anything from them.

 News of the ongoing crisis in the socialist paradise of Venezuela should make us think that perhaps "it can happen here."  Ideally, of course, we have prepared perfectly well so that we can sit on our porches with popcorn and soda watching the world fall apart, and remain totally unaffected ourselves.  But as preppers, we are compelled to prepare for the worst and the what-ifs if Plan A fails.

Yesterday we covered the medications to have on hand if cholera strikes.  But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and the Katadyn Micropur MP1 Water Purification Tablets are definitely that ounce of prevention.  These small tablets, individually packaged for maximum shelf life (five years from date of manufacture, so if you're ordering online, make sure you're getting current stock), satisfy the US EPA guidelines for safe drinking water.  They're really easy to use; just drop one tablet in a liter of water.  The Micropur tablets kill viruses and bacteria in 15 minutes in all water, and Giardia and Cryptosporidium in 30 minutes in 60 degree, clear water.  If the water is cloudy and/or cold, eliminating the Cryptosporidium cysts requires four hours.  

The major advantages of Micropur chlorine dioxide tablets over iodine are that these tablets are effective against Cryptosporidium, whereas iodine is not.  And unlike some pump filters, Micropur tablets eliminate bacteria and viruses.   They are an excellent small and lightweight back-up in case the primary water purification method fails.  Because the active ingredient is chlorine dioxide, the same chemical used in municipal water treatment, the taste should be the same for those who drink city water.  In other words, it's much better tasting than water treated with iodine.  Most reviewers say it tastes and smells like pool water.  So if that's a problem, carry some Crystal Light or other flavor packets for your water, especially for children.

Let's address some of the cons: 

• Adding chemicals to drinking water.  This isn't a "lifestyle choice."  This is about preventing dehydration, diarrhea, and death.  It's not a long-term solution (unless you are really, really rich).  Pick your poison.
• Floaties.  The tablets do not eliminate floaties in your water.  If that's important to you, you'll need to pre-filter--through a coffee filter, bandana, clean t-shirt, etc.
• Long time for eliminating Cryptosporidium.  The four-hour purification time is only for cold, cloudy water.  Run the water through a pre-filter and let it warm up before adding the Micropur tablet to hasten purification.
• The individual foil packets are hard to open.  Use nail clippers or small scissors on a multi-tool to open packets.  If you do this in advance, mark the slit with a Sharpie to make the slit easier to find.

Additional thoughts:

• The Katadyn Micropur tablets are inexpensive for the short-term or for an emergency or back-up.  They're a bit pricey for long-term use. 
• For the best protection, use a water filter first to eliminate Giardia and Cryptosporidium and then the tablets take only 15 minutes to purify water from bacteria and viruses.
• Don't keep Micropur tablets in the car.  They need to be stored below 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Store the tablets in their original foil packets in a Tic-Tac container, tiny Altoids tin, etc, to keep them from getting crushed.
• Laminate the instruction card and keep it with the tablets.  In a crisis, it can be difficult to remember instructions and to think clearly.
• These tablets can be used in a hydration reservoir (water bladder).

Links to related posts:
96-hour kits, part 1  and  part 2  
Cholera 

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com   

3 january 2021