SHTF and chronic diseases

[TexAg]

So, reading SHTF scenarios and what-ifs and TEOTWAWKI and everyone's "plan" and hypotheticals...Who here has a medical dependence on drugs to sustain their life? Or their life at they know it?
See, I am diabetic, type 1 (aka juevenile diabetes) since I was 24. I have to have insulin or my blood sugar goes through the roof, and while I would not die immediately without insulin I would be fighting dehydration (blood gets thick with glucose and your body starts pulling water from organs to help your blood flow), vision problems, eventual blindness, extreme weight loss, coma, death, etc. Really the only thing to do without insulin is to limit consumption of carbs and drink alot of water.

They used to pull insulin from pig's and cow's pancreases from specialized cells and then clean it up and filter it, but thats still a major laboratory undertaking. Now they make it with genetically altered bacteria in big vats that prodce the insulin. So now if your insulin supply dries up (and it does have a limited shelf life and does need to be refridgerated long term), you're up the creek really. Or am I? Anyone know something I don't?

So I am wondering who out there has a similar dependence or has thought about their family member(s) who do? I know this isn't much gun related, but the amount of ammo you have on hand sure doesn't seem to matter as much! It certainly makes me hope that there are no major end of the world events in my life time.

Isn't it alot more fun to play SHTF when you aren't so dependent on modern society and technology to supply your life sustaining medicines?

[det.pat]

find as much actos and glucophage as you can and carefully monitor your excercise and intake.
harry [type 2]

[beerslurpy]

No, fortunately I havent gotten anything like that to worry about. A few diabetics at work though.

I generally spent about 90 percent of my life avoiding commercial medicines altogether. Occaisionally I'll eat a tylenol or something similar. Learning how to cope with pain and learning how to fight off sickness without antibiotics is a useful thing to have IMO.

[MechAg94]

I'm right there with you beerslurpy. I don't take anything regularly but vitamins. I guess I am taking Crestor for cholesterol, but I doubt that will be a major concern if the SHTF. Having excess body fat might be a luxury.

Having a serious health concern would really suck if the SHTF. About all you can do it try to stockpile, but that may not work for some drugs. Maybe look into ways you could cope with the problem without drugs. That is not possible all the time either.

If TEOTWAWKI comes around, lots of people will be in that situation. But they won't be alone as there will likely be plenty for violence for everyone else.

[TexAg]

find as much actos and glucophage as you can and carefully monitor your excercise and intake.
harry [type 2]

Those don't do anything for type ones really. I suppose they could lower it slightly, but thats what they put me on when they thought I was type 2 and I was still in the 200 and 300 rangs.

[Lupinus]

I am lucky enough to not have any serious conditions where I need to take pills to keep me alive.

I do however have joint problems, mostly my knees and right shoulder. So pain meds help ALOT. I rarly take them however unless I absoloutly have to. If I am working I will take them so Ican get my job done without killing myself. But in general if I can go without I try to, I just learned how to deal with it I suppose.

Aside from pain meds I generaly dislike any medication in general. When you have a condition (diabetes, hearts disease, etc) take your meds. But otherwise if everytime you get a runny nose you run to the Dr. your immune system is going to reflect that. Not to say the young, elderly, or sick should do this, but people who are otherwise healthy in general are better off letting thier body deal with it as it was designed to. You will end up with a much stronger immune system in the end, like anything else that gets use it will be stronger and if you never use it it will get weaker.

Also I would learn how to take care of msyelf without medication I normally would need. If I was diabetic I'd take my meds as usual but I would also educate myself in how to survive if need be without it. If I could manage it through monitoring my intake of certian foods and water and knowing how to feel "off" I'd learn how to incase the need ever arised. May not be able to do 20 miles a day out of dodge but it'll hopefully keep you alive.

Also as much as some of us like to be macho you need to know and understand your limits. If you have joint problems you are better served by doing a slower steady pace you can do. Ten miles a day for a week is better then twenty for two days and crippling yourself to the point you can hardly move and fall short of where you need to be. Same if you have another medical condition. A diabetic isn't goign to be served better by pushing themselves and ending up in shock. A person with heart disease is going to be better served with a slow steady pace then with a heart attack. Same applies to any health condition whether it be a disabeling one like muscle or joint problems or a condition that is potentialy life threatening like heart disease or diabetes. Know and understand your limits, don't ignore them but stay within them, and in the end you will be better served.

[benEzra]

No one in our family with diabetes, but my 6 y.o. son is VERY medically complex (lots of artifical parts in his heart and pulmonary tract, he's mildly immune deficient, lots of GI issues, AND a soy-based enteral formula liquid only diet since he can't eat solid foods and is allergic to milk protein). So that's a major consideration with us as far as hurricane evacs or whatever.

We generally keep a large stock of necessary medications on hand, and try to have at least a couple weeks' worth of nutrition on hand for him. In a pinch, he'd be able to subsist on soy milk w/pudding +vitamins if we could find some at a grocery store, but that does complicate things quite a bit. One very important component of any evac for us would be the Coleman 12-volt cooler to keep his stuff cold.

TexAg, would it be possible to "stock up" on insulin just in case, perhaps with the help of your doctor? What's the shelf life?

Definitely have a set of extra batteries for your glucose monitor...post-hurricane or whatever, batteries may be hard to come by...

[RiverwinoIA]

what kind of firearms would you use to protect your meds.... :D
just making a feeble attempt at keeping this thread alive (no guns, no thr).

those with glasses/contacts should get a sturdy (ugly) pair of back up glasses just in case.
dont matter how good you can shoot if you cant see.

[Curare]

...and while I would not die immediately without insulin I would be fighting dehydration (blood gets thick with glucose and your body starts pulling water from organs to help your blood flow), vision problems, eventual blindness, extreme weight loss, coma, death, etc. Really the only thing to do without insulin is to limit consumption of carbs and drink alot of water.

Actually, glucose is a diuretic. As your blood sugar increases, your kidneys excrete it into your urine and water follows.

As someone with diabetes mellitus, type 1, without insulin your life is in immediate jeopardy. You would likely die from diabetic ketoacidosis. Unfortunately, the only foods that might be readily available would be carb rich, and potable water might be hard to come by.

There's good reason why the discovery of insulin won the Nobel prize--prior to its use, Type 1 diabetics had a short life.

If the SHTF, my advice to you would be to "loot" the local drug store and store the insulin it a cool, covered hole. Have a stock pile of elctrolyte-rich water as well. Hopefully civilization would return as soon as possible.

[KriegHund]

Your all screwed.

Im just glad i dont have any medical dependencies or horrid allergies. I do have bad vision.....not nearly to the extent of blindness, but enough to be a slight PITA.

Yet.

Im glad im young and stupid....

[NMshooter]

Right off the bat you can not be alone in a long term situation with any serious medical condition.

Make the sort of friends who will not leave you behind if you have not already.

It would help greatly if one of them was at least an EMT, better yet an LPN or RN. If nothing else have detailed instructions handy so that whoever happens to be around if you pass out can go through a checklist and figure out what is wrong and hopefully do something to help you.

If you are very careful about your diet you should be able to survive. Beyond basic survival however, you may only be useful for a few hours each day, and only for light work.

Folks are working on various implants that might help, do not follow such things closely but you might want to look into that.

As far as eyeglasses are concerned that was my number one reason for LASIK. If for any reason you can not have this procedure keep multiple pairs of glasses handy, at least one pair at each location you are at during the day (work, home, vehicle, etc.) and a pair in your BOB. Have a pair or two handy at wherever you might bug out to as well. Without glasses I would not have been very effective before LASIK, I kept several pairs of glasses all over the place.

[TexAg]

BenEzra:
Some shelf lives of insulin are a year long..refridgerated. So a cool dry hole, and winter would be good for storing it, but I am not sure how long it would last in TX in summer even in a hole. And you can't freeze it, you would have to watch that in the winter, even more so in northern sates.
Modern insurance, medical plans and prescriptions do make it difficult to stock pile any meds since they won't let you buy more at any old time. I could probably get my doc to authorize more, but then I get to pay alot more too! (I don't have insurance) I do try and will continue to try and build up my on hand supplies little by little.

Curare:
Don't think I haven't already thought of all that!

I do wonder how many diabetics would run down to the pharmacy and steal all they could? And how many "common" looters would grab any of the insulin at all? I also worry about how much the pharmacy has on hand, very little probably, considering how often they have to order when I place my order.
I know one thing, I would have to be in dire need to go to a gov't run camp like the Super Dome and be unarmed just to get some insulin...and then given the situation they may not let you leave again. Hopefully the SHTF for less than a couple weeks.

[TexAg]

Your all screwed.


Im glad im young and stupid....

Depends on how long we're in it for, but generally you're right! :cuss: But before I am completely out of it you bet I will be training and handing out guns to all the friends, family and neighbors who will need them.

Hey, I got type 1 when I was 24 which is pretty old for it (they called it juevinille diabetes for a reason). I don't know how old you are, but you still have a chance for all kinds of fun stuff to happen to you medically! :neener:

[Zaire]

I psoed this exact question to my dad last week. He is on several medcations for Congestive HEart Failure. I know one is a blood thinner, not sure about the others. He only gets a prescription once a month for a months supply:( He is on disability, so there isn't any way to get more.

[beerslurpy]

When the SHTF, the old and the infirm are the first to go. Followed quickly by hotheaded young males who arent smart enough to realize that an ambulance wont be coming to take them to the emerency room anymore. In short, many of the people that are marginally equipped to survive in the soft Mr Rogers version of America today will be deeply submerged in Sheiss Creek without a boat, let alone a paddle. A situation bad enough to cause a large scale population collapse would put great selective pressure on everyone. Do you see yourself as being in the top 1-2 percent in terms of wits, toughness and resourcefulness?

A smart man invests in good bandages and antiseptic as much as he invests in guns and ammo. Water purification tablets wouldnt hurt either.

[The_Antibubba]

Insulin dependence is a big problem. So that means you must do everything possible, while there is still time, to reduce the amount of insulin you will need.

1. Get in shape. Obesity makes your condition worse. If long-term survival is something you're truly commited to, then you'll have to be as fit as a tri-athlete.

2. Diet. A part of getting in shape, but some foods will stress your body less than others, and help slow the rates that sugars enter the bloodstream. I've read a little about the glycemic index-I'm sure you've read more. Some studies have shown that a Macrobiotic diet can have a profound effect on the illness. Having seen what a Macrobiotic diet allows, however, I'm not sure I want to survive that badly. :P

3. Complementary Medicines. There have been some drug trials that indicate that some of the drugs used to treat Type II diabetes can reduce the amount of insulin needed by Type I sufferers. A supply of those will extend your insulin.

4. Alternative Medicine. By themselves, they probably won't save you, but what do I know? Chinese medicine has had thousands of years to develop formulas for diabetes. Indian Ayurvedic you can look at too. As I said, you don't want to look here first, but after every other measure, they might be enough to save you.

5. Keeping that insulin good. I've seen small portable coolers and refrigerators powered by 12v DC or small solar panels. I've seen coolhouses that use cool springs or streams diverted into a small shed to keep perishables (also protects from sun)-probably not a Texas option.


You are looking at a lot of time and money to pull this off-but it is your LIFE we're talking about.


Oh-also, try to find a doctor who is going to be open to some of these choices. In my experience, D.O.s seem to take a broader approach than M.D.s.