Practical suggestions for PWP.....Hedge against medication scarcity.

[beehive23]

With the increasing prospect of medication scarcity as most of our meds in the U.S. and elsewhere are manufactured predominantly in China and India, we should all take measures to protect ourselves. I always reorder my meds on time even if i still have some remaining. I save the rest. At times i have requested an extra dose of for example, Sinemet. Such as, I tell the Dr. I need to increase my dose by one. I do this until , at the very least, I have enough extras to titrate off safely. Sinemet is special in that, past a certain point we would have great difficulty Dc'ing the med. Most pills (not tinctures and liquids or gels etc.) are quite stable from expiration at normal temperatures and protection against humidity, even several yrs past "suggested expiration". The Pharmaceutical $ tactic of telling us not to take them past their "suggested expiration date" is, imo, by in large wrong, having used my handy dandy handbook of chemistry and physics and background to ascertain how stable the med chemical makeup is. When one collects a certain amount of extras, I just rotate them in and keep them fresh in that fashion. These tactics are, IMO, only necessary with the medications we use that we become dependant upon. Take charge of your wellbeing, Make things work to your advantage, noone else will. hang tough.

[Smittybear7]

Thanks

[LAJ12345]

yes, I do the same with clonazapam that we had a stock of from a previous crisis. I now rotate keeping a month spare just in case.

[Dwand in reply to LAJ12345]

Thank you

[CuriousMe12]

Maybe everyone should stay calm instead. This kind of talk is what caused mass panic buying of stuff such as bread and toilet rolls during covid. A few ended with most of the product and others went without. Without the panic creation there wouldn't have been a problem.

[AGH_1966 in reply to CuriousMe12]

1,000,000,000% People should fight their desire to be selfish and just behave.

[beehive23 in reply to AGH_1966]

perhaps no name calling......

[beehive23 in reply to CuriousMe12]

ive been doing this calmly for 15 yrs, cheers

[Zscaleplanet]

I fully concur with you Beehive, and have already started doing the same. My neuro even agrees with this and she’s very young.

Those who continue to put faith in this or ANY government and believe they’ve got everything under control and everything is just fine, are probably going to get a big surprise sooner than later.

Rite Aid drug stores have filed for bankruptcy, CVS is closing multiple locations, Walgreens employees are staging a mass walk out. And this is just recent news. As Alfred E. Neumann always says - “What me worry?”

I consider my extra stockpile of C/L as insurance. You pay for insurance just in case you have a calamity or accident. I consider my stockpile both medication‘s, supplements, toilet paper, food, and other “unmentionable little devices” for my protection, as nothing more than insurance. If you don’t believe in protecting yourself with insurance, then don’t. But I will.

Funny how squirrels know how to save nuts and seeds before winter sets in, and I doubt the other squirrels are calling them “panickers”…..

[beehive23 in reply to Zscaleplanet]

yes, it was first recommended by neuro and my primary, reinforced after Canada Merck pulled the sinemet CR production in 2019, its not hoarding to keep enough on hand to safely titrate down without being admitted to an MHU for a cold stop....squirrels....very smart animals....hang tough....and smart....cheers

[pdpatient]

Excellent observation. In fact, my first doctor (MDS) suggested that I carry extra doses of Sinemet in several places such as in my wallet, in special lockets in a neckband etc. He added with a smile, "those are for emergencies and don't worry about the expiry in case you never use them. They "never expire""

Sage advice.

[kaypeeoh]

The FDA says all medications must still be 90% effective at expiration date. If it was a 3-year expiration, three years later it's still effective but only 50%,. So take a double amount for the same result as taking new pills.