The twenty-first capacity that I introduce in my eBook is that you must stock two to three weeks of prescription medications, if necessary. In it I state that:
You must “stock two to three weeks of prescription medications, if necessary. Any prescription medications—including those that are not life-sustaining—should be stocked and rotated. Again, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about how to properly do this.”
As mentioned in a previous series post, if you take life-saving prescription medications then you MUST do whatever you can to ensure you have the medications you need to stay alive. I’ll repeat a few bullet points that are worth repeating here:
- Prescription medication are a must-have, especially those that keep you alive! This could include anything from heart medications to asthma inhalers and insulin. Work with your doctor and pharmacist to build up a stockpile; here’s a nice article on how to do so: How to Get Your Doctor to Help You Stockpile Medicine, by Cynthia J. Koelker, MD. There are other ways to acquire supplies: Letter Re: How to Stock up on FDA-Approved Prescription Medicines.
- You need to consider medications that aren’t necessarily life-saving but reality-saving as well. Specifically, I’m talking about any psychiatric medications or anti-depression meds. People need to be able to think clearly/rationally and an emergency is the wrong time to be off these prescriptions.
You doctor should always be your first resource. Get to know him or her (and let them know you), develop the trust they need to see from you (so that they know you won’t abuse your requests), and be honest with your concerns. Don’t abuse your relationship and ask for years of prescriptions. Be realistic and consider the doctor’s perspective!
I want to point out that stockpiling prescription medications isn’t just about life-saving drugs. This could be anything that you take a prescription for, including allergy management, cholesterol, thyroid, heartburn, or whatever the case may be. If you regularly take medications that require a doctor’s authorization then you owe it to yourself to ensure you have these medications on-hand in the event our normal distribution channels are disrupted. The same can be said for any family members that require such medications too.
Note: This post is part of an ongoing series detailing the ideas from my free eBook, The 99 Capacities You MUST Acquire BEFORE Disaster Strikes You!, which you may freely download here.
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3-6 months is the minimum. Lack of many medications such as oral meds for conditions like high blood pressure can be down right deadly. Most people don’t know that you don’t have to wait until the day before you run out of pills that you can get a refill. For an example if you have a 90 day prescription at day 62 normally you can get a refill. this gives you a 28 day emergency supply on your first refill. Next time you either get a new reoccurring prescription or at refill time on an existing prescription just as the pharmacist what is the earliest date you can get a refill, they are happy to tell you their is no need for secrecy. Also get your Dr. to write 90 day or longer prescriptions this is an automatic stock pile and is usually cheaper than 30 day orders. God Bless, Keep Your Powder Dry.
I’ve heard the threshold was closer to 75% of your medications being used up? 62 days is close enough but it takes discipline to do it!
Stockpiling aside, you can often order medications 3 months in advance if you utilize your health insurance company’s mail order pharmacy…and if anything happens to RX distribution in those first few months…you do have a nice little stockpile. Imagine if you combine this technique with whatever legal stockpiling methods you employ…you could be set for months.
Andrew J. Jackson
http://www.prepography.com
That’s a good thought to use a mail order Rx method. The 2-3 weeks I recommend is just a bare minimum and is really meant to get people to start with the idea of stockpiling meds.
I would say that two or three weeks is a minimum. Many disasters have proven to last longer than that.