Reference Prepping in "general" on this and other forums, what is your thoughts about other people's prepping, not you're prepping.

[Spikedriver]

You know, I'm not what anyone would call a Prepper or Survivalist. As I've said on other threads, I require maintenance meds to survive. I can only get 20 to 30 days worth at a time, per insurance. There are less effective versions of my meds that require no prescription but they have a relatively short shelf life. If not refrigerated they'll lose effectiveness in as little as 60 days.

If said meds become unavailable, once I run out I will die an excruciating, miserable death in about 72 hours. My cells will not be able to convert glucose into fuel and my body will become acidic and my organs will fail. This is why I don't prep long term - if it gets bad enough I need the preps, I won't be around long enough to use them...

But for short term events like temporary civil unrest, natural disaster, and financial disruption, I feel like I'm in decent shape. I won't live well, but I'll get by well...

 

[Tommyice]

You know, I'm not what anyone would call a Prepper or Survivalist. As I've said on other threads, I require maintenance meds to survive. I can only get 20 to 30 days worth at a time, per insurance. There are less effective versions of my meds that require no prescription but they have a relatively short shelf life. If not refrigerated they'll lose effectiveness in as little as 60 days.

If said meds become unavailable, once I run out I will die an excruciating, miserable death in about 72 hours. My cells will not be able to convert glucose into fuel and my body will become acidic and my organs will fail. This is why I don't prep long term - if it gets bad enough I need the preps, I won't be around long enough to use them...

But for short term events like temporary civil unrest, natural disaster, and financial disruption, I feel like I'm in decent shape. I won't live well, but I'll get by well...

If you were to go on vacation or accidentally leave your medication at one of your out-of-area work sites, your insurance may have overrides available to get additional supplies. Sometimes they'll tell you to pick it up at another pharmacy while you're on vacation. If you're traveling outside of the country some insurers require an itinerary.

 

[Spikedriver]

If you were to go on vacation or accidentally leave your medication at one of your out-of-area work sites, your insurance may have overrides available to get additional supplies. Sometimes they'll tell you to pick it up at another pharmacy while you're on vacation. If you're traveling outside of the country some insurers require an itinerary.

My insurance does not. Once I get my prescriptions filled for the two vital meds, I must wait at least 15 days to refill. There is no emergency authorization...

 

[Tommyice]

My insurance does not. Once I get my prescriptions filled for the two vital meds, I must wait at least 15 days to refill. There is no emergency authorization...

I hate insurance companies (deal with them all day long). They pay all day long for narcs but lord help you if you need Zofran (for vomiting). Then they try to make you wait 3 days for a prior authorizations. They belong at the bottom of the ocean with lawyers and politicians. They're all intertwined anyway so they'll keep each other company with the fishes.

 

[Magus]

You know, I'm not what anyone would call a Prepper or Survivalist. As I've said on other threads, I require maintenance meds to survive. I can only get 20 to 30 days worth at a time, per insurance. There are less effective versions of my meds that require no prescription but they have a relatively short shelf life. If not refrigerated they'll lose effectiveness in as little as 60 days.

If said meds become unavailable, once I run out I will die an excruciating, miserable death in about 72 hours. My cells will not be able to convert glucose into fuel and my body will become acidic and my organs will fail. This is why I don't prep long term - if it gets bad enough I need the preps, I won't be around long enough to use them...

But for short term events like temporary civil unrest, natural disaster, and financial disruption, I feel like I'm in decent shape. I won't live well, but I'll get by well...

I'm kind of there too, My body is shot and its not getting any better. is there any herbal alternatives you can look into or anything? I gave up on living long term after I got back from my "vacation" but riots, storms, etc lasting less than a couple of months. good to go!

 

[Spikedriver]

I'm kind of there too, My body is shot and its not getting any better. is there any herbal alternatives you can look into or anything? I gave up on living long term after I got back from my "vacation" but riots, storms, etc lasting less than a couple of months. good to go!

There are no remedies other than insulin. No matter what, there are no herbs or potions or elixirs that can replace insulin in a type 1 diabetic. Type 2 is a totally different disease with a different type of function, and some home remedies can have a mild effect on it. But the real cure for type 2 is to eat right, lose weight, and exercise. None of that can cure type 1...

 

[Magus]

Damn bro. Well, on the bright side, you live a full life now.
I always keep a bullet in my pocket if you know what I mean, but I'd hold on until I can see it on the horizon, hell. maybe coming up the driveway!

 

[Neb]

There are no remedies other than insulin. No matter what, there are no herbs or potions or elixirs that can replace insulin in a type 1 diabetic. Type 2 is a totally different disease with a different type of function, and some home remedies can have a mild effect on it. But the real cure for type 2 is to eat right, lose weight, and exercise. None of that can cure type 1...

Blood pressure medicine is my weakness.

Ben

 

[Magus]

Want mine? I never take it.

 

[Chaosdawn]

Blood pressure medicine is my weakness.

Ben

Same here and there's no reason found for my high blood pressure. I'm not overweight, I exercise and eat well, there's no family history of it. So there's nothing I can do to lower it other than med. I have been stockpiling it for a handful of years now, I fill the rx several days to a week early every time and collect the 'extras' for emergencies. I have several months worth stored away now.

 

[Aerindel]

Blood pressure medicine is my weakness.

Ben

Coming off blood pressure meds SUDDENLY is very very bad.
Many many many people live fine all the time with terribly bad blood pressure, at obviously higher risk...but its not something that actually kills you in itself if not treated in a short time frame. In a world where you could no longer get meds, it would probably be the least of your worries.

 

[Neb]

Coming off blood pressure meds SUDDENLY is very very bad.
Many many many people live fine all the time with terribly bad blood pressure, at obviously higher risk...but its not something that actually kills you in itself if not treated in a short time frame. In a world where you could no longer get meds, it would probably be the least of your worries.

Thank you for that.

If SHTF I will taper off the BP medicine while at the same time my nicotine and alcohol in the evenings. I atay in decent shape for someone that is pushing 65. The Princess will be rationing food so I will probably loose some weight. A blood pressure cuff will tell me how it is going.

If my BP is still bad then I will just have to expect to meet my maker.

He well call me when it's time.

Ben

 

[Aerindel]

If my BP is still bad then I will just have to expect to meet my maker.

Its the kind of thing that will shorten your life. It increases your risk of heart attack and stroke, but its not as if you should expect to suddenly die when your meds are gone. It just means the heart attack or whatever that would have eventually killed you anyway, will come sooner than it would have otherwise.

When you taper off, do it as slowly as possible, like over a full month until you are just taking 1/10th of a pill or something.

Your body gets used to BP meds and and your natural ability to control your BP is compromised so getting off them suddenly, can cause your BP to spike far higher than it ever was before without the meds.
And I know nobody here uses anti-depressants or anti-anexity drugs, but same thing....if you don't taper off its not just that the symptoms come back, its that they come back far worse than they ever where before.

A tragically large number of people end up killing themselves because they take drugs, which make them feel better, so they stop taking them because now they feel better....and then fell ten times worse all of a sudden.

 

[Chaosdawn]

Good to know, I'd probably taper it down anyways if I couldn't get more meds. If I forget to take my pill in the morning, by around 11am I have a terrible headache and feel dizzy so makes sense to slowly bring it down. I should do research on herbs to lower bp, I may need them.

Back on topic, I agree that it seems like most people have rosy glasses on and are functioning like everything will turn out fine. But then I don't talk to anyone about prepping or the like anymore, I tried to talk to others about it to encourage them in the past and had one previous coworker laugh and say 'I'll just come to your house'. Um, no. Sorry but no. So I stopped talking after that.

 

[SheepDog]

The biggest concern with high blood pressure is kidney failure and renal collapse.

 

[Sourdough]

renal collapse

What is that.....?? Is it slow or quick...??

 

[Magus]

Going blind. it depends on how bad you are.
UGH I'm going blind! I thought he posted retinal collapse. DUHHHHHHHHH!
Its kidney failure.

 

[Aerindel]

What is that.....?? Is it slow or quick...??

Kidney failure. Can happen suddenly at the end, but develops slowly. Nasty way to die, but aren't they all?

One of the many 'fun' things that happen to us humans as we get older and approach our inevitable demise.

Whats interesting about BP meds is that is well proven that having high BP increases your risks of many bad things,

Whats more debatable is wether artificially reducing your BP actually lowers your risk of them happening.

Doctors are REALLY into BP meds for almost everybody currently so it will be interesting to see what data appears long term.

 

[DrJenner]

High BP also leads to stroke (head bleeds mostly) even in young people that don’t know they have high BP (mostly hereditary).
I also think there is a false sense of a calm, which I’m ok with as it gives me more time to get stuff in order. We’ve got everything spread out in different storage containers and units. I feel so much better now that we have water as we can live out on our property - even without septic as we have a great outhouse.
Need to get chickens again, get the root cellar dug in, the greenhouse and barn built, still so much to do.

 

[Supervisor42]

High BP also leads to stroke (head bleeds mostly) even in young people that don’t know they have high BP (mostly hereditary).

I got mine from my dad. He had no problem at all hitting 240/120...with meds.

Doctors are REALLY into BP meds for almost everybody currently so it will be interesting to see what data appears long term.

I will resist the temptation of going into a rant about them fudging the numbers of what is "normal" BP and BMI so they could make tons of money treating people that had nothing wrong with them.
And just like that, presto! everyone had HBP and was obese!
Years ago, for decades, I remember 140/80 was normal. Not today!!!
Edit: Even after typing that, mine is 141/83. (Which is pretty dang good for me )

 

[Magus]

I think some of us have normally high BP. My body temp is 94 degrees.

 

[Aerindel]

I got mine from my dad. He had no problem at all hitting 240/120...with meds.

I will resist the temptation of going into a rant about them fudging the numbers of what is "normal" BP and BMI so they could make tons of money treating people that had nothing wrong with them.
And just like that, presto! everyone had HBP and was obese!
Years ago, for decades, I remember 140/80 was normal. Not today!!!
Edit: Even after typing that, mine is 141/83. (Which is pretty dang good for me )

I was 130/90 during a appointment, when I was 31 years old.....and doctor put me on BP meds....took them for about a week before I said screw that.
I've taken thousands of BPs in the field....90% of them where technically high I'd say. Its almost as if people find getting their BP taken is stressful or something

 

[DrJenner]

. Its almost as if people find getting their BP taken is stressful or something

agree. We tolerate up to 180 in ischemic stroke (for brain perfusion) and even just to 160 in the icu patient (unless otherwise contraindicated).
White coat syndrome is a thing.

 

[DrJenner]

I got mine from my dad. He had no problem at all hitting 240/120...with meds.

I will resist the temptation of going into a rant about them fudging the numbers of what is "normal" BP and BMI so they could make tons of money treating people that had nothing wrong with them.
And just like that, presto! everyone had HBP and was obese!
Years ago, for decades, I remember 140/80 was normal. Not today!!!
Edit: Even after typing that, mine is 141/83. (Which is pretty dang good for me )

The problem is the system and the current government/insurance over reach into medicine.
Primary providers have to click boxes to say they met matrices- this is why you get asked about a colonoscopy once you hit a certain age, flu shot during flu season, etc. there are goals around BP management as well and if you aren’t meeting them, you don’t get paid by insurance.
So a typical scenario- you walk into your docs office, sit down and cross your legs and the medical assistant takes your vitals within 2 minutes.
Your BP will be high from walking, and crossing your legs. If the person takes it over your sleeve and moves your arm the wrong way it will be high.
So the doc goes on these measurements. The prudent thing to do as a patient is to ask him/her to wait for a bit, uncross your legs , remove your arm from your sleeve and hold your arm parallel to your heart.
That will be the most accurate in office reading. Don’t take no for an answer. If it’s high, ask them to take it on the other arm, sometimes it’s different.

 

[Spikedriver]

@DrJenner my BP is all over the place. I never know what its going to be when I'm in the doctor's office. The other day, I had just written a 5 figure check to buy a car, I hauled butt straight from the dealership to a big clinic an hour away to see an endo I'd never seen before. I didn't even know which office was hers. So after I got there I was stressed as hell, she took my BP and I told her I have white coat syndrome and it'll be off the charts. Lo and behold, it was 124 over 84. She looked at me funny and said, "Whatever, you're fine...".

At rest, my BP can be as low as 80 over 55 and my pulse can get down to 50. My body is weird..

 

[Supervisor42]

At rest, my BP can be as low as 80 over 55 and my pulse can get down to 50. My body is weird..

If I did that, they would be waving smelling-salts under my nose trying to get me conscious again.

 

[Spikedriver]

If I did that, they would be waving smelling-salts under my nose trying to get me conscious again.

That happened when I was in the hospital. The staff didn't know what was wrong with me and would wake me up every hour at night. I've never felt that calm and relaxed before. At home its typically somewhere between 90/65 and 125/85...

 

[Aerindel]

The problem is the system and the current government/insurance over reach into medicine.
Primary providers have to click boxes to say they met matrices- this is why you get asked about a colonoscopy once you hit a certain age, flu shot during flu season, etc. there are goals around BP management as well and if you aren’t meeting them, you don’t get paid by insurance.
So a typical scenario- you walk into your docs office, sit down and cross your legs and the medical assistant takes your vitals within 2 minutes.
Your BP will be high from walking, and crossing your legs. If the person takes it over your sleeve and moves your arm the wrong way it will be high.
So the doc goes on these measurements. The prudent thing to do as a patient is to ask him/her to wait for a bit, uncross your legs , remove your arm from your sleeve and hold your arm parallel to your heart.
That will be the most accurate in office reading. Don’t take no for an answer. If it’s high, ask them to take it on the other arm, sometimes it’s different.

Or you, you've been trying to ignore some symptom for the last year but finally the fear of what could be wrong has overwelmed your instinct to avoid the doctor and you've finally forced yourself to go to one, and now that the next fifteen minutes are going to cost you several hundred dollars but you hope will tell you if your dying or not....your vitals are being taken at the point when you are in maximum flight or fight mode.

 

[DrJenner]

@DrJenner my BP is all over the place. I never know what its going to be when I'm in the doctor's office. The other day, I had just written a 5 figure check to buy a car, I hauled butt straight from the dealership to a big clinic an hour away to see an endo I'd never seen before. I didn't even know which office was hers. So after I got there I was stressed as hell, she took my BP and I told her I have white coat syndrome and it'll be off the charts. Lo and behold, it was 124 over 84. She looked at me funny and said, "Whatever, you're fine...".

At rest, my BP can be as low as 80 over 55 and my pulse can get down to 50. My body is weird..

Probably all that exercise you’re doing, keep that up - it’s great for heart rate and BP management. My resting HR now is around 40-50 and systolic BP 85-110. When I was overweight and stressed a couple years ago my resting HR was in the 90s and BP 130-140, that’s when I knew I had to make a change.

 

[viking]

I've gotten to the point where it does me no good at all to be a crazy mess. I've been prepping for something for years, it's just what I do now. I have changed lately in that I don't feel the need to tell other people to prep. There was a big awakening when covid lockdowns started. And then I'm guessing, the people that did wake up went back to bed. Other forums and this one....now and again we see a newbie come in all worried about starting to prep. Boy, they've got alot of work to do.

Sad to say the people who went through Obama's first term should have realized that more was coming and at least started doing some preps then, food and ammo was still pretty cheap, now it's gotten crazy and in some cases, food and ammo has become unobtainium. Some of the prices of freeze dried and dehydrated canned foods have gone through the roof, I would say that many have more than doubled in price.