My biggest fear
 

Some of you may have seen me post on other boards on this site that DS11 has been diagnosised with Auto-Immune Hepatitis, which means that his liver is being attacked by his immune system. He has to take medication to live now. AIH is a life long illness that will slowly make him sick and kill him if he does not take immunosuppresants.

In a SHTF scenerio, my son is a goner after his meds run out. I have already begun ordering his meds a week before he runs out to have extra. I have been unable to find any real evidence of herbs helping with autoimmune disease, there are plenty to help with liver function, and I might be looking in the wrong place to find any that suppress the immune system.

Now I value y'alls opinions, what else can I be doing? I have hypothyroidism, I am stocking up my meds as well and there are plenty of herbal remedies and such for a slow acting thyroidism so my own condition is not on my mind as much as my son's. Thank you in advance.

Wow...this is tough...such a young kid.

I found this story...so there is hope!

http://ddterry.tripod.com/colleen/story.html

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&biw=100...76d6d78058c141

Here are some naturopaths near you. Go ahead and make an appointment. They can really help and give you great ideas of how to address this issue and give you peace of mind.

That would scare me too. A lot. The survival of our children is just the most important thing. I wish I had suggestions, but I think what you're looking for is more specialized than any of us likely know.

You have already covered most of the bases I can think of - working on filling prescriptions preemptively as much as possible (and I know your hands are tied to some extent), looking into herbs. You probably already thought of this, but make sure you carefully research the ideal storage conditions for the drug - I mean, could storing in the fridge or freezer prolong its life at all? It doesn't have to STAY there in SHTF situation, but maybe storing there will just ensure it will stay good until that point.

I'd be wondering, too, how to best ration the medication if necessary.

Perhaps discuss with his doctor. Not in the context of "If civilization crashes tomorrow" but more like "I was thinking, what would we do if we were snowed in for a week and were out of his medication? Or what if we were flying by air and they lost our baggage and we only had a couple day's worth? Of course I am very proactive and make sure we have prescriptions filled promptly, but this is part of me being proactive - finding out what to do just in case." It doesn't answer your biggest fear but you might get some useful ideas that you can extrapolate somewhat to more serious situations.

I'm in the same boat. My son has Type 1 diabetes. I keep three months' worth of supplies on hand, but as you said, if the shtf, he's a goner. I guess theoretically I could raise pigs, and figure out how to extract the insulin, but frankly that's just not viable.

@Eyes, our doctor has us pack twice what we need when travelling, and it's all in our carry-on luggage. It doesn't leave our sight. Oh, yeah. TSA loves us. I also have a travel letter, an extra prescription, and in the case of going to foreign countries, how to say "My son is a diabetic." Thankfully we haven't had to use any of it.

I was able to wheedle a bit more of dh's prescription blood pressure medication from the insurance/mail order pharmacy by requesting what they called a vacation override which caused them to ship an order a month early. I used those extra 30 pills to put me a month ahead. Apparently we can do this once a year, so I have done it for the last 4 years. Now I have about a 6 mo supply. Of course, it is my responsibility to properly rotate my stock to keep them as fresh as possible.

Also ask your Dr. if it would be possible (although not optimal) to go to using the meds every other day in a dire emergency situation. That could possibly double your coverage.

Here is what I hope will be an interesting side story to all of this. One day my pharmacist calls me aside and say you really should stop using your insurnace for you blood pressure and cholesterol prescription. I siad what are you talking about? She says your blood pressure med with your co-pay is $25.00 and your cholesterol med is $15.95. I am like yeah so what? She says I can sell you direct your BP med for $13.97 and your cholesterol med for $7.97. How can you do that? She just says they are cheaper than running them through the insurance and paying the admin costs. AND then she says I am going to see if I can get those stretched out to 90 day prescriptions (which my insurance won't pay for) and save you even more. (90 days of the BP med were less than $20 and 90 days of the cholesterol meds were around $15. I was simply amazed.

My first trip will be to the pharmacist if I believe the SHTF and try to get MORE of my prescriptions filled. 90 days may just be enough time for things to stabalize again. If not, it is what it is, and I will last as long as I am supposed to without my meds.

Yes I have heard about folks who have insurane co-payts and opt out of using and instead get their meds at discountsplaces like at Walmart and it beats the copay price hands down.
OP, Can you get the doctor to give you a 90-120 day prescription?

Wind Power-possibly. See right now, they're still trying to get his liver count down. His AST should be between around 9-43...his is over 100. Same with his ALT it should be between like 12-56. He's on Prednisone, Imuran and Zantac(to protect his stomach from ulcers because of the Prednisone). If you've never heard of Imuran, here is a link to tell you about this scary, scary drug.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000602

Maybe when it is stabilized and his count is down, they can give me a longer amount on the scrip. Thanks for all the advice.

I have type 1 diabetes as well. I have had it for 30+ years and have had the same concerns about prepping. Then, I found a site that said that you can store insulin like "actrapid" for many years provided the temperature doesn't fluctuate and you keep it around 40 degrees F. I always ask my doctor for a prescription that is double what I need for a month and stock the rest. This has really been a valuable thing since I have traveled to some pretty remote places (Mongolia, Yemen etc...) that didn't have insulin available or a different kind of insulin than I take. I will try to find the site and post it so you can look it up yourself, but it makes sense to research and find all this info out.

You may want to read Sally Fallon's book "Nourishing Traditions" and Thomas Cowan MD's book "The Fourfold Path to Healing". Basically the premise is that many of our dietary habits actually cause disease. It has worked wonders for me (I have diabetes, HBP and other complications due to diabetes).

Whiskey, I feel your pain as a mother with a disabled child. My daughter has Cystic Fibrosis (Df508). With out her enzymes (Creon 6000) she cannot gain a pound. With 2 breathing treatments a day (Albuterol and Pulmicourt) I often worry about having not power or worse having to flee to the woods. In my case I just hope that nothing ever gets down the that situation because of her frequent lung infections requiring IV antibiotics (Gentamiacin that stuff is scary!)as well as inhaled antibiotics(Tobramycin). She also has "Vest" percussion treatments to clear out the mucous.

I'll be thinking about your boy. It's rough but it's life. All you can do is love them and give them the most normal life possible!

Good luck ;).
Megan

This was at a local small chain of drug stores called HoneTown Pharmacy. The part I find simply amazing is that she, the pharmacist, came to me with the cost saving idea ANd to get my prescriptions bumped out to 90 days to save even more money.

(((HUGS))) I don't really have any answers since I know nothing about his disorder, but I'd like to offer prayer if you don't mind that.

Don't know about the Imuran, but I "do" know that animals get prednisone. If that's the only prescrip med, I'd look at the dosages and see what the equivalent was in dog medicine. I've got a bottle or two of pred from different dog prescrip needs. [Ascertain if it's the exact same medicine...]

In a Lights Out situation, having a couple years of dog pred beats the heck out of saying goodbye to your child! Anything would be better'n nothing.

Alldaychemist has Imuran. 25 pills for ~$15.

+1 on the prednisone, same thing as for dogs.

I do the out of plan thing with a one year prescription. Work with your doctor. As long as they trust that you are responsible, your dose will not change, you will still come to do your checkups and not sell the stuff elsewhere, they should be ok with it. It only works in your favor if the meds are cheap though, don't know about the Imuran- that may be tricky. Zantac is OTC anyways, isn't it?

I often take plastic capsules full of cumin and turmeric for my own auto-immune disease (Multiple sclerosis). The meds are more effective but the herbs help, also.

I realize that this is anecdotal, but they do help me. Though, they are hard on my stomach. So is L-Carnitine, which is also helpfull though not an herb.

It's the Imuran I'll do my best to get ahold of. Prednisone is not something they want him on long term because it can cause diabetes(not really, but it will raise your blood sugar and make you diabetic...I hope I explained that right) and it can cause osteoperosis. Zantac is OTC yes, that is not a worry either, he takes that to protect him from the Prednisone. BUT, if I can get ahold of the Pred easier of course I would stock up on it as well.

Thanks y'all for the great advice and thoughts. If he had a type 2 AIH, it would be because of some medication. He has type 1, which happens when the child starts going through puberty.

We get 3 months worth of our medicines at a time and you can always re-order at the 2 month point, thus you can build 32 extra months over the period of a year - the problem comes when you have 6 months extra built up and your medicines get changed (one of mine was just banned in the U.S and EU - do I chance the heart problems or keep taking it til I run out while building up a supply of the new one)

I'm sorry for your situation. It is very hard to look at a family member and realize that a SHTF might be hard on you, but deadly for them. I've been doing all I can to try to find solutions for my family member.

Veterinary meds are the way to go for many things. In SHTF they are just fine when you know the dosages and know them well! Offshore pharmacies...well, enough said.

I know that if we were forced out of our home and away from our preps, my daughter might not survive long. She isn't on meds, but is on a special diet. If she were forced to eat the food that is considered a "normal" diet in America today, she would die painfully in weeks to months. Even if something happened to me so she was put in a care home, she isn't likely to survive it. I just do the best I can to keep that from happening but there could come a day that I wouldn't be able to protect her any more.

We none of us knows the future, we just have to do the best we can and leave the rest to God.

What Cyngbaeld said, down to the situation with the DD. My daughter is autistic (takes an anti-depressant for that), has lupus or something very close to lupus (takes plaquenil for that, and has taken prednisone for short periods), has celiac disease so she's on a gluten-free diet, and I started giving her Vitamin D3 because she's in the sun so little (sun is bad for people with lupus) and have found that that helps probably more than all the other stuff put together. I try to stay ahead on the meds, but if we couldn't get them, she'd be miserable. Don't know if she'd die from it, but she'd be in discomfort and screaming, thus making ME miserable, too! Some things all we can do is prepare the best we can, and then the rest is up to God.

Kathleen

I do this all the time!! Our insurance is co-paid for $5 for EACH script. ONE MONTH AT A TIME ONLY--- NO EXCEPTIONS

Walmart has their meds for $4... I quit running them through the insurance... asked the dr to write for 3 months at a time with 4 refills... I usually wait a month inbetween reordering the script) and pay $12 for each 3 month script... in about 3-4 months depending on income, I have our entire years scripts filled.... no worries about it, we use it based on the dates I had them filled! :)

Now the more expensive scripts (those that Walmart doesn't have for $4) I have a plan worked out that I call it in one week earlier every month... so for my sons epilepsy meds I now have almost 4 months of backup meds for him... it takes awhile, but it really pays off if you keep track of it all... my DH has just been diagnosed with diabetes and I am just starting his "backup" supply....

I have even gone as far as putting all our meds on a spreadsheet so I can call all 12 of them in at once .... its a great resource to have keeping track of who's taking what and how much... along with the dates of refills... no mistakes and no misses!

I take our scripts very seriously!! Can you tell?? :)

I use Pulmicort twice a day, inhaled from a capsule. I get it from Alldaychemist.com for a small fraction of buying it for cash $120/mo or our insurance copay ($50/mo). I also use a long acting albuterol type drug called Foradil, inhaled from a capsule. I also have albuterol inhalants for emergencies. If your daughter is old enough to inhale from a tube type dispenser instead of a machine, I urge you to check out getting her meds online. You can order a year's worth for less than a couple of month's copay.

I am so blessed that my children don't have any health issues that cause me to lie awake and worry about. My asthma probably won't kill me if I don't have my meds, but I'll be almost an invalid, and that does worry me. And for those of you whose children depend on medication to survive, my prayers are that the day never comes that you have to do without it.