I have appreciated Dr.
Koelker’s fine contributions to this blog
for some time. One thing I would like to add to the doctor’s list of items that
were formerly prescription but are now OTC that are “must have’s” to stock up
on is Meclizine. If I am not mistake I learned about that drug from one of Dr.
Koelker’s Survival Blog offerings.
Meclizineis sold as a
motion sickness aid for travel. In our area it is available at most pharmacies.
A trick I learned is that while they frequently sell store brand “blister
pack’s” on their shelves, they also sell bottles of 100 sold by “Rugby” that
they keep behind the pharmacy counter that you have to ask for. I have found
this to be true at four national pharmacy chains. The bottles of 100 are much
cheaper than the blister packs. Furthermore, Amazon sells bottles of 1000 tabs
at a very reasonable price. As was pointed out in the article that mentioned
Meclizine, it is a powerful anti-nausea agent.
During the holiday
season of 2012, I contracted a heck of a stomach flu that was also morphing
afterward into an intestinal infection. Our local hospitals were swamped with
this “Bug”, such that you had to wait in your car for hours for your turn to
see an ER doctor. I have a very high pain tolerance, but I was in utter agony
with nausea so bad I found myself heading for the ER. I remembered that I had
printed the SB article, and on it was an anti-nausea OTC compound. I found the
article and thought that on my way to the ER I would give it a try. The first
national pharmacy I tried didn’t have any, so I was about to give up when I thought
I would try one more national pharmacy “drive through” a block away.
I pulled up to the
window and asked if they had Meclizine. The gal said, “Sure. Do you want 12.5
mg or 25mg?” I said, “Give me the strongest you have!” At this point, price was
of no consequence to me. She could have come back and said that will be $400,
and I would have bought it. A bottle of 100 was less than $4! I pulled forward
and didn’t even leave the drive through before I chewed three of them. I left
heading for the hospital and decided to chew one more. The drive to the
hospital was about ten minutes, but by the time I arrived the nausea was
completely gone! So I went home.
I later found that the
year prior my wife had been having problems with Vertigo and her doctor prescribed
Meclizine. Also, this drug does “knock the wind out of your sail’s”, so in a
pinch if someone is “freaking out” it can be used as an anti-anxiety tool.
Our outlook is that,
after TSHTF, many people will resign themselves to ingesting tainted food and water,
and that consequently having tools on hand to manage diarrhea, nausea, and
dehydration will be very valuable. Talk about a good way to dispense charity!
Get some Meclizine! It’s cheap and it works!
BradJ
From the Survival Blog
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