Medical advice

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I am curious, as to how much medication, we need to have on hand for my husband, as he is a diabetic?

-- Cynthia Olson (sassysonny@webtv.net), July 29, 1999

Answers

3 months at the least.

-- h (h@h.h), July 29, 1999.

Old Git has been researching this.

-- how much (for@how.long), July 29, 1999.

As much as possible. My friend talked to the Y2K expert at Lily. A lot fo the insulin is manufacturered in Norway, some in the US. EVerything depends on the supply line,which is a very iff kind of thing--not that the expert said so. The other problem is that insulin needs to be refrigerated, can only last so long without. Yes, another problem is reimbursement since you aren't supposed to get so much at once. Good luck!

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWayne@aol.com), July 29, 1999.

As much as you can get.

-- R (riversoma@aol.com), July 29, 1999.

60% of the insulin is produced outside of the U.S. Lily is stockpiling supplies now (according to them). If you are not buying insulin through a health insurance program, I have found the cheapest place to buy it over the counter is Walmart. Their prices went up about $3.00 a bottle about two weeks ago. I have found that the pharmacies are the most expensive places. Be sure to check the expiration dates on the bottles before you buy it as the shelf life is only 18 months or less. Store it in the fridge. Buena suerte.

-- jaime estrada (beseme@dedo.net), July 29, 1999.


I have a question for ya all.... My father-in-law is also diabetic, is all insulin the same or does it differ in strength, etc.? I would love to buy him a month or two's supply for Christmas. He is a DGI, not because he refuses to...its just a whole lot easer to close your eyes and pretend life will always go on as today. He has worked hard his entire life, he is now 65 (just retired this spring), he worked as a dairy truck driver, 7 days a week, 364 days a year ( he would take Christmas day off), for the last 45 years. I do feel for him, he is planning on getting SS for the rest of his life. I hope for his sake he gets it.

Anyway help me out with the insulin question please, Thank You.

-- bulldog (sniffin@around.com), July 29, 1999.


Someone made an excellent point recently that the public should start buying extra supplies now so that production would be ramped up. not just medicine, but everything.

-- KoFE (your@town. USA), July 29, 1999.

You need prescriptions for insulin, so find a friendly doctor. SAme for everything else. Of course the phrase "friendly doctor" is a contradiction in terms, so what am I talking about???

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWAyne@aol.com), July 29, 1999.

You might enjoy the timebomb preparations forum:

Preparation

and the mrssurvival site Mrs. Survival

-- Mommacares (
harringtondesignX@earthlink.net), July 29, 1999.


Sorry about the bad links, not sure what I did wrong. Here are urls you can copy and paste http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic= TimeBomb%202000%20%28Y2000%29%20Preparation%20Forum

http://www.mrssurvival.com

-- mommacares (harringtondesignX@earthlink.net), July 29, 1999.



I work in health care, so let me try to answer your question. You need to buy as much insulin as you can afford to buy, paying VERY close attention to the expiration date. ALL medication keeps better if kept in a cool, dry place, such as a refigerator. After meds pass their expiration dates, chemical changes will occur in the med that can be extremely dangerous. I would highly recommend a 6 month supply if you can afford it.

BULLDOG, this message is for you. You can e-mail me if you wish in regards to info about insulin. To explain the different kinds and how they act would take up an enormous amount of space. In addition, go to your local Barnes and Noble or some other huge bookstore or Amazon.com and look in the section of resources for health professionals. There are excellent books written about diabetes. Take the time, please, to look some of them over. Another possibility is to take the time to go to your public library and look at the magazine "Diabetes Forecast". The American Diabetes Association has a web site www.diabetes.org. My email is real. Hope this helps!

-- luann (flataufm@hutchtel.net), July 29, 1999.


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