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People need to realize that while herbals and such do have a place they are generally not as effective as the medications they are trying to replace. You also have to factor in that producing them may not be a viable option due to weather, timing, etc. Not everything we'd like as far as herbals grow in all climes. By all means make plans for them but you are fooling yourself if you believe that a herbal garden will replace a pharmacy. Its easy to call for people to learn to use herbs and such but when push comes to shove it can't be counted on as a replacement, only a supplemental or next-best measure.
I am a medical type. I carry dual licenses and have over 40 years of practice (and Social Security is still a few years away yet!) and I compile medication lists that keep changing with time. As I go through life I learn about more meds than I was familiar with than before, and see more reason for one or another that I might not have thought about previously.
There are of course the nice to have, the pie-in-the-sky stuff like Ketamine and Propofol for surgeries, and something more than a few leftover narcotic tablets. But as we age our needs change. Heart failure may be something that doesn't affect anyone yet but cannot be ruled out for too many of us. Nor can COPD. We won't even begin to address cancer. Let's just stick with some of the common things for now.
Diuretics: Lasix, Diazide, others. Sure you can use asparagus but who is going to eat 4 pounds a day every day for years on end? Though not a route everyone can take a bottle of 100 40 mg tabs of Lasix can be had for literally a small handful of $ down in Mexico. If someone needs it they should be looking into stockpiling it and then rotating it with their local pharmacy-supplied units. If you don't use it you might consider socking away a bottle or three for potential future use for whomever.
We use respiratory meds in this household so stocking up on maintenance meds is a priority for reasons other than just controlling the costs. Lack of access can easily lead to exacerbation of the condition being treated, which in turn can lead to increased disability or even earlier death than otherwise might have occurred (think in terms of months or literally years earlier). So keeping with this genre let's add the following to our list:
Respiratory : Albuterol - Inhalers and inhalation solution; Advair, Spiriva, inhaled corticosteroids and others. These can be further subdivided into maintenance and rescue meds, of which the Albuterol example can fit both categories but Advair is for maintenance only.
As it is getting late and I'll start rambling senselessly if I keep at this I'll end here for now after saying first identify what you know you have to address (chronic of frequent health conditions), want to address (first aid/emergency meds and potential health events that border on likely given time, such as high blood pressure or even anti-radiation protection), and ideally would be capable of addressing given resources and access (Ketamine, Propolfol, etc - the pie-in-the-sky stuff). Then go from there, adjusting your lists accordingly.
Once you have your lists of necessity, desirable and nice-to-have items then determine what you can afford and access and go forward from there.
RR
I am a medical type. I carry dual licenses and have over 40 years of practice (and Social Security is still a few years away yet!) and I compile medication lists that keep changing with time. As I go through life I learn about more meds than I was familiar with than before, and see more reason for one or another that I might not have thought about previously.
There are of course the nice to have, the pie-in-the-sky stuff like Ketamine and Propofol for surgeries, and something more than a few leftover narcotic tablets. But as we age our needs change. Heart failure may be something that doesn't affect anyone yet but cannot be ruled out for too many of us. Nor can COPD. We won't even begin to address cancer. Let's just stick with some of the common things for now.
Diuretics: Lasix, Diazide, others. Sure you can use asparagus but who is going to eat 4 pounds a day every day for years on end? Though not a route everyone can take a bottle of 100 40 mg tabs of Lasix can be had for literally a small handful of $ down in Mexico. If someone needs it they should be looking into stockpiling it and then rotating it with their local pharmacy-supplied units. If you don't use it you might consider socking away a bottle or three for potential future use for whomever.
We use respiratory meds in this household so stocking up on maintenance meds is a priority for reasons other than just controlling the costs. Lack of access can easily lead to exacerbation of the condition being treated, which in turn can lead to increased disability or even earlier death than otherwise might have occurred (think in terms of months or literally years earlier). So keeping with this genre let's add the following to our list:
Respiratory : Albuterol - Inhalers and inhalation solution; Advair, Spiriva, inhaled corticosteroids and others. These can be further subdivided into maintenance and rescue meds, of which the Albuterol example can fit both categories but Advair is for maintenance only.
As it is getting late and I'll start rambling senselessly if I keep at this I'll end here for now after saying first identify what you know you have to address (chronic of frequent health conditions), want to address (first aid/emergency meds and potential health events that border on likely given time, such as high blood pressure or even anti-radiation protection), and ideally would be capable of addressing given resources and access (Ketamine, Propolfol, etc - the pie-in-the-sky stuff). Then go from there, adjusting your lists accordingly.
Once you have your lists of necessity, desirable and nice-to-have items then determine what you can afford and access and go forward from there.
RR
