^Yes, this is great advice that I think some people might miss in their preps. I just called in a premature refill for both of my son's meds. Is it possible to call in two refills at the same time for a single prescription though? Or should I wait until after I picked the ones I just called in up?
For those who want to stock up on regular prescription meds: Most insurance won't allow you to refill it in less than 28 days (presuming each refill has been monthly).
BUT
There is one loophole: Tell them you are traveling (I know, lolz) and you need extra supply because you'll be gone at the next refill date. The pharmacist can relay this to your insurance and get a waiver. ONCE. You can't do that every month, but at least it will give you a 2 month supply for co-pays instead of full price.
Haha good one!
Not too sure that fibbing is the best insurance, we already have people stealing masks (which don't keep us safe just others safe from our coughing and sneezing in others faces) from hospitals and clinics and pumping hospital sanitizers (which are effective but not as much as hand washing is) into their own vials and bottles.
They are critically removing access to personslly important tools for those severely immuno-suprresed like cancer patients coming in for chemo and radiation treatments.
I understand worry and trying to prevent personal shortages but according to the tv news in Portland Oregon all you have to do is call your doctor and theoretically he/she will inform your listed pharmacy to extend your current prescriptions during this crisis.
Tito's tells customers to not use their vodka for hand sanitizer. But i have made my own using far less expensive ingredients!
So for all of you worried about the availability of hand sanitizer it is quite easy to make your own and no..not with Tito's Vodka which is currently trending in social media.
Tito's only contains 40% vodka and you need to have alcohol (preferably isopropy) that Is at least 60-65% alcohol.
Should I run out of my store bought supply, and as a backup anti-bacterial home cleaning product ( for all my doorknob, refrigerator and toilet handles previousky posted about not fogetting) I made a couple of jars of my own several days ago with products I had on hand.
The recipe is so easy! Simply mix isopropyl alcohol with any aloe gel. Half and half of each.
No kidding that's all it takes. The alcohol kills germs and the aloe vera protects your skin from drying out or cracking with repeated use.
And you can just add your own essential oils for either their antiseptic or healing properties if you wish!
Good old handwashing for 20 seconds is best and if you use hand sanitizer of any kind it had to be thoroughly applied scrubbing hands and in between fingers AND left to dry naturally.
Don't use a towel on your hands after use of any hand sanitizer thinking you dry them like you do with soap and water. You'll run the risking of removing some of it before it does its removal of germs process.
@michele-b It's it half alcohol, does that meet the requirements for the solution to be 60-65% alcohol? I went to CVS and they were out of both, but I found 100% aloe gel online and a gallon of rubbing alcohol. I'm going to add the essential oils I have left over from the essential oil craze I got into a few years ago.
@michele-b et al: About mixing your own hand sanitizer: this morning my pharmacy told me that the alcohol should be approx. 70% ethyl, not isopropyl. She said the latter can be toxic. Has anyone heard that? I know that ethyl is what is used in the sanitizers they sell.
Perhaps the toxicity she mentioned has more to do with the amount you use?
Some sites have said 3/4 alcohol but others said half. All 3 of my alcohols from different stores were all 70% alcohol to begin with. So i followed the best advice source at the time which said 1/2 @60% It said stronger or larger amounts were too drying for constant use on hands and cracks in the skin were not good for other germ issues.
Use your own judgment probably rules as even medical sites aren't agreeing and morning news shows and talk shows are filled with trending hearsay that proves inaccurate.
Yesterday one tv hostess repeated that someone said was eyes are the main thing to protect so to wear eyeglasses.
I quickly looked that up and she misspoke though medical goggle glasses are used by professionals working in epidemic situations from serious contact with these viruses as well as in other occupational professiond like toxic spills or contamination of course. However to some extent regular eyeglasses do protect from spit during talking as sometimes happens but they would not protect the other two--the nose and the mouth.
Eyes, nose, mouth are equally receptive as far as I could find trying to look that one up! But I'd think for respiratory., diseases the nose would be far more likely to receive quickly acting respiratory germs really and truly.
Too many personal variables I guess including trending passed on things!
But that actually now reminds me that a family member constantly exposed to germs in his profession was told by his doctor after constant staph testing to use a q-tip gently dipped into clean new tube of neosporin used only by you-- so as not to pass or receive different germs among family members--and gently apply to the inside opening area of the nostrils.
So I had ordered isopropyl alcohol and Aloe, but after I read about the problems of ending up with either too low a ratio of alcohol or blistered, cracked Hans, I turned around and canceled the order. Because I'm home most of the time, I'm going for good ol' fashioned soap and water which they say is best. I am excerpting this article here. I like to final sentence (see end):
World Health Organization says:
The World Health Organization has official instructions to make a disinfecting hand sanitizer to use in medical settings, but it's not written for the average prepper to use. It requires using sterile water, an alcoholometer to measure the concentration of alcohol in the final product and glycerol (also known as glycerin), which isn't as easy to track down at your local drugstore as aloe vera gel. It also does not recommend including any dyes, essential oils or other fragrances because they could cause an allergic response -- a lot of DIY recipes call for essential oils to mask the smell of alcohol.
So what should you do instead?
Wash your hands. The CDC and WHO both agree that's the best thing you can do right now to protect yourself from getting sick, either from coronavirus or anything else. Wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds, many times per day -- after you use the restroom, before and after you eat, before and after you prepare food and in many other scenarios.
Also avoid touching your face in general, but especially with dirty hands. Most everything you touch throughout the day is covered in germs and if you touch your mucous membranes (lips, nose, eyes) you can spread viruses and bacteria into your own body.
I don't advise it, but if you are determined to make your own hand sanitizer (and can actually find the ingredients to do so), avoid any recipes that do not use at least 60% alcohol.
Otherwise, just wash your damn hands.
I mentioned this before, I am doing so again.
I am speaking beyond basic rations right now.
Have some things art home which you enjoy doing.
Art, photo printing paper, yarn, cards, tools, gardening supplies and so forth. Do something fun, something to relieve stress. What are your hobbies, especially ones you don't have the opportunity to explore often. If you decide or are forced to stay home, do them.
If your college kids have to come back early, connect with them. Let them teach you something you don't understand about technology. Make a family project together.
If you have children of any age, now would be a great time to journal about your life. Things you did growing up and so forth. A gift to them to pass down for future generations.
When I get back from my trip tonight ( I really would rather not be on an airplane today but that is for a different post perhaps) one of my goals is to begin documenting my thoughts and experience about this virus. Because of these Coronavirus threads, there is a great timeline of information (who, what where when why and how) things went down, how this group shared information and planned and how people felt. It might be of interest to future generations or just me. But It will be interesting.
Have any of you thought about documenting this historical experience that is bring the world together and on the same level ground? You might want to think about it. Your great-grandchildren might thank you for your efforts one day.
Great ideas, but aside from reading books, there's nothing indoors of interest to me. I live in SoCal, so I figure it'll be ok to jump on my bike and go for a ride. That way I get exercise, fresh air, sun, and no one breathing on me nearby.