Pill packs- or "you know your getting old when..."

[Lowdown3]

So I was re-doing some packs and got the idea to add some vitamins and various items in a way that made more sense than just zip lock baggies.

Off to Walmart to get some of those little daily pill boxes. OMG, kind of embarrassed to buy these.... No I'm not using my AARP discount card- I don't have one yet... :)



What did I put in?

Allegra- really ever take this but it does work. Better to have and not need.

Casgara Sagrada- if you've ever spent a week or more in the field you know sometimes it's nice to be able to get things moving a little bit.

Multivitamin- pretty self explanatory. Yes the cheap Walmart ones.

Doxycycline- good general antibiotic

Melatonin- would caution against regular use in the field obviously. However there are times when you MUST rest and this will certainly help. A more natural sleep aid.

I Be Broken- Ibuprofen. Probably should have gone with Tylenol but I didn't have any fresh sitting here.

Vitamin C- I'm sure someone will point out that you can just boil pine needles, etc. Yeah but that takes time, you may not have time.

Keep in mind I don't take any "maintenance" medicines. Of the list the only things I really take regularly is the multivitamin and Vitamin C.


You can do the same with any prescription meds you take, or even just a smattering of various antibiotics, Tylenol, etc. I may do something similar in my med bags.

Why the little pieces of tissue? To quiet the pills a bit.

[Bill Foster]

Welcome to the club

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Great items....I have a couple other things in mine, some of which is for a longer stay outside

1. Benadryl...sure you have Allegra, which I do as well, but Benadryl can give a faster acting antihistamine for the bee stings, etc. Sure you can get the drowsiness effect, but that may be worth it in certain situations. It can double for a sleep aid.

2. Melatonin...I use a timed release/extended release as it gives me longer rest.

3. Imodium which is an antidiarrheal med

4. Pepto-Bismol chewable which is an anti-nausea med and or for upset stomach

5. Having a steroid cream (I know this is a pill pack) can help for the times you get into something that causes a rash....poison ivy, etc.

also, I would agree with adding the Tylenol. You can use ibuprofen and Tylenol together for added pain relief. Ibuprofen is good for an anti-inflammatory while Tylenol is good as an analgesic and antipyretic. And don't forget old school aspirin (as we are getting older) and this can be used for someone having heart related chest pain, as well as anti-inflammatory and antipyretic. Of course aspirin should not be used in children (Reyes syndrome) and can cause stomach ulcers.

just my two cents....

[cpt_sfc]

Heads up!!! VA will give you these pill boxes if you ask at the counter, They will also give you condoms in plain white little boxes marked lubricated 1 condom. Just what a bunch of old vets need, that and motrin. This was at the end of the big O. before he left.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Heads up!!! VA will give you these pill boxes if you ask at the counter, They will also give you condoms in plain white little boxes marked lubricated 1 condom. Just what a bunch of old vets need, that and motrin. This was at the end of the big O. before he left.

Just wondering cpt-sfc....does the condoms come with a Viagra tablet for those born before a certain date....;):rolleyes::cool:

[Lowdown3]

So I had a little time and decided to make one more up for one of the med kits. Looking around at some of the meds we have, I was floored to see how many Lortabs I had been prescribed for various procedures that were not used. Evidently I was given 60 of them for a knee surgery years ago- SIXTY!! I don't remember taking one but probably took one the first day. After that took Motrin and Tylenol. Sixty? Really?

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

good find...and that is about right for knees. They use to give 1-2 tabs every 6 hours as needed for pain, then give you two weeks worth (based on the 1 pill every 6 hours or 4 per day)...about the time for your recheck. If you were burning thru all 60 in a week they would have had you come back earlier.

When my daughter had her ACL repair she was given the same thing...I filled them and have about 50 stored away.....

Now days docs are so careful with the opioids due to the abuse, so you don't get that many if any at all as they have a long acting numbing agent they inject into the area during surgery that lasts about 72 hours. That allows the physical therapy to start pretty quick after the surgery. In fact, patients that have a morning surgery for a total knee replacement are usually up with PT that afternoon.

[Lowdown3]

good find...and that is about right for knees. They use to give 1-2 tabs every 6 hours as needed for pain, then give you two weeks worth (based on the 1 pill every 6 hours or 4 per day)...about the time for your recheck. If you were burning thru all 60 in a week they would have had you come back earlier.

When my daughter had her ACL repair she was given the same thing...I filled them and have about 50 stored away.....

Now days docs are so careful with the opioids due to the abuse, so you don't get that many if any at all as they have a long acting numbing agent they inject into the area during surgery that lasts about 72 hours. That allows the physical therapy to start pretty quick after the surgery. In fact, patients that have a morning surgery for a total knee replacement are usually up with PT that afternoon.

I remember the PT doubting that I had surgery the week before, thought I couldn't remember the date, questioned me 2-3 times about it and then even called the doc's office! I had probably 85% of my ROM by that time. He had me come a grand total of 2 times, said "well you are obviously following all this stuff, stick with it and you'll be fine. Come back if you have some problems but I don't think you will need to." As a self paying client, I can appreciate that whole "your a big boy" attitude as both saving me money and understanding that some people do take responsibility for themselves.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

I remember the PT doubting that I had surgery the week before, thought I couldn't remember the date, questioned me 2-3 times about it and then even called the doc's office! I had probably 85% of my ROM by that time. He had me come a grand total of 2 times, said "well you are obviously following all this stuff, stick with it and you'll be fine. Come back if you have some problems but I don't think you will need to." As a self paying client, I can appreciate that whole "your a big boy" attitude as both saving me money and understanding that some people do take responsibility for themselves.

LD3,
I wish more people would be more responsible. I can tell you that i will see many that come back and complain about how the med I Rx'd "isn't working". I then ask them "well, how are you using it"? They cannot tell me how they are supposed to be using it, and when I push how often they use it they tell me "well...only a couple times a week" (they should be using daily). I have learned over the years how to pull the truth out of them.