Emergency Meds Rx

[CrzyTrekker]

How many of you carry emergency meds in the backcountry? If so, what do you carry? I've carried these 3 for a number of years:

1. Prescription pain killer,
2. anti-emetic (prevent dehydration),
3. antibiotic.

The meds in my rucksack are about 3 years old. I have an appointment to renew these - and get anything else I might need - in 10 days.

I've never used the pain killer but I've had reason to use both the anti-emetic (throwing up) and antibiotic (infection).

 

[Billinsd]

How about heavy duty prescription? Any of you bring some vicodine, etc. in case something happens? Would your primary physician prescribe it to take on a trip?

 

[CrzyTrekker]

That's what I currently have. I've probably had vicodin or similar prescribed 4 or 5 times just so I can carry it in my pack. My doc tells me to keep the old prescriptions - they don't expire but just gradually lose effectiveness over time (his words). I also take them when I travel to Mexico, etc. I try to renew these prescriptions every couple years. I think it helps if you have a long relationship with your doctor.

 

[16Bore]

Something for the schits too....

 

[tyeager2964]

From a pharmacist perspective there is truth in the expiration date is more linked to effectiveness. It is directly tied to when their is only 90% of the active ingredient remaining. I can also tell you some meds will degrade quicker than others depending on their physical makeup and excipients used.

It will also be harder to get opioids prescribed now than years past due to new recommendations by the CDC and FDA

Antibiotics are a touchy subject among pharmacist because they have been over prescribed for years. This has led to microbial resistance patterns. I also think if you have an accident and cant make it to medical attention prior to an infection killing you that you have bigger problems. Most healthy immune systems will fight off infections at least long enough to be evacuated. This may not be the case for poorly controlled diabetics or immunosuppressed individuals. Even drinking bad water and getting giardia or something is better treated with hydration than just abx.

Personally I only take tylenol, ibuprofen, and benadryl as medications anytime I'm hiking or in camping in the woods.

 

[JWP58]

Usually have 600mg ibuprofen and maybe benadryl

 

[CrzyTrekker]

tyeager I definitely agree with you philosophically - treat yourself without the meds and self rescue if at all possible - but years in the backcountry and military have shown me that black swan events do happen. I'm doing 15+ backcountry trips per year. It's your personal responsibility to Be Prepared.

It is harder to get opioids prescribed now due to the new recommendations. As a former health care attorney, IMHO the health care industry has brought this on single-handedly by refusing to speak with patients about wellness/eating/exercise and simply writing scrips. The entire pharma industry and even big food (e.g. Coca Cola) is also at fault. Someone in the "system" should have spoken up sooner before so many Americans were addicted to opioids. Everyone has an excuse and now it's going in the direction of "cover your own ass."

Anyone else carry anything useful that I might consider for my rucksack this year?

 

[mtnwrunner]

How many of you carry emergency meds in the backcountry? If so, what do you carry? I've carried these 3 for a number of years:

1. Prescription pain killer,
2. anti-emetic (prevent dehydration),
3. antibiotic.

The meds in my rucksack are about 3 years old. I have an appointment to renew these - and get anything else I might need - in 10 days.

I've never used the pain killer but I've had reason to use both the anti-emetic (throwing up) and antibiotic (infection).

That's what I currently have. I've probably had vicodin or similar prescribed 4 or 5 times just so I can carry it in my pack. My doc tells me to keep the old prescriptions - they don't expire but just gradually lose effectiveness over time (his words). I also take them when I travel to Mexico, etc. I try to renew these prescriptions every couple years. I think it helps if you have a long relationship with your doctor.

That's what I currently have. I've probably had vicodin or similar prescribed 4 or 5 times just so I can carry it in my pack. My doc tells me to keep the old prescriptions - they don't expire but just gradually lose effectiveness over time (his words). I also take them when I travel to Mexico, etc. I try to renew these prescriptions every couple years. I think it helps if you have a long relationship with your doctor.

Neosporin
Aspirin
Tums
Benadryl
Hydrocodone
Antibiotics
Imodium

Randy

 

[JPD350]

For some reason I can't stomach Hydrocone so I try to keep some T-3's in my bag, I don't know why they seem to be easier on the gut but they are for me, these also work well for diarrhea.
I always carry a Benadryl pen for bites, since I have gone to a floorless tipi I have to embrace the mosquitos and chiggers and the pen makes an immediate difference
The rest of the stuff is pretty much the same as others except that I've never carried antibiotics

 

[LostArra]

Are oral narcotics necessary or even useful in a backpack?? Why hassle with a prescription?

If 800 mg ibuprofen piggybacked with a 500 Tylenol won't control your pain then a broken femur is probably sticking out of your camo pants and an oral opioid isn't going to work either. Americans have been brainwashed to think oral opioids are the answer for moderate to severe pain and that otc meds are ineffective. Research proves differently.

 

[silverbullet555]

I take chewable forms of anti-gas, anti-indigestion, anti-diahrrea, anti-nasuea. Chewable pepto, tums, benadryl, tylenol, advil, vicodin, muscle relaxant and the like. No antibiotics though I could add those to the pack. I only take 3 doses of each figuring if I need more than that I need to get to my truck.

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[willfrye027]

Diamox. Nothing can ruin a hunt faster and more unpredictably than altitude sickness in my experience. Also can turn life threatening if you cannot get down the mountain fast enough.

Epipen. You may not be deathly allergic to bees, peanuts, etc but you could easily come across someone who is and save their life. Even if they have a pen, it only buys them a limited time before the symptoms come back, so it’s always a good thing to have IMO.

Zofran for vomiting and loperamide for diarrhea. Dehydration from these can kill as others have mentioned above.

Those are the ones I would want in addition to the basics (Tylenol, ibuprofen). Inhaler and steroids if you or hunting partner has asthma. Actually some studies have shown that tylenol and ibuprofen are better than narcotics for most pain including fractures, so don’t sweat it if you can’t bring the big guns. Also much more likely for someone to have side effects from the narcoitcs and start vomiting etc. Pain will not kill you...

But definitely go to your doctor and don’t take this as medical advice!

 

[willfrye027]

Are oral narcotics necessary or even useful in a backpack?? Why hassle with a prescription?

If 800 mg ibuprofen piggybacked with a 500 Tylenol won't control your pain then a broken femur is probably sticking out of your camo pants and an oral opioid isn't going to work either. Americans have been brainwashed to think oral opioids are the answer for moderate to severe pain and that otc meds are ineffective. Research proves differently.

Hit the nail on the head with the opioids. Got to it faster than I could!

 

[missjordan]

I have a couple meds that i take daily so those obviously don’t leave my pack but my list includes:

The daily inhaler
The rescue inhaler for “emergencies” or moments of uncomfort
Z pak
Bigger aspirin/Tylenol like the 500mg kind
Fluconazle- yeast infection...women problems need i say more, not fun when your back in the middle of nowhere





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[CrzyTrekker]

Great ideas. I hadn't considered an epipen but I do a lot of trips with my boys so perhaps that would be a good precaution.

I kinda like the idea of large tylenol/ibuprofen for pain management instead of a prescription pain killer; I'll revisit this topic with my doc.

I live at 7,500 feet and have never had issues with altitude, but I see the effects of altitude every year in other guys (typically out-of-state guys), so I'd think Diamox might be a good precautionary Rx for a lot of folks.

 

[Bubblehide]

Some good additions. However, I would add Cipro but go without the pain meds, as all they do is mask the problem and diminish your mental abilities. I can not tell you how many times I have been offered some of those pain meds mentioned by my doctors, but refused. But then years ago, after a pretty severe injury, and taking those types of meds long enough, I found myself addicted to them. I mean a physical addiction. I managed to titrate myself off. I have never taken them since, other than a morphine during a couple hospitalizations for a very limited time. You'd be surprised with the pain you can endure without pain meds if you implement a little fortitude. If I am out in the bush and injured bad enough to substantiate the need for pain meds, I think having my full mental abilities would be more important than putting me in a mental state where I just didn't care(that is what most pain meds do to/for me, while doing very little to nothing for the pain).

 

[WV Mountaineer]

I mean no disrespect here. But, I will forever be lost on the idea that prescription opiods are needed in a back country medical kit. Being on an operating table 13 times in my life, for 3 acl repairs, gall bladder, broke face, testicular torsion, deviated septum, removing a testicle that had a cancer tumor, etc....., I've had plenty of experience taking them. So, unless you have a chronic pain that needs treated daily, what on God's green earth makes you rationalize they are needed for a back country first aid kit?

They make you high. Not stop pain enough to make you able to walk out. Quite the opposite truly. It'd be the best cause I know of to force you to lay down and die versus sucking it up and humping out. They have absolutely zero use for being better prepared in the back country for anyone that doesn't require them to function daily. Correct me if I am wrong. Which I may be. but, I can't see it.

FWIW, I carry Ibuprofen, a couple prevacid, and benadryl.

 

[WCS]

I make sure to get a scrip or two for Albendazole before my guide season starts. Giardia can really screw up a guests hunt, or a guys guide season. And when you're in the bush for a couple of months you only have so many pairs of underwear that you can afford to burn.

 

[willfrye027]

Talk to your doctor about all of this—cipro, for instance, is can cause tendonopathy. Last thing you need is to rupture your Achilles’ tendon at 9000 feet packing out an animal.

 

[Trial153]

The idea that NSAIDs can manage debilitating pain in an emergency situation better then narcotics is categorically false. If that was true then I would have Ibuprofen and Naproxen in my drug bag vs Morphine, Fentanyl and Diazepam.


In the backcountry I carry
Loperamide
Ibuprofen
Azithromycin
Diphenhydramine
Phenylephrine
Oxycodone