SHTF and Prescription Medications

I belong to a few prepping groups on Facebook. A post recently caught my eye. Of course, it was about the Coronavirus.... so many are these days.

Pictures and video have been circulating across the internet of how China is quarantining many of its residents, and even in some cases, welding doors shut.

I live in the United States. I can't imagine a time when a policeman or National Guard person would come to my door, tape up a notice saying that we were quarantined, and then weld my door shut. It seems unfathomable, but did make me consider the state of health care preparing, OTCs, and  more specifically, prescription medications.

I have numerous health issues including liver disease and diabetes. I can do without prescription medications if necessary... as long as I alter how I eat and how I take care of myself.

My son has uncontrolled epilepsy; he is on four seizure medications and believe me when I say that it is impossible to stock up on these medications. There is only one that I sort of accidentally stockpiled three months of, but the other three... I can barely get them on a month-to-month basis. The pharmacy just does not stock them, and other methods (CBD oil, keto diet, etc) don't work on him 

So what would happen to my son when his seizure meds begin to run out? I wouldn't be able to double up on the one I have stockpiled because it would quickly cause liver and kidney damage as well as probably put him in a suicidal or homicidal rage. So my best guess is that the seizures would start back... perhaps slowly at first. But after a while, they will increase intensity until finally he has that one last fatal seizure.

I would have absolutely no way to stop it.

So powerless.

If there's a situation where I cannot get his seizure meds every 30 days... what would we do?

Have you taken a look at your own health lately? Do you know how many extra pills of your prescription medications you have? Can you get more? Are there alternatives say holistic measures?

Give it some thought.

Ncorono Virus Truth

As you might know from my post last week, I fell for the lies about this Coronovirus virus...hook, line and sinker.

I believed the reports that it wasn't nearly as bad as we expected a pandemic to be. That it didn't kill except the weak.

The following is directly from the USA's Wall Street Journal on Feb 7 2020 at 9:30 a.m.

BEIJING—China pledged "thorough investigations" into the death of Li Wenliang, a doctor who raised early alarms about a new respiratory virus, as public anger built across the country over the government's handling of a coronavirus epidemic that has spread quickly across China and around the world.

Dr. Li, who died early Friday of the coronavirus, had been arrested shortly after he warned former classmates on Dec. 30 about a new pathogen, with police accusing him of spreading rumors and forcing him to write a statement admitting to "illegal behavior."

China's National Supervisory Commission, the country's top anticorruption body, said Friday that it would send a special team to Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, to investigate the circumstances around Dr. Li's death.

The Wuhan municipal government, meanwhile, published a notice on its website Friday to pay tribute to Dr. Li, expressing profound sorrow and conveying condolences to his family. The National Health Commission and the health commissions of Wuhan and Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, issued similar statements.

Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for China's Foreign Ministry, praised Dr. Li during a daily briefing with reporters, expressing condolences to his family and calling him one of many medical workers who had given their lives in the line of duty.

Chinese online commenters have been calling on the Wuhan government to apologize to Dr. Li for having reprimanded him for sending warnings about the virus.

Dr. Li himself contracted the virus, and as news of his declining health spread online Thursday evening, a hashtag calling on the Wuhan government to apologize to him spread quickly on China'sTwitter -like Weibo service. Public anger grew further after the hashtag appeared to be censored.

On Chinese social media Friday, commenters posted tributes to Dr. Li, circulating a quote from an interview he had given just days before his death: "I believe a healthy society should not just have one voice."

At Wuhan Central Hospital, where Dr. Li had died, bouquets of flowers were left outside one building entrance on Friday, accompanied with messages wishing him peace and thanking him for his bravery

The mix of anger and anguish over Dr. Li came as the death toll from the virus rose to more than 600 and the number of infected cases topped 30,000 in mainland China by the end of Thursday, according to the National Health Commission. The 73 people who died in China on Thursday matched Wednesday's single-day high.

In Beijing, officials on Friday acknowledged disruptions to the economy from the outbreak, including a likely increase in soured loans. Officials said they would slash taxes, while calling on banks to offer leniency on mortgage and credit-card payments.

Separately, Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Trump in a phone call Friday morning Beijing time that he had confidence the country would win what he called a "people's war" against the deadly coronavirus, according to readouts from the White House and Chinese state media reports.

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There was more... you get the drift.

The Chinese people were lied to, as were we all.

No, it is not time to panic, but please take precautions. Good hygiene. Healthy food. Avoid sick people, especially those who cough without covering their mouths.

(link: https://www-wsj-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/in-china-anger-simmers-over-coronavirus-doctors-death-11581061065?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQCKAE%3D#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&aoh=15810870595154&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fin-china-anger-simmers-over-coronavirus-doctors-death-11581061065 ) ...

The Gluten-Free Diet Fad

I was watching TV the other night, when Channel 4 kept giving a teaser for the 10 p.m. news - about the "gluten-free diet fad" - will it really help you lose weight? I waited and waited and finally after 25 minutes of "news and weather", they got to the story. Basically, they said that gluten is found in wheat, and most people don't really need the diet.

Excuse me?

Then I did a search tonight... googled "gluten-free diet fad" and couldn't believe what I read. Some people write about gluten-free people being snobs, and not really needing gluten-free food but just want the attention. Some people write that all poultry is ok, but that is misleading as any poultry or other meat with injections and additives usually have a gluten product in them. .

Here's a link to one of the stories: http://cbs11tv.com/gethealthytexas/Gluten.Free.Diet.2.1279346.html - she barely mentioned oats (a responsible reporter would have mentioned that oats are usually contaminated from wheat being grown nearby but "certified gluten-free oats" are ok for gluten-intolerant people). And it's not true that chips are always ok ... many many times they use fillers that have gluten in them.

Gluten-intolerance MAY be a diet choice for some people, but those people don't really understand the diet. The products aren't made to reduce fat and sugar and cholesterol and sodium and calories, but only take out and replace products made from wheat, rye, oat and barley, including maltro-dextrin, soy sauce and more. So... are these people completely deleting from their food intake sodas? Candy? Sweets of all kinds?

People, come on! A gluten-free diet won't solve your problems; eat less and work out more.

This isn't a joke. Some people need to be on the diet, or they will die. Celiac disease is a serious auto-immune, digestive disease. Why would someone choose to put their kid on this diet if they didn't have to? That means no fast food, no birthday parties with other kids, no cereal with goofy characters on the boxes. Really? Parents would choose to pay extra money for special gluten-free products? Ha! Not likely.

No, my kid isn't celiac, but gluten-products, along with cashews, soy, corn, peanuts, cow's milk, preservatives and fake colors can turn my sweet boy into a hellion... going from nice to unbelievably horrible and suicidal within moments. Plus he's a very picky eater. When we find something he can eat, we stick with it, which he's ok with.

For me, I get a rash all over my body when I eat gluten. It's called dermatitis herpetiformis, and it's absolutely not fun. Gluten also messes up my ovulation cycle (which is why I can't get pregnant), but that's just me and hasn't been medically proven.

Enough of my rant. Input?

Vikki

Eating to Boost The Immune System

I don't plan on taking the H1N1 Flu Virus vaccine that supposedly will help prevent the "swine flu". I don't believe it, and really doubt that the vaccine came about while this virus is still mutating.

I've done my own research and am working to change my eating habits and food storage plan to go through this naturally. Here's our plan:

• Lots of fresh vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds, with gluten-free grains (for 2 of us but the 3rd gets other grains too).
• Very little cooking to preserve nutrients.
• Minimize processed foods. Processing foods into chips, candy and etc. takes out vitamins and other nutrients.
• Cut out dairy products. Milk from dairy animals can cause an increase in mucous production. We've switched to supplemented rice milk and hemp milk. (Can't have soy milk.)
• Cut out flesh products. We're not going 100% vegan or even vegetarian but we're minimizing. I recently saw a special on PBS that discussed how horrible the meat processing is ... and it's so bad that many meat inspectors become vegetarian. Meat is recommended to be fully cooked not because of the intrinsic nature of the meat but because it almost certainly has e-coli or other bacteria that needs to be cooked to be eaten safely. Except for tuna and some bacon (probably), we're working to become mostly no-meat people.
• Garlic. I have lots of dried garlic and will add that everywhere and every chance I get.
• Increase Vitamin D levels. It appears that Vitamin D levels are lower in the Winter when we're less exposed to sunlight. I'm storing rice milk supplemented with Vit D and the actual capsule/pill supplements. We'll also sun ourselves on the patio whenever we can.
• Pro-biotics. Supplements, sauerkraut (for hubby because... ew!), kefir, etc.
• Sugar - cut it out! We like honey in our rice and oatmeal, but I'm working to at least cut it back to one tablespoon per meal. We don't use white sugar. I like a little stevia in my tea but can do without. We eat a lot of fruit but since it has a lot of sugar in it - albeit natural - we'll cut it back.
• Blueberries. Yes, I know, blueberries are fruit but they are a superfood and great for the immune system. I have a lot of dried blueberries stocked up, and we'll have one small "dixie" cup each day with lunch.
• Lots of liquids. Keep things moving along with lots of water. Don't skimp.
• Elderberry capsules. Starting with the first sign of Winter, we'll be taking one a day. Should I come down with a respiratory-something, we'll take elderberry syrup/extract.
• Vitamin C... well, this one everyone knows. Goldenseal and echinacea are absolute musts for supplements.

Other things to do:

• Get lots of rest to help the body fight off viruses and bacteria.
• Use coping mechanisms to deal with stress - talk, throw pillows, scream, cry, hug, etc.
• Exercise is essential to get the body in shape to fight off illnesses, but also produces adrenalin and endorphins and helps the circulatory system.
• Wash hands often. Everything I touch has already been touched by someone else... shopping cart handles, items in the grocery store, car door handles, door knobs, money, etc. Keep hand cleaners handy, but don't use too much because we need some bacteria! Buy a good plain chemical-free soap. Even a "dry-rub" (rubbing your hands together for 3 minutes to get rid of the top layer of skin) is a good substitute when you can't get to a sink and soap.

We've set up an indoor grow room in our home (with grow lights). We are planting seeds for string beans, shelling peas and cucumbers. We already have 2 tomato plants, and 2 buckets with strawberry plants. We'll add parsley, zucchini, spinach and carrots when we figure out where to put them! This is in addition to veggies we've already dried.

We are also going to be raising quail soon. This can be done indoors, with very little evidence to people who don't come into the home or garage (not much of a smell or sounds). We'll be eating the eggs - 4 quail eggs equal 1 small chicken egg. Good source of protein.