How to stock up on prescription medication.

[moab]

If you want to stock up on your prescription medication. Start going to a Kroger pharmacy.

I started using Ralphs pharmacy. Which is a Kroger grocery store pharmacy. They go by other names too. Kroger is the major grocery chain on the west coast. And I think nationally. I'm not sure. But here is a list of all the Kroger stores with pharmacies:

Dillons
Baker's
Gerbes
Fred Meyer
Harris Teeter
Fry's
King Soopers
City Market
Kroger
JayC
Owen's
Pay Less
QFC
Ralphs
Roundy's
Copps
Mariano's
Metro Market
Pick 'n Save
Smith's

They have this program where they automatically refill your prescriptions as soon as insurance will pay for them. (They also sync your prescriptions so they are all ready on the same day. So no more going to the pharmacy multiple times a months.) Which also means after several months of going there. I have a substantial backup to my prescription meds.

I have something like one to two months of all my prescription medication stocked up. In a relatively short time. I don't recall exactly. But I don't think it's been over a year. All because of the way they handle your prescriptions. Normally pharmacies might refill on the 30th day. And sometimes you have to call to get them refilled. But Kroger actively fills as many prescriptions - as soon as possible and as soon as insurance will pay - every month. And then texts you when they are ready. Always filling them all on the same day.

I've used a few other pharmacies. But none have this program where they fill all your prescriptions on the same day and as early as possible. It's a great way to stock up on prescription meds easily.

You have to pay attention to your bottles and try to use the next bottle by date. And I'm sure it's motivated to sell as many prescriptions as they can. But after a couple years I will probably have a good back up to all my prescription meds. None of the other pharmacies I've been with do this. Like Rite Aid, Walgreens or many others. But if you know of one list it in this thread. It's imperative you have your medication when the lights go out. And this is a great way to stock up.

[boxofrocks]

This is an issue for me too since I have a few medicines that I absolutely cant be without. I have a rare (at least in sweden) pituitary insufficiency. Not Addisons.

I have managed to stock 4 year supply of hydrocortisone. A year of thyroid medicine. Injections for 2 years. I got some solu-cortef, but it has really short shelf life unfortunately so thats nothing I try to stock really. I keep those I have just in case.

I did this totally legaly. I dont know how it works in Usa, but here there is a date you can earliest get new medicine depending on the last time you got from the pharmacy. You need to be back to the pharmacy that exact date and that way you will slowly start to build up a reserve. You can also ask your doctor if you can get an extra pillbox for reserve. I did that with hydrocortisone and that way I managed to get a good supply.

You just need to keep an eye on shelf life and rotate properly.

[MPMalloy]

The following is important on a day-to-day basis. No need for zombies to rise

[raptor2]

Just a suggestion that may or may not be appropriate since some drugs have a coating and should not be broken open.

Where appropriate ask your MD to write an RX for 2x the dose. Let me explain with an example:

I take to 2 meds one is a very pricey drug that requires 50mg. The cost of the same drug in 100 mg tablets is about the same as one for 50 mg tablets. I pay retail since I have a high deductible health policy so this is not due to deductibles. The fact is that the cost of many drug ingredients is nominal and the pricing reflects that 50 more MG of ingredients is basically pennies.

However I can cut these pills in half and there by cut both my cost by half and my inventory is increased 2x with every re-fill.

Obviously you should discuss this with your MD and make sure it is appropriate. As long as the MD agrees and writes the RX for the dosage in the US you have no legal issues doing this.

[NT2C]

Just a suggestion that may or may not be appropriate since some drugs have a coating and should not be broken open.

Where appropriate ask your MD to write an RX for 2x the dose. Let me explain with an example:

I take 2 meds, one is a very pricey drug that requires 50mg. The cost of the same drug in 100 mg tablets is about the same as one for 50 mg tablets. I pay retail since I have a high deductible health policy so this is not due to deductibles. The fact is that many drug ingredients is nominal and the pricing reflects that 50 more MG of ingredients is basically pennies.

However I can cut these pills in half and there by cut both my cost by half and my inventory is increased 2x with every re-fill.

Obviously you should discuss this with your MD and make sure it is appropriate. As long as the MD agrees and writes the RX for the dosage in the US you have no legal issues doing this.

Seems to me that the pharmacy might question the high dosage but, so long as the doctor's instructions say to take a 1/2 tablet they should be good with it. Also, just as an FYI, a lot of medications that come in tablet, pill, or capsule form also come in liquid form, making doses easier to halve or quarter.

[raptor2]

Seems to me that the pharmacy might question the high dosage but, so long as the doctor's instructions say to take a 1/2 tablet they should be good with it. Also, just as an FYI, a lot of medications that come in tablet, pill, or capsule form also come in liquid form, making doses easier to halve or quarter.

Indeed there are some drugs that have a maximum daily dosage limitation and that would be grounds for a Pharmacist to refuse to fill the RX. As an example in my case the max dosage is 300 mg a day so 100MG is nowhere near the max limit.

Also your MD & pharmacist are not likely to do this with schedule 3 type drugs and even asking for this approach for these RXs will not look good.


That said this is clearly one of those things that does require MD consultation and YYMV.

BTW you can get a pill cutter anywhere so clearly this is not an original idea.
https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/pill- ... 1561-tier3

.... I just use a pocket knife.

An article on the subject.
https://www.webmd.com/drug-medication/g ... -splitting

[moab]

Ive tried to get my md's to write my scripts for higher dosages. And its a no go here in Kommifornia. (Are u in Canada?) So ive resorted to lying on the ones that i can. Saying x mgs is not enough etc etc. But u have to know what mgs the med comes in. And convince your doc that you need half pills (like two 5mgs instead of one 10mg) so u can take less if necessary. But a lot of meds dont work that way. And its an uphill battle.

So ive just resorted to filling my meds as early as possible. Which is 3 to 4 days in advance here in CA USA. And just saving the extra 3 to 4 pills each month. Its a hassle tho. Sometimes i have an extra amount built up. Other times no.

My strategy at the moment is to work out daily and eat right. In the hopes that i can go off as many meds as possible.

[moab]

The following is important on a day-to-day basis. No need for zombies to rise

You dont have a quick synopsis of this video do u? To much going on to watch all 30 minutes.

[MPMalloy]

Just a suggestion that may or may not be appropriate since some drugs have a coating and should not be broken open.

Where appropriate ask your MD to write an RX for 2x the dose. Let me explain with an example:

I take to 2 meds one is a very pricey drug that requires 50mg. The cost of the same drug in 100 mg tablets is about the same as one for 50 mg tablets. I pay retail since I have a high deductible health policy so this is not due to deductibles. The fact is that many drug ingredients is nominal and the pricing reflects that 50 more MG of ingredients is basically pennies.

However I can cut these pills in half and there by cut both my cost by half and my inventory is increased 2x with every re-fill.

Obviously you should discuss this with your MD and make sure it is appropriate. As long as the MD agrees and writes the RX for the dosage in the US you have no legal issues doing this.

Yes. ^^^this^^^ very much. I do this as much as I can. This *should* work with solid pills & tablets. Some are scored to be cut in half. Obvisouly one cannot do this with gels, powder caps, etc.

[MPMalloy]

The following is important on a day-to-day basis. No need for zombies to rise

You dont have a quick synopsis of this video do u? To much going on to watch all 30 minutes.

I don't know how to sum it up in a few minutes. Sorry

It really is a must-see, important video though.

[NT2C]

Yes. ^^^this^^^ very much. I do this as much as I can. This *should* work with solid pills & tablets. Some are scored to be cut in half. Obvisouly one cannot do this with gels, powder caps, etc.

This will not work with all solid pills and tablets. It is, in fact, quite dangerous with ones designed for controlled time release. Such pills and tablets are coated and constructed in such a way as to dissolve at a controlled rate, releasing small amounts of the drug as it dissolves. Cutting it in half exposes all the layers at the same time, leading to drug overdose and possible death. The most common use for such is in pain control drugs.

[CrossCut]

Yes. ^^^this^^^ very much. I do this as much as I can. This *should* work with solid pills & tablets. Some are scored to be cut in half. Obvisouly one cannot do this with gels, powder caps, etc.

This will not work with all solid pills and tablets. It is, in fact, quite dangerous with ones designed for controlled time release. Such pills and tablets are coated and constructed in such a way as to dissolve at a controlled rate, releasing small amounts of the drug as it dissolves. Cutting it in half exposes all the layers at the same time, leading to drug overdose and possible death. The most common use for such is in pain control drugs.

Another type that should not be split or crushed are those with an enteric coating, erythromycin being a common one that some preppers may have stored.

Oral Dosage Forms That Should Not Be Crushed

[MPMalloy]

Yes. ^^^this^^^ very much. I do this as much as I can. This *should* work with solid pills & tablets. Some are scored to be cut in half. Obvisouly one cannot do this with gels, powder caps, etc.

This will not work with all solid pills and tablets. It is, in fact, quite dangerous with ones designed for controlled time release. Such pills and tablets are coated and constructed in such a way as to dissolve at a controlled rate, releasing small amounts of the drug as it dissolves. Cutting it in half exposes all the layers at the same time, leading to drug overdose and possible death. The most common use for such is in pain control drugs.

Another type that should not be split or crushed are those with an enteric coating, erythromycin being a common one that some preppers may have stored.

Oral Dosage Forms That Should Not Be Crushed

Yes, both of those are contra-indicated.

Always check with your prescriber & also check with your PharmD

[majorhavoc]

Had to double check to make sure I hadn't already responded to this thread.

Through a combination of picking up refills as soon as they become available and invariably missing the occasional daily dosage, I've built up a 2+ month excess supply of the blood pressure medications I'm on. It's taken me a few years to do that, but it wasn't any great hardship or serious endangerment to my health. I do appreciate that this strategy wouldn't work for certain life-sustaining medications that don't allow skipping even a single day.

[grumpyviking]

its not really possible to stock much in the way of prescription medication over here, everything has a date limit before you can have the next issue, so by ordering maybe a week early you could get a small stock, maybe a couple of months but thats about it.
I'm more into alternative medicine than big pharma, modern medicines all have too many side affects which often need medication of their own.