Insulin

Discussion in 'Survival Medicine' started by JrOrtiz, Mar 28, 2021.


  1. JrOrtiz

    JrOrtiz Monkey

    Does anyone have any idea of how to acquire insulin if things go bad. A friend's son has been recently diagnosed with diabetes. 10 years old. Crappy deal
     
  2. Airtime

    Airtime Monkey+++

    The general way of dealing with critical prescription meds is to grow a stockpile and to reach having a year or two worth of meds in reserve.

    How to do that is the tricky part. Sometimes a doctor will assist in getting a month or two ahead but may be reluctant to help for a year.

    If you can get the prescription for doses higher than needed, one can just take a lower dosing and store the extra. But you have to know what you are doing and that you don’t really need a higher dose. Over time you can build a year’s reserve or more.

    Insulin is a good candidate as the person monitors their blood sugar and doses as needed. One can reduce the need for insulin with diet but just keep getting the regular prescription filled and store the excess.

    Unfortunately, liquid meds generally don’t store long term very well. You should also constantly cycle new meds into the stores and use the slightly older but still good ones as needed. Meds in tablet form can generally still be good decades later if stored properly even though they are well past their expirations. I wrote about this several years back.

    Some medical considerations

    Beware of pill splitting to reduce the dosage. It works fine for most meds but for time release versions splitting can interfere with the time release mechanism. The pharmacist or manufacturer’s info will generally be able to provide guidance on that.

    AT
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2021
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  3. OldDude49

    OldDude49 Just n old guy

    seem to recall in lucifers hammer (sci fi book) that such could be made from sheep...???

    otherwise I have no clue...
     
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  4. johnbb

    johnbb Monkey+++

    Wasn't insulin made at one time in China seem to recall there was a problem with contamination? Can you buy insulin from foreign Pharmacies. Mexican Pharmacies sell stuff over the counter we here in the States need a prescription for.
     
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  5. JrOrtiz

    JrOrtiz Monkey

    We discussed the Mexican option last night. Its is a good one because of our distance to the border and having friends that live there.
     
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  6. I just found the "Survival Medicine" web site. Don't look promising.
     
  7. Airtime

    Airtime Monkey+++

    Are you referring to doomandbloom.net? If so, Dr. Joe Alton has a lot of good stuff there and he and his wife wrote an excellent book everyone should have in their library.
     
  8. Wildbilly

    Wildbilly Monkey+++

    You can make insulin from anything that has a pancreas. The technology is not terribly advanced, remember it was developed in Canada back in the early 20th Century. However, the raw materials and lab equipment could be hard to come-by in a SHTF situation. The lab equipment, chemicals, and know how can be acquired before hand, but would be useless without a steady supply of fresh pancreases. So you might want to go into ranching. Just remember to lay low until ALL of the other diabetics are dead or they will kill you and yours, and destroy the lab!
    In the book Lucifer's Hammer, one of the characters is a scientist and a diabetic. He knew how to make insulin, but he needed a safe haven that would take him in and supply him with pancreases of one or two sheep per month. There was a valley in northern California that could do all that...but you had to buy your way in with skills, knowledge, etc.. His plan was to buy his way in with books...books on every subject under the sun...books that would aid in survival, maintain knowledge and help in rebuilding civilization...books that were sealed in zip-lock bags and hidden in a septic tank in his backyard. He died, because he made mustard gas instead of insulin in order to defend the valley from the starving hoards.
    I, myself have 2 nieces and 2 niece-in-laws that are Type 1, and while my plans are to have some insulin on hand the cold hard truth is that they are going to die! You need to read up on what diabetes was like before insulin became available. Diabetes was a death sentence, and while you could prolong their lives with the crude treatments of the day the price was high. In order to extend their life for a year, maybe a year and a half, they had to be starved. As one doctor said, " you can't be the son-of-a-bitch that I have to be"!
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2021
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  9. Illini Warrior

    Illini Warrior Illini Warrior

    Last edited: Mar 28, 2021
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  10. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    Disclaimer: Although I have some lived experience related to Type 2 Diabetes, and insulin resistance, I have no special knowledge, professional medical qualifications nor medical accreditation on the topic of diabetes or its treatment. The discussion that I contribute to reflects my personal opinions and is not a substitute for competent advice by properly qualified and accredited medical practitioners and health professionals. Links to information about diabetes in this and subsequent posts of mine in this thread are for suggested research only...you need to apply your own judgement and due diligence as to its applicability to your own situation.

    The subject of Insulin supply and diabetic treatment under austere circumstances is an infrequent, if recurring topic on this site. Several regular contributors to the SM discussion boards here have raised the issue in the context of potential disruptions to medical and pharmaceutical supply chains due to localised, and more widespread catastrophic events.

    Acquiring insulin (and other insulin moderating phamaceuticals) is one part of the equation: Maintaining an adequate stock of the acquired insulin medication over the long term is another matter entirely.

    Storage:
    Insulin, like many other medications, has a limited shelf life, which is very much affected by the environmental conditions under which it is stored. The shelf life may vary somewhat from product to product, and for optimal shelf life, it must be stored in a refrigerator, and away from the light. The further the environment varies from the optimum specified storage parameters, the greater the degradation of the medication's potency and effectiveness, and the shorter the effective shelf life of the product will be. In the event of a power outage, and the failure of refrigerated storage, the product will still be usable for a while, but with a much more attenuated lifespan...I understand that the shelf life shown on product packaging indicates the use by dates for both refrigerated and unrefrigerated storage.

    http://patientinfo.org.au/Resources/Guidelines for insulin storage and handling.pdf
    Safe and effective use of insulin requires proper storage - Harvard Health Blog
    ConsumerMedSafety.org - Prevent Medication Errors - Consumer Med Safety

    If grid down, is a credible threat to your home's electrical supply, then having an alternative supply of electricity (or LPG) for refrigeration of pharmaceutical stocks ought be a consideration in survival contingency planning.

    If potential disruption to diabetic medication supply chains is an issue, then maintaining the maximum stock that can be effectively stored without undue wastage due to life expiry, and rotating stocks as required, ought be a logistical contingency planning consideration.

    Diabetes Types:
    There are different types of diabetes, each with their own defining characteristics What is diabetes? Types of diabetes | Diabetes Queensland...the treatments for which may vary depending on the type diagnosed, and its presenting severity. I don't know what particular form JrOrtiz's friend's son has been diagnosed with, and would not presume to offer any advice concerning his treatment. That said, it is worth researching the role and effects of insulin in regulating blood sugar in the human body, particularly in response to nutrient consumption and insulin's interactions with other hormones, such as cortisol and adrenalin et al. Exercise, and exposure to stress are, among many other environmental and lifestyle factors which affect body chemistry related to diabetes, both positively and negatively.

    Manufacturing Your Own Insulin?
    Yes, whenever a TEOTWAKI magnitude event is posited, in 'what if' risk management / hazard reduction speculation, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's 'Lucifer's Hammer' gets a run, when one of the characters, Professor Forrester (who has Type1 diabetes) devotes time and resources to producing poison gas and pyrotechnics / explosives to defend the only remaining powerplant from marauders instead of producing a reliable supply of animal insulin to keep himself alive...and he consequently, 'heroically' dies as a result of a diabetic coma.

    The insulin produced today in pharmaceutical labs and production plants is a synthetic form of the medication, and its manufacture would be beyond the infrastructure and technological knowhow of your average crystal-meth kitchen cook. Although certainly insulin was first produced by research scientists in the early 1920's, using pancreatic raw materials from pigs and cattle...the quantity of raw materials necessary Two tons of pig parts: Making insulin in the 1920s for the process and the technological infrastructure and technologists to extract the insulin may be be beyond most DIY amateur home 'biotechnologists'. That said, it hasn't stopped biohackers from trying to produce their own insulin. The issues I would have with bio-hacked insulin would be purity, efficacy, and reliability.

    Don't Forget Testing and Delivery Systems!
    When thinking about contingency planning for catastrophic events and long term austere survival living, much of the discussion tends to revolve around insulin and its storage. It would be wise to also consider the consumables (both testing and delivery systems) when putting together a diabetic supplies stocking plan. Consumables such as insulin syringes, insulin pens, testing lancets, test strips, testing meters, prep pads, etc all need to be had in sufficient quantities to be able to identify the correct dosage, and deliver it as specified in accordance with the product's recommended protocols. Although those items tend to have a long shelf life, one needs to have an adequate supply of them to match expected needs. Although reusing single use diabetic syringes/pens is not impossible (there are a number of risks involved) it is definitely not recommended. https://www.bd.com/documents/white-paper/DC_A-Look-at-the-Reuse-of-Insulin-Needles_WP_EN.pdf

    As with all things sharp things that you stick yourself with, follow antiseptic practices when testing and dosing...yet another swag of consumables to take into account. ;)
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2021
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  11. JrOrtiz

    JrOrtiz Monkey

    Doesn't help. Everyone involved knows that
     
  12. JrOrtiz

    JrOrtiz Monkey

    I need to up my search game. I tried a search here and nothing came up. Should have spent more time.

    Thank you will check out for sure
     
  13. JrOrtiz

    JrOrtiz Monkey

    Thank you so much. Will pass this info on. Actually going to write it down.
     
  14. Illini Warrior

    Illini Warrior Illini Warrior

    I think they upped their online security - might have to go to the main page now - either join or come thru as a guest >>>>

    Survivalist Forum
     
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  15. AD1

    AD1 Monkey+++

    If you have a prescription contact Marks Marine Pharmacy in Canada.

    Great pricing.

    What insulin and what dose?
     
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  16. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    Lucifer's Hammer was a great read!
     
  17. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    It is indeed, as are a number of other Niven-Pournelle collaborations. Human life on earth had virtually been wiped out at least once before, and global pandemics have also culled the species significantly over humanity's history....there will undoubtedly be other potentially species extinction events before Earth is no longer habitable by any species...we should try not to drill holes through, or burn the hull of the liferaft that humanity presently survives on.

    Lucifer's hammer, and similar TEOTWAWKI stories serve as cautionary tales of the consequences of the loss of civilisation and technology. Although what has been discovered once is potentially discoverable again, the human cost of having to reinvent the wheel will be immense.
     
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  18. JrOrtiz

    JrOrtiz Monkey

    Thank you. Don't know.
     
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