Meds to take on a cruise, if you get Covid

[seagunthera]

On 12/14/2022 at 3:04 PM, Donald said:

When you contract COVID on a cruise, is it really a good idea to medically mask the symptoms, avoid a doctor’s visit, and continue to infect your fellow passengers and the crew ?

The potential for contracting Covid on a cruise is a reality.  If your cruise is longer than 7 days and you are exposed early on, you will need all the things you use at home to monitor & alleviate the symptoms and make yourself as comfortable as possible.  If you think for a minute you will find those items readily available on any ship should an outbreak occur, you are kidding yourself.  I'm not sure what you think the ship's doctor is going to give you that you cannot bring for yourself or why you would automatically assume that people would willingly "mask the symptoms and continue to infect fellow passengers"?

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, mom says said:

No need to recruit a specialist for such a simple question. Just ask a Mom. You use cough suppressants for a bad, DRY, cough. You use an expectorant for a phlegmy, wet cough.

Cough Medicine: Should You or Shouldn’t You? (webmd.com)

 

The answer is not a simple as you might expect.

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, seagunthera said:

why you would automatically assume that people would willingly "mask the symptoms and continue to infect fellow passengers"?

 

Because people have posted on boards here and for various cruise lines about doing exactly that. 

[ldubs]

This thread should probably be re-titled "Meds to Take" (and not just for COVID).  

 

 

[notscb]

On 12/3/2022 at 2:52 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I've seen many many times when people sneezed right into their hand and then went on to use public utensils to get food at the buffet.

 

Absolutely disgusting.

 

On my cruise last week, I witnessed a mom holding her child put her entire hand in the cookie bowl to get her kiddo a cookie right in front of me. I looked right at the person behind the counter and they just kind of shrugged (but the entire bowl should have been thrown out).

 

We made sure we used hand sanitizer any time we saw it, and brought Tylenol and nasal spray just in case.

[theloo]

Thanks for all of the suggestions.  Taking a 16-day cruise soon, so wanted a list of all the meds we might reasonably need (for covid or cold).  

[Kristelle]

general question here - not for me specifically because I dont meet the criteria anyway - would it be easy to get anti virals on a ship if you got Covid?

 

Obviously you would need to know from a RATS test that it was Covid and then be isolating - but would the Dr on board then supply them if you met criteria?

 

 

[Meander Ingwa]

talk to your doctor about having antivirals on hand.  Be aware that some cold medicines (OTC) are contraindicated if you use blood pressure medications

 

I  bring my own test kits.

 

 

 

[Mavrick_RN]

We got back from a 16 day cruise fully expecting to get COVID.  We packed our own tests and had our Drs write a prescription for Paxlovid.  I also pack a mini pharmacy for colds, pains and seasickness.  Just add sunblock and bug spray.  Being fully prepared we suffered NO ills.

[momof3cruisers]

On 12/19/2022 at 1:01 PM, lifes-a-beach said:

I always use a simple mathematical formula for the meds I bring, no matter their purpose.  Number of days x the number of doses per 24 hours x the number of people I am responsible for packing for (usually 2) = the correct amount of that medicine.  Do this with each medicine you might need.  I never, ever depend on the ship or any port to have what I should be bringing, in the correct amount.   Thankfully, I rarely need any of it but there have been times that I needed all of it and didn't run out. 

That is really smart. One of those things that once you hear it, you go—why didn’t I think of that? Thanks!

[boltnut55]

On 12/3/2022 at 11:52 AM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I had a horrible cough when I got covid on our last cruise. It was so bad that muscle in my entire body were hurting from expanding and contracting so much. 

P.S. I now also bring plastic gloves to use at the buffet. 

P.P.S. We've been using lysol wipes to wipe the entire cabin ever since we started traveling with a kid...

Anytime I get the flu/covid and cough, my chest muscles/ribs hurt 🙁  Every since my husband saw someone coughed/sneezed into the hand and use same hand to use scooper to get food, I've been bringing food handling gloves to the buffet.  And since covid, I've been wiping down the places I've stayed; I'm definitely less detailed now compared to when we didn't have vaccinations available yet.

 

On 12/8/2022 at 6:05 PM, Markanddonna said:

I hope anyone who is sick who be courteous enough to mask up. I gave the stinkeye to an unmasked "wet hacker" behind me in line and she claimed it was allergies. Flu, Covid, RSV, bronchitis maybe. Not allergies. 

Yup, it's the ones who say "allergies" that I'm worried about.  I just assume everyone around me has covid.  I mean not in a bad way necessarily because some people may have it and don't have symptoms.  I'm asthmatic and diabetic, I seem to get it really bad (out for 3 wks both times), and my DH visits his mom weekly, who is 89.

Back to the list:  cough drops, guaifenesin, sudafed, tissue w/lotion, oximeter, thermometer, inhalers, advil, masks (N95 for plane; ASTM Level 3 medical mask for other days), food handling gloves, covid tests.

June 2022, we went on a 10 day Alaska cruise.  Out of the 6 of us, 1 got covid.  Crew was 100% masked and passengers were not.  In Dec 2022, we were on a 14-day Panama Canal cruise, maybe 5% crew/pax masked, and I started sneezing occasionally on Day 12 and eventually tested positive a few days after I got home.  Lots of passengers coughing as the days went by, bunch of single diners who ate at the MDR and brought food back (I know it doesn't mean someone is sick), one person hawking his excursion ticket because wife was sick and was seen at med ctr.  (also doesn't mean covid - i get it!), and someone who posted that it was standing room only at the med ctr.  Lesson not learned as we're going on a B2B Alaskan cruise in July after saying I was only doing short cruises.

[SPacificbound]

The month of August we will be on our first b2b since before COVID. We will have every prescription and OTC med that our PCP and I think we could possibly need, and that will include Paxlovid. I would not expect the ship's med center to have any of this. We will come prepared and hope we don't need it.

 

[AKJonesy]

Same stuff for when I got covid and used the imask protocol.  It's a bunch of high quality supplements, plus ZPAK.  But, before I travel anywhere I start high dosing VitD and VitC for a good couple of weeks.  I also bring cough drops, electrolytes in powder form, a heating pad, and pulse oximeter.  If I'm going to be sick, I want to be as comfortable as possible.  Plus, we usually now do longer trips of 3 weeks or more so I figure there could be a greater opportunity to catch something.   

[donaldsc]

Nothing except for my regular meds.  The only thing that I bring is aspirin.  For anything else I figure that the medical office will take care of it and my insurance that I pay a lot for will pay for it.  I just don't see the point of taking an entire medicine cabinet.

 

DON

[DarrenM]

On a side note I thonk I have covid now. Really bad cough. Left Celebrity beyond last friday.

 

There was a lot of coughing people on teh ship, and about 7 days in they suddenly had people at the hand wash stations demanding people wash their hands prior to entering the Buffet.

 

( Yes, there are people that dont wash their hands)

 

It just seemed peculiar that they started doing this a week in. or did they klnow sometihing?

 

If I do have covid it will be for the 3rd time

[DarrenM]

we only take paracetomol and antacids.

 

But they are more for the day after.

[Keksie]

9 hours ago, donaldsc said:

Nothing except for my regular meds.  The only thing that I bring is aspirin.  For anything else I figure that the medical office will take care of it and my insurance that I pay a lot for will pay for it.  I just don't see the point of taking an entire medicine cabinet.

 

DON

The medical office will then know you are ill and may quarantine you. They may also preform a lot of unnecessary tests.

[Joebucks]

I carried a lot of Guaifenesin over the past few years because I was getting sick a lot over the past few years, and having buildup in my chest. It wasn't fun being in public and having to cough/clear my throat constantly. 

 

I made some changes on diet and supplements to consume things that were heavily supported to improve immune function. I believe I've been sick once in the past 8 months, and it was more mild. 

 

I also used to take antacids. Then I realized how bad that is for you, and found a more natural alternative. All of these OTCs for unhealthy habits are terrible. 

[donaldsc]

4 hours ago, Keksie said:

The medical office will then know you are ill and may quarantine you. They may also preform a lot of unnecessary tests.

 

If you have something that requires a quarantine you should be quarantined.  I don't want someone with a communicable disease standing next to me on a cruise.  That is just being selfish.

 

DON

[Markanddonna]

My recent COVID experience in Europe was that you need to go to the pharmacy for most everything, including packs of electrolytes in powdered form. Most countries don't have drug stores like we do. Also, if you are seeking an antiviral, they may give you something other than Paxlovid. It is sort of the same but with a different dosing regime. We went to a hospital in Prague, and they gave my husband the antiviral without performing their own test, and he never was face to face with a doctor. 

[Kristelle]

you might get Lagevrio- at least that is the brand name in Australia - which is different to Paxlovid.

 I have seen that prescribed many times here

 

Has been prescribed for people who meet the Covid eligibility criteria for anti virals on the basis of a RATS test or a PCR - without the doctor seeing the patient ie as a telehealth consult ( for obvious reasons, we don't want patients with known Covid coming into the surgery) - but you could only get it from a pharmacy

 

Each country is going to have their own system for this.

 

The easiest thing would be to take some with you, if you meet eligibility criteria for such ( those would vary by country too, of course)

 

I dont know whether one can fill  a prescription like that in advance for a  just in case scenario - have not looked into it since I don't meet our eligibility criteria anyway.