Traveling pharmacy

[LemurCat]

Wow! Are you my twin? LOL! That looks just like my "traveling pharmacy". EXCEPT, I also take along a Z Pack (antibiotics), a few left over prescription pain pills (in case of injury), alcohol swabs for cleaning wounds, and like the above poster, a little tooth filling kit & gum numbing liquid. I also pack extra doses of our regular prescription meds, in case our trip is extended for any reason. So far, we have never needed anything other than the digestive system related meds. Of course, I also take motion sickness remedies, which I do use! I would much rather keep these items packed "just in case", than to be on a cruise and wish I had them. :)

 

Dentemp is good, as well as Ambesol or clove oil for dental pain. Cruising to Mexico and Canada is great for stocking up your emergancy kit.

[tink24]

I only needed it once, but I was sure glad I had it -- temporary dental filling material! It's just a tiny vial and they sell it OTC in drugstores. I forget the trade name. If you have capped teeth and/or deep fillings it can come in very handy. We were once on a camping trip and one of the children in our group fell and broke a tooth. He would have been in pain all night until they could get to a dentist without that stuff. I'll never forget the stunned look on his mom's face when I pulled it out of my bag!

I always carry this too. It was one I forgot to add to my earlier list.

[LemurCat]

A word of advice to anyone buying medications in a foreign country .... be sure you can *actually take it* before buying it. Don't buy a medication you've never taken. You never know if there's an undiscovered allergy waiting to make you sick ... or worse.

[tink24]

OK - for all of you who pack antibiotics for "just in case" - bad idea unless you know what bacteria you are actually targeting. You can do more harm than good by taking the wrong one and self diagnosing. If you are sick enough to think you need an antibiotic, just suck it up and visit the ship MD to make sure. OK - that's my 2 cents worth. (as an ER nurse, I have to give this speech on a DAILY basis unfortunately!)

[Stargateman]

If you wear Eye glasses I sugest taking a Eye glasses repair kit with you.

[PaulMedik]

OK - for all of you who pack antibiotics for "just in case" - bad idea unless you know what bacteria you are actually targeting. You can do more harm than good by taking the wrong one and self diagnosing. If you are sick enough to think you need an antibiotic, just suck it up and visit the ship MD to make sure. OK - that's my 2 cents worth. (as an ER nurse, I have to give this speech on a DAILY basis unfortunately!)

 

 

tink24,

 

I'll add a few more pennies to your advice; If anyone has any 'left over' antibiotics, you would be well advised to just toss them. If they are 'left over' that means you didn't take them all and whatever you were taking them for is now resistant and is NOT going to be killed by that antibiotic. Along those same lines, if you do self medicate, make sure you take the amount required to completely kill whatever you are trying to kill or you will simply make it stronger. Taking antibiotics you don't need is rampant in this country, but taking a few and then stopping is what is KILLING people in this country by creating resistant strains of infections. You may feel better and stop taking your antibiotics, but your actions may kill a loved one, yourself, or a complete stranger.