medication

Gday,
Only you can make that decision Mate!
I think I know how you feel.
Good Luck

Cheers

Gday Shane , I am an insulin dependant diabetic and also take a narcotic for severe back pain , i regularly do trips to N.T and W.A also plan on getting to the Cape one day ,( was supposed to get there this year but had to cancel half way thru our trip due to a death in the family), i have never found it to be a problem as of yet , i also always make sure i have a letter from my G.P. in case i need extra medication or encounter any probs with the law whilst carrying the narcotics .......Cheers.....Dave

Does anything you are likely to do on the trip make it worse? Can you take enough medication to cover the trip? There is a clinic at Birdsville which is good at the start or end of the Simpson. Don't go without someone else who can drive if you can't. You probably need to chat with your doctor. I hope you can do it. All the best. Christine.

hi shane thats an interesting question. i think there would be many people driving around everyday that take serious medication. taken by the right person - someone who actually needs it for pain, sickness etc rather than getting HIGH - probably know their limitations behind the wheel. its the other people i worry about (the HIGH ones)

i too take morphine sulphate and neurontin for a back and knee problem. unfortunately i have not been able to hit the tracks in my 4wd for 18 months now. i cant wait to get back to it but depends on what road i take with my back. still weighing up my options re surgery etc (stressful!!!) actually the mrs wanted me to sell it but i cannot bring myself to do it. i will be back!!!

i always get my doctor to make sure i have enough of my medication before i go. if you are not sure if you have enough or something may go wrong, i would tell him i am going longer so i do ot run out.

hope your back is on the mend. how long have you been taking the medication? cheers mick

We were down in tin can town recently and walked passed a phone box, the person in the box sounded really destressed so we asked if we could help. They had rung Harvey bay hosptial
and not know where to go from there, if they had planned ahead, the problem would have been resolved in Maryborough.

Good to see you asking for info so you don't stress yourself out.

Hope you do it

Make sure you take your prescription with you otherwise Mr Plod could take u into custody for being in posession of a controlled substance as a Peth citizen found out this week (he he)

In my experience as my sister has been a diabetic for 32 years. I would be confident with taking her to the Simpson as she knows what she is capable of.
For example 6 weeks ago I met her at Uluru and spent a great few days with her. She knows her limitations and although she tried to do stuff I do. She ended up having to rest whilst I got the ute to pick her up. I told her before we went for the walk to not be afraid to stop and rest. I offered to pick her up and she accepted.
Make sure u got somebody responsible, who understands your medication and all will be good.
Peter

Working at the Ayers Rock Medical Centre for the last two months, I can say that we have seen good examples of travellers and some bad examples when it comes to medication.

Let me offer some thoughts and advice, (If its of any help).

If you are a sufferer of a chronic condition that requires ongoing medication, then ensure that you have enough to medication to see your trip out plus 10 - 15%. This will allow for breakdowns, diversions from your original plans or any other unforeseen reason.

Make sure that you take a letter/summary from your Doctor and also repeat scripts for any medication that you might have to replace. It is far easier to read a letter from another Doctor and advice / issue medication that have you spill your entire medical history out.

If you need to possibly order medication whilst on your trek, think of it like fuel drops, ring ahead before you go and check that it is in stock and if there are any 'local' arrangements that have to be made to assist this process.

Medication that needs to be refrigerated should be kept under 8 degrees, but not frozen. Give thought and read the packaging on other medication and see whether the manufacturer recommends that medication be kept under 25 degrees. many antibiotics fall into this category. You may need to place this medication in your travel / camping fridge or at least and esky / cooler to maintain a stable temperature. (This is VERY important for some heart medications).

Remember that in remote areas there may well be limited supplies of medications held and often no doctors to prescribe. If you are not self-sufficient, you will be reliant on Nursing staff and very limited pharmacy stocks. Always try to stock up in big towns with chemists / pharmacies / hospitals rather than rely upon the smaller places.

With regards to the use of strong pain killers and muscular relaxing agents, (diazepam / valium etc), you need to be careful that your ability to drive is not impaired otherwise you can be charged by the police for various offences as well as placing other road users and yourself at risk. This should preclude anyone from hitting the open road and travelling, but more so place a greater emphasis of responsibility of the individual themselves.

Not sure if the above helps but I welcome feedback from those who do travel with such conditions / medications.

Safe Travels

Cheers
Shane

Hell do you want a list of my prescription meds??? I usually carry my scripts, carry a letter from my GP outlining my "problems" incase I am found unconscious someone can read it and have an idea of what my problem may be, also if I'm venturing to a "remote area" that is an area where there is no pharmacy within 50km my pharmacist will give me a double helping of pills before I go except Ciallis which is prescribed for "theraputic sex" only and the sex one has on holidays is recreational, don't believe me check with Vets Affairs...At my age any contact with another human is theraputic....
Shane, go and enjoy yourself, if things really get bad the RFDS can be relied on to get you sorted, the stress of not doing what you want will only make things worse for you.

thanks for all replies, i'm going out to enjoy myself.

Good advice from people regarding additional meds and a GP letter to aid any doctor you have to see along the way. Include a complete list of meds you are on and any ones that either failed or worked for acute exarcerbations of your problems.

We have many travellers come through our ED in Pt Hedland here and many don't carry these things with them and we spend a long time getting their medical history. The patient often tells us general problems they have but we need specific medical diagnosis to treat them properly.

Some carry specialst letters, extra scripts, xrays, ecg's (heart tracings), and anything else regarding their medical conditions. These help us in the hospital immensely.

How does the morphine effect your driving with the sedative properties of the drug?

Barnesy