Pre ThruHike Prescriptions

[goldielocks]

Are you asking your doctor for any specific prescriptions to have along the way ahead of time? (i.e. Any specific antibiotics or creams)

[Wyoming]

goldie

I think this depends on where you are hiking. If it is an AT hike then I don't think there is any need really. If you are going to be hiking in remote areas where getting out to civilization is a big issue then "yes" it is worth considering. The PCT ...maybe maybe not (I do). The CDT I would say probably. More remote than that then I would recommend yes.

I have a prescription my doctor gave me for treating giardia for instance. I am sometimes quite far from a road where I could hitchhike into town and a case of giardia untreated could be risky. And I am not going to poke the SOS button on my SPOT for something like that.

I also have a prescription for hydrocodone (though I only carry 5 pills). This is my emergency backup for a really serious injury such as a broken ankle/leg or the like when in the deep backcountry with no immediate help available. I have 2 times in my life walked off a broken ankle (once hiking and once on a special mission in the service) and they both healed up in about 2-3 weeks - if you can alleviate the pain a bit you can walk still. So I carry the pain meds in case I get hurt bad and have to move to stay alive. I will use the SPOT in that circumstance if I am worried about survival, but you cannot expect anyone to arrive sooner than about 12 hours. Some serious meds then can be invaluable.

I do carry over the counter allergy pills and ibuprofen as many do.

[C-shell]

I was nervous about lyme disease so ask my doc for a prescription for doxycycline. filled it and carried it with me. Also, carried ibuprofen, benadryl and tums.

[KDogg]

Ask your doctor for anything you think you might need. Explain to them what you are doing and ask their advice. I had antibiotics and brought a few percocet that I had left from a surgery. I'm glad I had the painkillers as I had an eye injury that would have been really hard to deal with if I didn't. I'll ask for more if I do something like this again.

[Mouser999]

i got my md to giveme 6 extra strength (rx) pain pills for just in case.

[BuckeyeBill]

Due to several medical problems, I have to carry a small pharmacy. I don't make known what I have except for the standards (no prescriptions needed) which I am willing to share if some one runs out. My gastro doc does give me a script for Cipro as a just in case. If I am going to be gone for an extended period, I also get a script for blood tests he runs every three months. Because of what I do take, I leave all medication in the original container as some law enforcement agencies will arrest you for carry Narcotics in anything other than the original container.

[Greenlight]

I been soundly rebuffed here for recommending that you go to your doc before leaving and get a round of antibiotics to take with you. You can do telemedicine from the trail when you get signal, and having the meds with you instead of having to crawl out to a doc-in-the-box to get diagnosed and 'scripped. Having a handful of hydrocodone pills (in the pharmacy packaging) also seems like a good idea. You just never know when something will happen. Carrying five isn't going to turn you into a narco on the trail. With that amount most folks would save it for the truly excruciating moments, and possibly never take one of them the whole trip.

Yeah, some antibiotics cause light sensitivity, but you just deal with it. Troops going overseas to certain areas are routinely given the antimalarial doxycycline,
which is actually an antibiotic also used to treat Lyme disease and a host of nasty intestinal infections that can be picked up on the trail. If our troops in Afghanistan could take doxy every day for a year while going outside the wire, in a hot and austere environment, I think a thru-hiker in the green tunnel will be okay taking it for a month, which is the usual course, barring the occasional contraindication in an individual.

Will I be carrying doxycycline on my thru? More than likely. Same with a handful of good pain killers.

Are you asking your doctor for any specific prescriptions to have along the way ahead of time? (i.e. Any specific antibiotics or creams)

[Don H]

Before I left I asked my Doc for a prescription for Doxycycline for Lyme. He granted it and I ended up needing it in MA. I called my doctor and he phoned in an additional prescription to the pharmacy in Dalton.