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I can only speak for people I know, but I think the logistics of that are right up there with "take advantage of free healthcare that's available at your income

I can only speak for people I know, but I think the logistics of that are right up there with "take advantage of free healthcare that's available at your income level." They have to: 1. Know that the option is available 2. Have a stable home--Amazon doesn't work well if you're homeless or couch-surfing 3. Speak English, assuming you're in the US (this is a big one) 4. Have consistent access to a computer or a cell phone 5. Have consistent access to the internet--not a given when you keep defaulting on your cell phone payments 6. Have the time, energy, and intelligence to figure out how to get an Amazon account working via non-traditional methods--it sounds silly, but this is a real problem if you're juggling just as many jobs as kids. #1, #2, #3 are really difficult for a lot of people. Even in places where people would be eligible for some minimal level of free healthcare, they're still significant hurdles.

DoreenMichele 6y ago
I ordered off Amazon while homeless and sleeping in a tent. Yes, there are people who absolutely cannot readily make their lives work. I still struggle to make ends meet, though it's better than it used to be and I'm at least no longer homeless. But you seem to be pointlessly beating a dead horse here. There may be a good argument for "We should just give away help for the most vulnerable during the pandemic because protecting them protects others." but beyond that I don't know what your point is.
- zenexer 6y ago
  > but beyond that I don't know what your point is. The ancestor to which I'm responding was suggesting that self-medicating at prescription-level doses was a viable option. It's not: 1. If you can get the tests to show that you actually need prescription-level dosing (rather than OTC dosing), then you can get the prescription far cheaper than the OTC medication anyway. 2. If you can't get the tests, then you shouldn't be taking a higher-than-OTC dose without a damn good reason, and we sure as heck shouldn't be encouraging that here or treating it as a priority--although I think the ancestor was half-joking. This particular branch of the discussion isn't about OTC dosing. If you want to just take normal supplements at normal doses, go right ahead. Don't think you need to allocate money to go higher than that, especially when there isn't really a guarantee that it will even be safe, much less necessary.
  - DoreenMichele 6y ago
    All I'm seeing is this statement which is factually correct: 50,000 IU dosages aren’t really available by prescription only when 5,000 IU pills are OTC. A lot of people on this forum are very comfortably well off. I'm not one of them and I do what I can to educate people, both here and elsewhere, about the reality of what a lot of poor people live with. But that seems to mostly be irrelevant to the points people here are making today. I'm not sure why you seem to feel so compelled to argue so strenuously that everyone here is missing some important details about how the poorest of the poor live in the US. I really don't think they are. I think that's just mostly got nothing to do with this discussion at the moment. I also think HN is fairly well informed these days overall on such topics because they put up with me being openly homeless for nearly six years and I still sometimes write about that and sometimes hit the front page on such topics. So the crowd here isn't generally all "la la la, not listening." This just seems honestly not relevant to the discussion, at least not in the way it is being approached.
    - travisjungroth 6y ago
      Yeah, you seem to have gotten my original point and I’m super surprised where this discussion turned. It was just a normal hacker spirit response to “You can only get X from Y” with “I can get Z and make X easily”.
      - zenexer 6y ago
        Indeed, I apologize--I certainly did get carried away with a hypothetical. The mere thought of someone actually going out and doing that triggered all kinds of panic.
    - zenexer 6y ago
      > All I'm seeing is this statement which is factually correct: 50,000 IU dosages aren’t really available by prescription only when 5,000 IU pills are OTC. I think it was probably intended to be somewhat humorous, and yes, it's technically correct. However, it makes little sense if taken as factual rather than humorous: you shouldn't be exceeding the OTC dosage unless you know you need to; you can't know you need to exceed the OTC dosage unless you are tested; if you're tested, you're eligible for a prescription to get it cheaper anyway. > I'm not sure why you seem to feel so compelled to argue so strenuously that everyone here is missing some important details about how the poorest of the poor live in the US. Money is only one factor, and I think that's something people on HN tend to forget. > I'm not sure why you seem to feel so compelled to argue so strenuously that everyone here is missing some important details about how the poorest of the poor live in the US. I should clarify that this is largely anecdotal. I only know a handful of people who have been in these situations. I wouldn't even say they're the poorest of the poor: there are often other factors at play, be it mental disorders, language barriers, or a combination thereof. > I also think HN is fairly well informed these days overall on such topics because they put up with me being openly homeless for nearly six years and I still sometimes write about that and sometimes hit the front page on such topics. So the crowd here isn't generally all "la la la, not listening." I would agree; it's certainly one of the better communities in that regard. > This just seems honestly not relevant to the discussion, at least not in the way it is being approached. Quite possibly, especially considering that the ancestor was probably joking. Still, I can't help but cringe at the thought of someone I care about hearing that the solution to their COVID troubles is to waltz into the nearest pharmacy, spend their food money on a bottle of vitamin D, and down 10 of them at once.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

DoreenMichele 6y ago

I ordered off Amazon while homeless and sleeping in a tent. Yes, there are people who absolutely cannot readily make their lives work. I still struggle to make ends meet, though it's better than it used to be and I'm at least no longer homeless. But you seem to be pointlessly beating a dead horse here. There may be a good argument for "We should just give away help for the most vulnerable during the pandemic because protecting them protects others." but beyond that I don't know what your point is.

zenexer 6y ago
> but beyond that I don't know what your point is. The ancestor to which I'm responding was suggesting that self-medicating at prescription-level doses was a viable option. It's not: 1. If you can get the tests to show that you actually need prescription-level dosing (rather than OTC dosing), then you can get the prescription far cheaper than the OTC medication anyway. 2. If you can't get the tests, then you shouldn't be taking a higher-than-OTC dose without a damn good reason, and we sure as heck shouldn't be encouraging that here or treating it as a priority--although I think the ancestor was half-joking. This particular branch of the discussion isn't about OTC dosing. If you want to just take normal supplements at normal doses, go right ahead. Don't think you need to allocate money to go higher than that, especially when there isn't really a guarantee that it will even be safe, much less necessary.
- DoreenMichele 6y ago
  All I'm seeing is this statement which is factually correct: 50,000 IU dosages aren’t really available by prescription only when 5,000 IU pills are OTC. A lot of people on this forum are very comfortably well off. I'm not one of them and I do what I can to educate people, both here and elsewhere, about the reality of what a lot of poor people live with. But that seems to mostly be irrelevant to the points people here are making today. I'm not sure why you seem to feel so compelled to argue so strenuously that everyone here is missing some important details about how the poorest of the poor live in the US. I really don't think they are. I think that's just mostly got nothing to do with this discussion at the moment. I also think HN is fairly well informed these days overall on such topics because they put up with me being openly homeless for nearly six years and I still sometimes write about that and sometimes hit the front page on such topics. So the crowd here isn't generally all "la la la, not listening." This just seems honestly not relevant to the discussion, at least not in the way it is being approached.
  - travisjungroth 6y ago
    Yeah, you seem to have gotten my original point and I’m super surprised where this discussion turned. It was just a normal hacker spirit response to “You can only get X from Y” with “I can get Z and make X easily”.
    - zenexer 6y ago
      Indeed, I apologize--I certainly did get carried away with a hypothetical. The mere thought of someone actually going out and doing that triggered all kinds of panic.
  - zenexer 6y ago
    > All I'm seeing is this statement which is factually correct: 50,000 IU dosages aren’t really available by prescription only when 5,000 IU pills are OTC. I think it was probably intended to be somewhat humorous, and yes, it's technically correct. However, it makes little sense if taken as factual rather than humorous: you shouldn't be exceeding the OTC dosage unless you know you need to; you can't know you need to exceed the OTC dosage unless you are tested; if you're tested, you're eligible for a prescription to get it cheaper anyway. > I'm not sure why you seem to feel so compelled to argue so strenuously that everyone here is missing some important details about how the poorest of the poor live in the US. Money is only one factor, and I think that's something people on HN tend to forget. > I'm not sure why you seem to feel so compelled to argue so strenuously that everyone here is missing some important details about how the poorest of the poor live in the US. I should clarify that this is largely anecdotal. I only know a handful of people who have been in these situations. I wouldn't even say they're the poorest of the poor: there are often other factors at play, be it mental disorders, language barriers, or a combination thereof. > I also think HN is fairly well informed these days overall on such topics because they put up with me being openly homeless for nearly six years and I still sometimes write about that and sometimes hit the front page on such topics. So the crowd here isn't generally all "la la la, not listening." I would agree; it's certainly one of the better communities in that regard. > This just seems honestly not relevant to the discussion, at least not in the way it is being approached. Quite possibly, especially considering that the ancestor was probably joking. Still, I can't help but cringe at the thought of someone I care about hearing that the solution to their COVID troubles is to waltz into the nearest pharmacy, spend their food money on a bottle of vitamin D, and down 10 of them at once.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]