In terms of over-the-counter health, Lizardgal10 summed it up when she said, “Cold/flu medicine. Not fun stumbling to the drugstore when you feel like death.” User YakusokuN8 took it a step further: “I’ve also found out the hard way that when your whole body aches and you just want some hot soup, that is NOT the time to find out that you don’t have soup in the pantry.” Especially, they continued, “for all of us who are adults, not living at home, but also don’t have a significant other. If I get sick, I gotta be the one to take care of me.”
User MillieBee added, “Similarly, a bucket, wet wipes, and Dioralyte.” They had a colorful story about “vomitshitting for eight miserable hours” that we won’t cover in detail here. Suffice to say, having the above items on hand proved useful. (And we’d add, if you have children, to always keep some Pedialyte in the house for similar reasons. Even if you’re not sick, when they are, it’s tough to leave their side.) Basic painkillers like Tylenol and Ibuprofen, Tums, and cold and allergy medication were also recommended.