LESSWRONG_POST

LESSWRONG LW

2022-03-21 · 00:00 UTC ·Thomas Kwa ·3 min read

Brief

The author presents a practical productivity optimization system based on carrying a portable pharmacy of over-the-counter medications. The core insight is that while people know these drugs exist, the friction of obtaining them when needed is high enough that they suffer through preventable ailments. By pre-loading a 10-slot pill organizer with six basic medications (ibuprofen for pain/fever, caffeine for alertness, loperamide for diarrhea, dimenhydrinate for nausea, melatonin for sleep timing, and doxylamine for stronger sleep aid), the author claims to have eliminated most common travel and health disruptions. The system includes four additional slots for personalized medications like modafinil, stimulants, anti-anxiety drugs, or electrolyte supplements. The author provides specific dosages and notes potential interactions, emphasizing that all recommended core drugs are over-the-counter with low abuse potential. A real-world test occurred when the organizer was lost, resulting in measurable productivity losses from sleep disruption and extended illness duration, which the author uses as evidence for the system's value.

Why it matters

LessWrong user advocates carrying a pill organizer with basic over-the-counter medications for common ailments:

Key details

  • [productivity] Claims 3% productivity increase and 3 hours saved per critical trip from managing jetlag
  • [setup] Costs ~$30 and takes under an hour to set up with 10-slot organizer
  • [medications] Recommends 6 core OTC drugs: ibuprofen, caffeine, anti-diarrheal, anti-nausea, melatonin, sleep aid
  • [evidence] Lost organizer for few days resulted in 10 hours lost work from sleep disruption and 3 hours from food poisoning
Source evidence

title: LESSWRONG LW
author: Thomas Kwa
contenttype: article
published: 2022-03-21T00:00:00
sourceurl: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/LJw98jjiZDBKiZxKB/jetlag-nausea-and-diarrhea-are-largely-optional

word_count: 672

Epistemic status: my best guess at the truth, with many of the standard medical-advice disclaimers omitted

Many people I know are aware of drugs for basic ailments, but don't bother using them because they're too much trouble to carry around. But using a pill organizer basically eliminates this overhead. For me, having a pill organizer has dramatically reduced the negative effects of insomnia, jetlag, nausea, diarrhea, headaches, etc., and significantly increased my operational capacity. In total, it has probably increased my productivity by over 3% over the last few months, and also increased my quality of life substantially. (But note that I think most people won't get such a large benefit). Just using the alertness adjustment drugs to curb jetlag saves me about 3 hours of productive time each way on critical trips.

Here are the exact steps I followed, which take less than an hour and cost about $30:

  • Get a 10-slot
    (4 for $10 on Amazon). Not the same as a weekly pill organizer.pill organizer - Get a few basic pills from your local drugstore, supermarket, Amazon, whatever. I suggest the following:
  • ibuprofen 200mg (Motrin, Advil) for pain, fever, etc. [1]
  • caffeine 100mg, optionally with l-theanine
  • loperamide/simethicone 2mg (anti-diarrhea)
  • dimenhydrinate (Dramamine, anti-nausea) [2]
  • melatonin 0.3mg (mild sleep aid)

  • doxylamine 25mg (Unisom, sleep aid to be used sparingly) [3]

  • This gives you 4 slots left for whatever other drugs you benefit from or are prescribed, maybe things like

  • aspirin 81mg (in case of heart attack, also another option for pain)
  • modafinil 200mg or armodafinil 150mg (suppresses sleep drive). Note that this dosage is way too much if you don't have narcolepsy.
  • stimulants e.g. amphetamines, nicotine
  • anti-anxiety meds [4]
  • allergy meds (if these are antihistamines they could double as other things)

  • electrolyte pills: sodium, potassium, magnesium

  • Put the pills in the medication organizer, and label each compartment with the medication and dosage, using a permanent marker. You can erase the labels with alcohol wipes if needed.

  • Carry it around in your backpack or purse.
  • If those particular drugs don't work for you, try others that do the same thing. Our civilization has invented these multiple times and there's a good chance at least one works for your particular body.

In December, I lost my pill organizer. In the few days it took me to order a new one, the following things happened:

  • I had to stay up late to finish work, which threw my sleep schedule off. Without melatonin my sleep was out of phase for a few days, losing me about 10 hours of work.
  • I had mild food poisoning and had diarrhea for much longer than necessary, which was very unpleasant and lost me ~3 hours of work.
  • Someone asked if I had ibuprofen. They probably had a headache or period cramps or something for hours, or had to walk to a store. Either way, they suffered for at least an hour.

All six of the basic substances listed are over the counter, have fairly low abuse potential, and have few harmful interactions (other than, say, caffeine increases wakefulness and doxylamine decreases wakefulness). However, I highly recommend doing basic research into the substances you're using (e.g. reading the wikipedia page), especially if you're customizing.

Notes