What can I buy at the px

[Kingniceslice]

I will be going to parris island at the end of the spring semester and I have always had heartburn problems. I know that being tough and learning to deal with discomfort is a part of boot camp but I was wondering if admitting to having heartburn would get you kicked out or if they would let you have a prescription our tums. The problem I am mainly trying to avoid us throwing all my food up all the time from the heartburn during PT or not being able to get any restful asleep which I imagine is very important.does anyone know what I should or can do about this?

[Old Marine]

As of now you cannot purchase items from the PX, since you do not have a military I.D. card.

Don't worry about your heartburn while in Boot Camp. You are going to be so busy you will not have time to worry about it.

[ItalianBeef]

Admitting to it won't get you kicked out but if you have a history of severe heartburn you need to inform your recruiter. It's not about being too busy to worry about it but the fact that you won't be able to keep food down or rest will indeed be important and could set you back.

If this is just a little indigestion or even mild acid reflux you probably wouldn't have a problem, but gastroesophageal reflux disease can be pretty serious under intense physical stress and while the chance is very, very small it could be a symptom of a myocardial ischaemia.

Talk to your recruiter, be completely open and forthcoming. He'll tell you whether or not seeing a doctor for this will affect your enlistment package.

As for medication, you won't be buying anything at the PX that the drill instructors don't tell you to buy and if you have a preexisting condition they may or may not simply prescribe you medication to pick up on a regular basis.

[Old Marine]

There you go. You got your answer from Doctor ItalianBeef. Seeing that the Doctor has answered you question, you shoul be good to go.

[Casedizzy2821]

We could buy tums at the PX, but only after about 3 weeks. And even then we weren't supposed too. People would eat those and cough drops as candy.

Your best bet would be to go to medical once you're at boot camp. Your DI's will give you crap and call you a *****, but they can't stop you from going to medical.

Yes tell your recruiter, but he probably won't care. He'll tell you to tell the doc at MEPS, and they probably won't care or won't document it. So basically you'll ship without it being documented...and that leads you to going to medical at boot camp. If it's not that bad, just wait until you can go to the recruit PX and get some Tums there.

[ItalianBeef]

There you go. You got your answer from Doctor ItalianBeef. Seeing that the Doctor has answered you question, you shoul be good to go.

The smart-assery isn't required; you telling him that heartburn is nothing to worry about could be detrimental to his health so perhaps you're the one that shouldn't be playing doctor. I merely passed along information of what could be possible, not telling him to ignore a potential medical condition.

[advanced]

Keep it down Ladies.

[Kingniceslice]

thanks a lot fellows. I can and will deal if I have to. Speaking of which, i read somewhere that this dove lotion that they sell at the female recruits' PX is like sand flea repellent and, although I am tempted to use this while there, I think it would be dishonorable cheating and un-marine-like because the sand fleas are part of their designed experience for learning. Whereas the heartburn is not something built into every Marine recruit's training.

[Mxzero]

Dude, use it if you can. Making yourself as comfortable as possible in a bad situation isn't being "dishonourable" or "un-Marinelike" at all, it's just doing what you have to to make things better for yourself. Obviously, if you get thrashed or something for it, don't use it afterward unless you're sure you can get away with it, but sand fleas aren't exactly the designed experience, just something there.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

You do not have to 'train to be miserable'. You'll be miserable enough. However, if you have really bad heartburn, constantly, you might have another issue that you should likely get checked out by a doc long before MEPS or recruit training. I know someone who had it, constantly, and turned out it was too much stomach acid, it had eaten away the lining of his stomach and throat. Had to have surgery to repair it.

Just saying....

[Kingniceslice]

That is great advise and quite disconcerting to think about. I'll definitely have to check that out.

[advanced]

That is great advise and quite disconcerting to think about. I'll definitely have to check that out.

The truth is you'll probably get over those problems in boot camp, you won't have time to think of them.

[Kingniceslice]

all I ever hear about bootcamp is horror stories and complaints and I understand that it's difficult but didn't anyone enjoy it in any way? I maybe the only 1 but I look forward to the suffering 4 the reward.

[Mxzero]

You'll look back at it and realize the stuff you did while you were there is fun, but overall, I doubt many people would say it was a great experience. And trust me, it's not that difficult if you keep your head down and do what you're told.

[Kingniceslice]

okay about that keeping my head down part. I wanna be a guide how should I do that