Chocolate biscuits

We got back from holiday and I was a picture of health. We went to the west country and had quite an active time. Not much eating out although I indulged in fish and chips and ice creams. I aimed to have the local variety usually because a) it's nicer and b) in Devon and Cornwall they pack it with cream rather than vegetable fats.

I resorted to Singulair a couple of times and it seemed to work. Once was when I was bitten on the forehead by a horse fly and my face started to swell. No obvious side-effects apart from maybe some difficulty in sleeping - the reverse of anti-histamines. And the pain in my gums evaporated totally after a few days.

Unfortunately when we got home there wasn't much food in the house and quite a lot of catching up to do. So it's been a case of digging deep in the freezer and the larder. I made a spaghetti sauce last night by slicing carrots finely and adding shallots, celery and bacon - and of course soy sauce. It was a bit chunky - rather like a vegetarian meal - but otherwise rather nice.

Then I started searching for chocolate and found a half-eaten tin of Belgian biscuits. First I consumed a couple of plain biscuits and then moved on to the others - basically so far as I could tell macaroon based using almonds. So in one foul swoop I may have wiped out the good effects of the holiday.

Or maybe not. I suffered some tummy problems but my skin stayed fairly good. Tonight we reintroduced corn on the cob - no obvious problems. Who knows - a diet of sun, sea and country food may have helped me turn the corner. We shall see.

Nettles

About a week ago I was thrashing some stinging nettles and got caught on the elbow. Oddly they didn't sting too much - but enough to cause some involuntary itching.

I was away at the time and driving home the next day I noticed my arm was a little stiff. Then I realised it was quite swollen.

The miles passed and I could feel the swelling getting to my neck. Thankfully I had some anti-histamines with me so stopped and took one - and that seemed to do the trick.

Then yesterday I was caught again. It looks as if all the summer rain has caused a blossoming of nettles of all things - they're everywhere. This time it was on the hand so I didn't hang around and smeared the sting bumps with Anthisan. Again that seemed to do the trick.

Now I have had some gum problems recently and about a week ago both I and my GP thought I had an abscess on a tooth. It was mighty painful. The dentist checked it and diagnosed a gum infection exposing a root nerve. He's never come across salicylate allergy (or hypersensitivity to use the correct phrase) before but seemed to agree that it might be causing gum inflammation - and hence the trapping of food.

Curious that tonight the gum pain is back - but it's also on the upper jaw. A quick check in the mirror suggests the gums are awfully inflamed. So tonight I've taken in order a paracetamol, an anti-histamine and then for the first time a table of Singulair. That's been suggested by the consultant and prescribed by the GP. It's an asthma medicine also used for "seasonal allergy" according to the description. There's a worrying list of potential side-effects. We'll see.