Taken for granted

This what happens when everything is under control. My family meals are low-salicylate and external catering is reasonably well managed. I've got some level of tolerance which means I can now drink wine and take part in meals produced by other people.

Mostly my skin is a lot better in spite of the occasional flare up of red spots on my tummy and arms. And my digestion is not too bad. Sometimes I eat things which look okay and realise there is, say, pepper or ginger in them. That makes me a little bit hoarse and maybe makes the nose run a bit.

I've got used to living with a stuffy nose, technically known as chronic non-allergenic rhinitis.

So what's the problem? Well because we are living with the condition and it gets taken for granted and my tolerance levels have improved, I've notice that friends and family are much less likely to cook fish. I cook it and eat it at every opportunity because not only does it reduce obvious symptoms, it makes me a feel a lot better. And because, as I discovered, the salicylates do not react with the omega-three in fish, it really does improve tolerance levels. But others prefer to eat meat and find handling fish fiddly and inconvenient.

At least I'm spared the refrain of "why don't you try this?" - which so misses the point.

I don't think I should be living with a stuffy nose and occasional flare-ups of rash. I still don't know what it does although the best bet seems to be that it is the first stage of Samter's Triad. And if I am occasionally getting hoarse, it means in fact I am living on the edge and things could easily spiral out of control.

RAS

Better!

I'm fairly confident I've shaken the virus off now. I know because I started itching all over yesterday and all the little red spots have appeared on my skin. In other words I overdosed on high salicylate food - probably because I've been indulging in white wine again over the weekend following two days of drinking redbush tea.

As other people have tended to linger for a couple of weeks and develop hacking coughs this suggests that either a) it was not a very dangerous virus at all or
b) that I've shaken it off in record time and that there continues to be a plus side to having a hyperactive immune system.

RAS

Kill or cure?

 I drank a pint of redbush tea yesterday. It is wonderful stuff. It lifts the mood, clears the head and most importantly kick starts the immune system. As it contains some salicylate - we don't know how much - I cannot normally drink it. But because of the salicylate it seems to be just the thing when I'm fighting a virus.

The immediate impact is alarming when you have a sore throat and hoarse voice. I start coughing (thankfully this virus has not caused much coughing). But I did not choke and after a while started to feel better.

By the end of the day there was a slight rash reappearing on my body but it had gone by the morning.

Last night I took a paracetamol before going to bed and slept for about ten hours. No camomile tea.

RAS

Camomile and paracetamol

I drank a cup of camomile tea before going to bed with a view to sleeping long and late and trying to shake off this bug. Camomile is okay and in the past I have found this herb makes me really sleepy.

It didn't seem to work. Sleep was restless and at 7am I woke in terrible pain with my upper right chest on fire. So much for camomile. I got up and took a paracetamol (that's acetaminophen in the USA) with a glass of water and succeeded in getting back to sleep, staying in bed until late morning. I still have a terrible throat, a sporadic dry cough and a gummed up stomach but my chest is not too bad.

Today I am drinking redbush tea as I did when I had the cold before Christmas. My skin is not too bad at the moment so I can probably tolerate it and it is by far the most refreshing hot drink in these conditions.

RAS

Flu!

 I'm not sure if my weekend excesses were responsible but today I woke up and discovered the dreaded flu bug had struck - seemingly out of the blue. My voice was all but gone and my shoulders and upper chested ached. I thought something was wrong after the weekend when I did indulge in quite a bit of wine. At the time I seemed not to suffer any ill-effects but I began to get uncomfortable by Monday. Now it seems it was a virus gestating.

I took two montelukasts over the weekend, the first in some time. I wonder whether they weaken the immune system. Whatever has happened, on this occasion my once hyperactive immune system has not saved me.

I've just eaten a Bakewell tart to get my blood sugar levels up and wake me up to do this entry. It contains jam and coconut. Based on my experience with my first cold before Christmas, I might have hoped not to suffer reactions because of the virus infection. Not this time. I think it's just aggravated the discomfort in my throat.

RAS

Another test

Another big test this weekend as I attend a dinner that I have been to in early February for several years now. The last two years have been miserable, picking at highly prepared food and grabbing for bread rolls to try to fill my stomach whilst watching everyone else consuming copious bottles of wine.

Now I'm looking forward to enjoying some white wine myself and being a little merrier in conversation. So far the year is going well, my tolerance levels remain high and we are managing my diet sensibly. Cutting down the amount of chocolate I was eating seems to have helped, as does eating lots of fish. I'm probably taking montelukast no more than once a week now, usually when I know I will have to partake of commercial catering. If fish is served I can then tolerate a small amount of pepper and whatever other herbs are used.

RAS

Pomegranate and grape-seed conditioner

A few months ago when I was searching for shampoos I picked up a pomegranate and grape-seed conditioner made by the Balsam label. When I brought it home I left it on a table and it disappeared.

The other day my very greasy Derma conditioner ran out and I scoured around desperately for a substitute. Behold, there was the pomegranate conditioner sitting in a basket, untouched. I wasn't sure because my experience of pomegranates has been mixed. My suspicion is that the juice is low-salicylate but it's often difficult to eat the fruit and avoid the pulp, which is likely to be high-salicylate. Similarly with grape seeds. Green grapes seem pretty harmless but what about the seeds? So it might all depend whether the pomegranate is pressed and strained or crushed.

I'm pleased to report the conditioner seems to work well. It may be because my tolerance level is still quite high, although not as high as it was over Christmas. My other half has decided to keep testing me and last night she fed me chicken pieces that seemed to be laced in garlic. My skin had flared up nicely by the time I went to bed but I was pleased to see it had calmed down again by the time I got up this morning. And, as I say, the conditioner did it no harm when I had a shower.

No doubt Tesco's will have already ceased to stock this particular conditioner.

RAS

Fish today

 I've eaten fish all day. I opened a tin of sardines at breakfast and ate one as a brunch. I had a salmon dinner and then when I got home finished the sardines as a snack. It seems to be working. I was getting worried that the ache in my left eye was returning yesterday - but it's almost okay tonight.

RAS

Honey, quorn, double chocolate and ginger

 Over the last week the assaults on my newly acquired stability have increased.

First my other half served a plate of gammon. I thought the gravy was rather sweet and gently inquired. "Honey" was the reply. Yes, not a term of endearment but the contents of the sauce. "Oh I thought it was okay". In fact the lists say honey is high in salicylate. It's not obvious way - something to do with it being concentrated plant matter, no doubt. So that screwed me up for a start.

The next day  a delicious chicken sauce was served. Sadly it was not chicken, it was quorn as we had some left over from catering for a vegetarian over Christmas. I have no idea whether quorn is meant to contain salicylate or not. However as it is made from mushrooms (or edible fungus) and it is probably grown in compost rather than grass, the chances seem high. Certainly my body thought so - as I went rushing to the toilet.

In spite of some inner turbulence and some tingling of the tongue,  my skin remained largely clear - until at the weekend I indulged in some double chocolate gateau. It was too tasty to refuse.

Then today I was offered a chocolate sandwich biscuit. I bit into it and tasted ginger. I had to finish the biscuit even though my throat was getting sore and I was getting hoarse.

Tonight the rash is back on my tummy and I have taken a singulair. It's instructive that I started the New Year clear and healthy - but staying that way is proving hard. I must avoid chocolate.


RAS

Wine and fruit juice

 The improvement that started before Christmas after I contracted a cold seems to be carrying on past the virus and past the New Year. I went to a function at the weekend and secreted a mini-bottle of Jack Daniels on me, just in case. However wine was laid on by our hosts so I thought why not? I drank quite a lot of white wine, enjoyed the party more and felt better for it the next day. The cure is not total by any means although I do wonder whether the rash on my tummy has gone for good. I've still got a blocked nose. It could be the after effects of the cold although I don't think it's viral. It's more like the blocked nose I've lived with for the past couple of years. If I eat something dodgy, then my tongue starts to tingle and my left eye is starting to feel sore.

Nevertheless I get the impression that my level of tolerance has improved quite a lot. So I've been going back to the lists the dietician gave me. I haven't consulted them for a long time. And there was always a problem of the contradictions between her first and the second lists. The first list said carrot and cauliflower were okay. The second said they have "moderate" amounts of salicylate. I've kept on with carrot and cauliflower over the time and even added spinach, forgetting it was not on the list.

The second list divided salicylates into high, moderate and negligible. Curiously the "negligible" list included squashes and fizzy drinks apart from Cola (which contains caffeine). That never seemed to work and I've avoid soft drinks until now.

It seems that this year I can continue to experiment with the moderate list. It may be the result of several weeks of largely home-prepared food and a reasonable amount of fish in the diet. And if I can drink wine, what about grape juice and apple juice? 2009 promises to be exciting!

RAS