Rash about radish

For some reason I got it into my head that radish is okay. I even picked up a bag of the round red crunchy vegetables at the supermarket. I like them but, boy, did they sting my mouth.

That may explain why for the last couple of days the Splodge - which is now the Strawberry - has been itching quite a lot and why my left eye got quite sore and blurred. In fact my left jaw also got quite sore and I began thinking, yet again, it was probably a tooth infection.

Then as I crunched a radish for breakfast - sometimes I do desperate things - I thought I had better check. The list does not say radishes are low in salicylate. In fact it says they are "very high". So I've had to abandon the bag of radishes and try and persuade someone else to eat them.

The list does say beetroot is low and I've tried it recently without obvious effects. I think I should try more beetroot.

RAS

Montelukast!

Montelukast - at last!

I popped in to the doctors' at midday and there was no queue. Nor was there a repeat prescription waiting. The receptionist admitted there had been some problems with email - in fact I think they've changed the address.

However she was very helpful and printed off a repeat prescription and then went off to find a GP to sign it. So I take everything back.

I popped a pill as soon as I got home. I certainly feel better now - the eye's not so sore, the jaw's barely aching and the Splodge is hardly itching. Maybe another tomorrow.

RAS

Summer problems

It all started when we went to a wedding in rural England at the weekend. It was in  the heartland of rural England, green, lush fruit-growing country and rolling hills. Wonderful - but as we drove out my left eye began to itch. When I touched it, I could feel it swelling. And I hadn't had a chance to take montelukast.

It seemed to calm down but today is awful. The eye is sore, so's my left jaw and the Splodge (on my upper left chest) is itching. I emailed for a repeat prescription last week but haven't had an acknowledgement. This morning I tried to pop into the doctor's surgery to see if they had it - but there was a queue stretching out of the door at  reception. It always amazes me how long it takes GP receptionists to log that people have arrived and invite them to take a seat. It might not be their fault - it might be a patient.

I've tried a salt mouth-wash in case there's a gum or tooth infection aggravating it but it's not made the slightest difference. I don't want to take anti-histamine as I have a busy day and need my wits about me.

And I've still got to get my scuba-diving medical sorted out. I need the montelukast.

RAS

Strawberries and splodge

One or two people have noticed I've been a little erratic in posting over the last few weeks. In fact I had wanted, time permitting, to do some commentaries on some of the allergy news that has been around. I thought the report that burgers aggravate asthma - but fish relieves - it, was interesting and relevant, especially as the researchers did not really get to the bottom of  the causes. The study found no link between meat and IgE allergy - the kind you can detect with a blood test and which causes normal hay fever. But the link between burgers, fish and asthma was strong. That may simply mean that children who eat lots of burgers tend to be overweight and do their asthma no good at all. Or it could reflect the impact of a smaller group whose problems are caused by salicylate sensitivity. Does anyone know how many people have problems with salicylate?

I've also been inattentive to myself. I've noticed over the last few days that the Splodge is no longer the shape of a reverse Australia. In fact it's beginning to itch a little. This may have been aggravated by a rare bout of sunshine and heat in England. Last night I was at a buffet and the "dessert" was a kind of chocolate-topped meringue nest with a strawberry cream in it - topped by a strawberry. I removed the strawberry and spooned out the strawberry cream. Not all of it, of course. Then I tried to eat around the edges. It wasn't very nice - like cardboard - so I had no qualms about giving up. But the reactions were almost instant and my left eye got quite sore for a short period.

Last night the Splodge was really red and itchy. This morning it had calmed down a little but still itches. I went to get a montelukast only to discover I had run out. The Splodge is now a splodge-shape, like a squashed strawberry. I think I had better measure it to make sure it's not growing. And must get some more montelukast.

RAS

Seaside!

A week of glorious weather, by British standards, and I found myself at the seaside. I had no sun-tan lotion so I popped into the beach shop. As always the ingredients on the bottles of lotion are far too small to read. However I took a chance on a bottle of Aloha premium suncare, which claimed to have been "dermatologically tested". As it's been tested on a random and decent-sized sample of people I guessed any problems of salicylate sensitivity might have been exposed. Does anyone have any idea how many people suffer from reactions to salicylate? What sort of general sample would detect problems?

 I sprayed it on my face and arms with no obvious reactions. It might have helped that I ate lots of fish during the week and hardly any border-line food so was enjoying quite a lot of tolerance. Also I suspect a bit of sunshine helps!

Later I put my glasses on and discovered it contained aloe. However no problems following the day out.

RAS
PS the spellchecker on my blogger has highlighted two words as doubtful: dermatologically and salicylate. Curious.

Salads

I'm  not one for spending time making salads but now it's summer, the cupboard is bare and I wanted a light but filling lunch. I normally keep a stock of crisp lettuce and celery.

I've noticed that commercial salads increasingly are fleshed out with red cabbage - and it's ok. We had some grated cheese sandwich filler in the fridge and nobody knows more about chopping red cabbage than me.

So that's what I've done - mixed red cabbage and grated cheese, eaten with a fork. Mmmm! It's been delicious and filling.

Perhaps I can come up with more ideas for tasty and easy salads over the summer. Any thoughts?

RAS

Was it the wrong tooth?

To tell the tooth, I'm not sure. I thought she was meant to take out a wisdom tooth on my lower jaw but instead she pulled it from the upper jaw. I questioned this and she said this was right. It came out fast  with a satisfying crunch. Maybe there are no wisdom teeth on the lower jaw. The problem is the ache on my lower jaw is still there.

It probably wasn't helped by my indulging in Shloer fizzy grape juice yesterday. I took a montelukast beforehand but my lower left lip has been thick and my teeth aching since. Yesterday my left eye was quite sore and itchy. It's still sore but a little better today.

No harm done. As I managed to get it on the NHS, it cost less than £30, a fraction of what I was spending last year. And it didn't take much of the dentist's time - she has a reputation for pulling wisdom teeth. You may realise that I am increasingly wondering whether my allergic-style symptoms have been aggravated by gum problems. Which came first: the chicken or the egg?

The operation seems to have solved very little. I now need to get on with sorting out my scuba diving medical and see if  the medical expert passes me to dive or not.

RAS

Sore eye, no tooth

Now my left eye is really sore. That's because I had the wisdom tooth removal today. I was told to expect soreness and pain - but in reality it's no worse than I've had to put up with at different times in the past few years. I'm hoping it's the last time and this will remove a source of inflammation. I'm hoping.

So far I've taken just one paracetamol.

The stop-start British spring has reminded me of horrors to come. Saturday was a lovely warm muggy day and as I was out in it it felt as if hordes of insects were alighting on my skin. I don't know if it's the bugs or the heat irritating the skin or reactions to vegetable matter in the air. Even though it's mid-May the volcanic ash and whatever else is going on with the climate has made spring cold in Britain. Maybe we won't have a long hot summer after all.

The dentist told me I could not exercise for 24 hours so my original plans to do some gardening today had to be put to one side.

RAS

What difference does a wisdom tooth make?

It's early the end of April and I didn't realise it was so long since I last posted.

I went to the dentist and she confirmed that a wisdom tooth on my right jaw is playing up. It only needs a filling but we agreed we might as well take it out. I used salt-water mouth washes and lots of flossing to calm my teeth down and haven't had any major problems for a couple of weeks.

My left eye remains a little sore so I'm looking forward to seeing the impact of the wisdom tooth removal which is booked in a couple of weeks.

RAS

Scuba diving and wisdom teeth

I have found an NHS dentist and booked an appointment for the coming week. I thought by now I would be agony as for most of the last week I have been convinced a wisdom tooth on my left jaw was about to blow. Oddly, I have survived Easter and a great deal of chocolate and food - and some whisky - with minimal harm.

What happened last week was alarming. The left-side syndrome concentrated on my jaw, my ear, my left eye and my left neck. I wondered for a while whether it was in fact meningitis triggered by a tooth infection. Am I becoming a hypochondriac?

I assumed it was an infection, triggered by allergic inflammation, and took regular mouthwashes of warm salty water. I imagine that is what worked. My leg is a lot better and Australia (on my chest) is quite faint - which is what makes me alarmed that the current problems are caused by infection

I have now found the procedure for getting a medical certificate for scuba diving. It's been simplified recently -  you start off with a telephone conversation with a local expert and you may be called for examination. However they are likely to be concerned about ear problems - and at the moment I have a faint sensation in my left ear.

If there's a wisdom tooth aggravating the problems, I want it pulled before I make that call.

RAS