Arthritis?

[Ed P]

Waitrose does brown miso in big jars. link

I find it very tasty. (Umami taste apparently), Don’t worry about the salty flavour scientific testing shows that  it has zero effect on blood pressure.

[PlaneMan]

I’ve been to 3 Asda and a Tesco trying to find a jar, even though they offer them for delivery, none have them on the shelf.

I might try Waitrose in Barry, no idea what the parking for blue badge holders is like though. Never been to the shop so it might be an issue for me.

I’m not bothered about things like blood pressure/ liver function/heart rate and so on, all my results always come back as superb. Regular blood tests because of the methotrexate and a very good GP, when I can see my prefered one.

There are oriental shops about a mile away, if that, but parking is a major issue.

Can’t use mum’s Amazon account as she recently switched banks and hasn’t updated her card details and she’s on holiday. Might just buy some stuff for my niece and nephew to get free delivery on my account. ?

[The Duke]

I love umani taste,black bean sauce is my fave cos of the deep savoury flavour. Or as we know now Umani taste.

You can get umani salt, with is great stuff to for flavouring home made burgers. Also a sprinkling over roasties when you turn them over. And simply on chips, with a garlic mayo dip.

I am going to have to get some of this, I can see it being nice in a chilli, (haricot beans instead of kidney beans also). Also would probably work on burgures better than the salt verity.

Most things beefy and tomatoe based this should enhance.

Could just eat a beef in black been now. Since the sun came out we have had a salad every day, with some king of cooked meat or cheese. Non of use like hot food when the sun comes out. Also save me time cooking, and minimal cleaning. Win win win.

[Bob Williams]

Steve your former post about your 16 yo, resonates exactly with my 19 yo gson, just about to take final exams in Electrical Installations at Grimsby College Institute, part of the Hull Uni Group. He is confident of passing all but English, but has a tutor who understands that and has given up a week of college holidays to take him through English and get him past it. Gson is great with numbers, always bad at writing things until I built him a PC at about 12, now uses a keyboard and Google Docs, Word, OOffice, light CAD. He flies over a KB, fingers a blur on the keys, remembers all his passwords. Ask him to write them down, or anything else, he can’t “It all goes blurred in my head, granddad!” At school (an Academy) he was always in lower percentile, except for Maths, Engineering and IT, His Engineering tutor saw and recognised that he was a “hands-on” lad and encouraged him. His English teacher was also his Form tutor and once told me she saw him as a Motor Mechanic, in a really sneering way. I told her she was a krap Educator and wouldn’t know a capable pupil, with a different intelligence, if one appeared before her. In Maths, he worked out answers in his head and they were always right. Maths teacher: “Where is your working out?”   -Gson: “Why, is it incorrect?”     “No.”    “Then it’s right and you should tick it!”   (An attitude that got him noted at school)    Maths muppet: “You must put down the working”    Gson, now frustrated: “But I can’t, it all goes blurry in my head!” Absolutely no attempt to understand, by the people who should be trying to understand their pupils. Like I say, krap educators.

Sound familiar? Put that together with a lad who started out small until becoming big at around 14 and picked on, but fought back with moves I taught him, which twice got him suspended until the school realised his tormentors were bullying others. The moves I taught him are made once and cause pain, as you might recognise. Knees, elbows, nose are painful when struck properly, but it usually only needs one.

Grimsby College Institute was an eye opener for him. He has better mates now, works in an adult environment with actual practical Work Experience at actual companies and has worked on College Systems. Looking for a College-sponsored job at Ørsten, a Danish company  building wind farm components and bringing the power ashore to the National Grid, at a big complex along the A16 between Louth and Grimsby. And he is the family Gentle Giant now, a massive lad with absolutely no temper at all. Grimsby was the life-changer for him. I think your lad will be the same: treat them like potential failures at school, that is what you get. Treat them like adults, give them real responsibilities and 9/10 times it works.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[PlaneMan]

Went to Waitrose in Barry, thankfully it was quiet and I bagged a disabled spot easily. Really impressed with the range of stuff for a smallish supermarket, 3 different kinds of miso in jars and 4 in sachets. Not cheap at £4 for 300g (Amazon ordered stuff works out at £2.50 for the same amount) but handy to know I can get it almost local. Going to marinade a 1/4 pounder in it tomorrow.

[Ed P]

I often eat it in a sandwich, either neat or as a ‘chutney’ with cheddar cheese!

[Richard]

A visit to my local Tesco today found several jars of Miso and I bought a reasonably priced 100g item without a problem. It was in the oriental foods area. The web suggests it is currently £1.12 a time. A spoon of it was slightly Marmite like, not to strong, not objectionable in fact quite inoffensive. I could see how it would go in many situations.

[PlaneMan]

I had my miso burger and it was superb, way better than the one I had from the same pack that was bland and a dissapointment.

Miso rib eye steak tomorrow. ?

Richard, marmite is one of my favourite things, love it.

[PlaneMan]

Saw the GP yesterday and I’m coming off the gabapentin as it does nothing. Now starting on co-codamol, 30/500, one tablet 4 times a day to see how that goes, if nothing I can go to 2 tablets 4 times a day. Not over the moon about taking it but I’m at the point now where the pain is almost stopping me from doing everyday things and I’m a stubborn git.

Also got an appointment in August with the Integrated Autism Service, the GP was blown away as they have only been going about a year and they have a massive backlog of patients waiting to be seen. The wellbeing woman has some contacts with massive clout.

[Richard]

Your wellbeing person must have something like a nuclear lance at her elbow. My daughter saw a ‘specialist’, (who sounded like a character from a 1950s B movie mad continental scientist) about 8 years ago, we are still awaiting his report… other reports have been promised ‘by return’ but clearly ‘return’ fell off their calender so never arrived yet.

Good luck with co-codamol, I did not find any of them much help, gabapentine – gave it a few weeks but no benefit, tramadol likewise, co-proximol ditto; if any of them did anything it was to ‘stop me up’ if you get my drift. Most have slowly gone back to the pharmacy having fallen out of date; – though in carefully filtered volumes one or two have found a use with my wife while she undergoes her cancer treatment. The cancer unit take the attitude if it works and is not contra indicated, e.g. like alcohol then go ahead, (one of the infusions contains enough alcohol to put you over the driving limit anyway) so drink plenty of water with and after the treatment.

One of the issues with me might be my abreactions to some treatments, sedatives in particular can have the reverse effect and pain killers that should have either a sedative or even a slight psychoactive narcotic like effect don’t appear to affect me in any way I could discern. I could not see why anyone would consider becoming hooked on something with so little effect though others have reported a floating on clouds effect.

Do take care over driving as some pain killers can have direct and serious impacts on speed of judgement and perception; no two people react the same way.

There is nothing worse than 24 hours per day, 7 days per week pain (or pains that play body tag with you popping up in different places) that cannot be shifted, good luck; I wish you success.

[PlaneMan]

The gp warned me to take a day of driving so I can see how I’m affected, if at all, and go from there. I was out early this morning getting supplies in before I started on the co-codamol. I also have laxatives to take daily as a preemptive strike.

Richard, thanks for the good wishes, hope all gets better with you and yours.

 

[PlaneMan]

Co-codamol does nothing for the pain, no real surprise. Hopefully I can talk to my preferred GP tomorrow, phone advice only, otherwise it’s endure the waiting room on Thursday morning and hope I can see another GP I know.

[Richard]

I would like to say I am surprised, but sadly I am not. Pain killers in general do little to nothing apart from send the dispatch department of my guts for a long holiday and thus add a new pain dimension when things back up, currently I am alternating between Senacot and latilose, sometimes both together due to the effects of a blood pressure tablet. The only bit some pain killers come close to getting right is the ‘killer’ bit, thank you to the shower who forced Viox onto a complaining market, stand up Merck and take a bow. Some find Tramadol useful, but do beware of side effects. I found it pointless and did not even get a high.

I saw a GP on Monday, I had never seen or heard of her before and have no desire to see or hear of her ever again. She rolled in twenty minutes late to start her day and appeared to be more interested in getting home again.

[PlaneMan]

I now start on pregabalin on Monday. Not holding out much hope TBH. When I saw the gp yesterday I mentioned that I had a loan TENS machine from the pain clinic years ago when I was still suffering terrible pain with my ankle, even though it’s ‘better than new’. She suggested getting one and giving it a go. Luckily for me SSE informed me that the dual-fuel tariff I was on wasn’t the cheapest anymore so I switched, Also got a £40 Argos voucher, which arrived via email this morning, and another £5 a quarter for 2 years.

Just been to Argos and bought this machine.

My word they have come on leaps and bounds. The one I had on loan was a big beige box, about the size of a mountain bike inner tube box, weighed a ton and took 8 AA batteries. The output was such that I could hardly feel the first 8 levels and started on 9 out of 10, quickly moving up to 10.  This one weighs almost nothing, almost fits completely in the coin pocket on my jeans and packs a punch. Started on level 5 out of 20. Strangely it charges via mini USB but there’s a cable in the box so I don’t have to go through my cable collection to find one. So far I’m impressed.

[PlaneMan]

1 dose of gabapentin and my heart rate jumped from my usual 60 odd at rest to 120 at rest. That dropped to 90-100 in under an hour but has stayed at that rate. Trip to the surgery just now and a quick once over and my heart rate was 87 then 85 5 minutes later. No more gabapentin for me. I did get a referral to the pain clinic though.

[Ed P]

I gather TENS machines are good on muscle/arthritis etc, but maybe not so good on nerve pain. Does anyone have experience of using one with shingles?

[JayCeeDee]

The TENS machines are little miracle workers. When the wife’s back plays up, she sits on a dining chair, watching TV and gives it two 15 minute sessions on the one that looks like a crab claw. She also goes straight in at high levels.

It was the referral to the pain clinic that got to the truth of the wife’s back problems. In order to get into the clinic, she first had to have an MRI of her back. It was then that they noticed she had a sequestrated disc ( it had come out, re-aligned vertically, and was pressing on the sciatic nerve ) that had been missed on the X-ray 5 years earlier.

 

Good luck!!

[PlaneMan]

Ed, the one I linked to has 8 different modes, I’m pretty certain that you could find a mode/intensity combo that would help.

I have it set anywhere between 7 and 12 depending on the area and mode. I did my hip on the ‘pummeling’ mode at 12 yesterday and it looked like I was having a fit!

[JayCeeDee]

Ed P wrote:

I gather TENS machines are good on muscle/arthritis etc, but maybe not so good on nerve pain. Does anyone have experience of using one with shingles?

I used it on a muscle pain, but never thought about it for shingles pain.

Watch this space!!

[PlaneMan]

I saw the Integrated Autism Service on Thursday, a ton of stuff to try and take in but luckily the woman I saw emailed the info after the appointment.

One suggestion was a free OU Course 

I’ve just been through it in a little over 2 hours, I really don’t see how it can take 20 for a person of average comprehension and intellect.

The course is pretty good. I may well hunt some other free ones down.

[Author]

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