MEDICAL MATTERS

[Stanley]

I must join David and admit I had forgotten the report on here also. And like him I would not have enough confidence in the pharmacy staff to trust a diagnosis from them.
Also like David, the last time I went in Well there was no queue and I was served immediately.
Yes David, everywhere is more expensive than Aldi but their low prices worry me. Are they paying their producers enough to enable them to stay in business? Chaudrey's in the Square get their supplies from the Smithfield at Bradford and it seems to me that farmers supplying that market are more likely to be getting a commercial price than someone on a contract to Aldi or one of the other big supermarkets.

[PanBiker]

Not me but Sally has been laid low with a throat and ear infection. She got to see the associate guy on Friday who suggested five days of antibiotics to get on top of the infections. Fortunately a real doctor signed the suggestion off shortly after lunch on Friday. Prescription went straight to the Well pharmacy and I picked it up in the afternoon. I have to say that the new pharmacist there is very pleasant. The penicillin seems to have kicked in and she is starting to feel a tad better, she has been sleeping for England the last couple of days.

[Big Kev]

Not me but Sally has been laid low with a throat and ear infection.

Sally has my sympathy, ear infections are the worst.

[Stanley]

And mine, I agree with Kev a bad ear infection is a miserable condition.
I was disturbed to hear that an acute infection like that didn't get the immediate attention of a proper doctor.....
We are becoming a third world country and seem to be allowing it to happen.

[Stanley]

See THIS report from Japan about problems with cholesterol lowering drugs.
I know I'm an old fashioned bugger but this news reinforces my belief that it's a mistake to take pills (Like Statins) to rectify what are in the end life-style imbalances. It would appear that 'Red Yeast' is not good for you!
Later.... see THIS BBC report on the same subject.

[Tizer]

I'm always interested to see this topic raised because it's very familiar to me...
`Aphantasia: Why I cannot picture my children in my mind' LINK

I've always had it but only realised when I became an adult and at the time it didn't have a name and nobody seemed to talk about it. I get fleeting glimpses of images but nothing I can focus on. For example I can't draw well from memory unless it's something I've been copying frequently. As a child, and having a father who'd been in the RAF, I copied pictures of aeroplanes from comics so often that I could draw them from memory - but always from the side or in plan view. Perspective didn't work for me. My description of it in later life has always been similar to the that of the person in the article who said it's like being a computer without a screen. I tell people that my brain is a computer but the `print to screen' function doesn't work properly. I find recognising faces difficult but I recognise my environment and easily find my way about without a map. I don't think in pictures, instead it's all subconscious or words spoken in my head. Probably that's why I love languages!

[Cathy]

Gosh Tize that’s so interesting….I can’t get my head around it, but very interesting.
Can you picture your children, in your mind?

[Stanley]

I can relate to certain aspects of that Peter but not all.....

[Tizer]

Gosh Tize that’s so interesting….I can’t get my head around it, but very interesting. Can you picture your children, in your mind?

That would be difficult, Cathy - we don't have any! We took a decision early on that we were both more interested in pursuing other aspects of our lives than in having children. But we have other family members and especially my cousin's family who live within walking distance of us - and will be here with us tomorrow. Not having all the expenses of our own children means we now have money to help the rest of the family in thes difficult times. It works very well!

[Stanley]

The excuse at the Well pharmacy this week is "It's because of Easter".

[Stanley]

Well told me that my meds would arrive yesterday so I have given them an extra day. I shall go up there later this morning.....

[Tizer]

Recently I got a text from the GP's surgery asking me to contact them and make an appointment for a`medication review'. It said I should have one annually but I haven't had one for at least 20 years other than when I moved here and met my new GP! I rang and was given an appointment with Mahola. When I arrived and my turn came I found myself with not Mahola but Michaela. It seems to be all first names now. Then I found that she was not a GP but a pharmacist. I think people should be told this in advance because they are going be discussing a lot of personal information with that person and some might wish to only do so with a GP, and preferably with their own GP.

As it turned out, the pharmacist was excellent. She went into detail with me about my repeat prescriptions and I came away with them better organised than when I went in. She was very quick with the computer and had access to my records which she consulted as we went through the discussion. There was no attempt to push me into changing the medications and she was quick to understand why I had been given them originally. Being a pharmacist she was more familiar with the medications than the GPs are and had a better understanding of their mechanism of action. To be fair, GPs have to learn a lot about other things such as anatomy but it was a welcome change to have someone who understood the biochemistry behind the medications. Also it was a longer appointment than I usually get with a GP.

I ended up telling her about my finding that Sunsweet prune juice and its potassium content had helped alleviate my leg muscular pain. That got her very interested and in seconds she had the product composition up on her PC on the Tesco web site. She's going to try it herself!

[Stanley]

Careful Peter, they'll be licensing you as a medical practitioner!
News from my grand daughter that her visas have come through and she leaves for her new job in the health service but in Perth WA. She starts work there in June.
I don't blame her for going for the better paid job. Problem is that she is not alone. A lot more places are attractive if you are qualified and the NHS is losing staff.

[Tizer]

My sister-in-law works part-time as a receptionist at her local GP surgery and she has plenty of stories of offensive customers, so that's another problem for the NHS. Also she ends up with dealing with people's other problems. She rang Mrs Tiz for their usual chat one evening last week and apologised for being late. She'd only just got back late from the surgery. A woman came in sobbing and asking for help - she said her husband had kicked her and the children out of the house. Sister-in-law made an emergency call to the police then consoled her until they arrived.

[Stanley]

Too many emergencies are being addressed on an ad hoc basis like that Peter. We have watched the Tories destroy our society's infrastructure by starving it of funds for 14 years. The pigeons are coming home to roost as many of us predicted but the problem is that in the process we are suffering.
As I reported, I got my meds yesterday and curiously, once more there wasn't a queue. I walked straight up to the counter and was served.

[PanBiker]

I think a lot of folk may have gone to online pharmacies for regular or repeat medication.

[Stanley]

That may be so Ian and I suspect you are right. There seem to be two pharmacists and a counter assistant and that might be a factor as well.

[Big Kev]

I've given up waiting for a physio appointment with the NHS. I got the open referral letter and contacted my medical insurer this morning, initial assessment is at 5:30 this afternoon.

[PanBiker]

Don't have medical insurance but Sally is paying for her physio. Same problem, could have been July or August.

[Big Kev]

I'm fortunate to have it as an employment benefit.

[Big Kev]

I've given up waiting for a physio appointment with the NHS. I got the open referral letter and contacted my medical insurer this morning, initial assessment is at 5:30 this afternoon.

Initial assessment and a session of 'manipulation' done. The 5ft slip of a girl has strong hands and I am certainly aware of where she used them
My trapezium muscles ache a bit now, which is better than the sharp pain I did have. Another 9 sessions and hopefully all will be sorted.

[Stanley]

Glad you have an improvement but last I saw you were in the forest. What was the problem Kev?

[Big Kev]

Glad you have an improvement but last I saw you were in the forest. What was the problem Kev?

Pain in the neck and shoulders.

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report.
The first oral treatment for preventing both chronic and episodic migraines could soon be available on the NHS. Health experts said up to 170,000 people in England could benefit from taking atogepant to prevent severe head pain, which can be debilitating. It has been recommended for those who have not responded well to other medications or cannot have injections. One migraine charity described it as a positive step and said it hoped access to the drug would be "swift". The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended the drug, which comes in tablet form, after clinical trials suggested it was effective in some adults.
If this works it will be good news for many sufferers......