How to Get Through The Tough Times The Old Style Way.

joeck68

Hi everyone
I've been missing in action for the last week, due to illness, so I've got loads of catching up to do!

How does anyone afford to be ill in this country?!?!? Last week (or was it the week before?) I had an abscess in my ear, and had to take antibiotics, then, a few days after I finished them, I developed tonsillitis, so back to the doctor for more antibiotics (large doses of penicillin, as he said I was obviously run down, and having just finished antibiotics only a few days before, he felt a larger dose would sort it out). Started taking them on Friday, felt lots better by Sunday, but then Sunday afternoon started feeling very odd indeed, itchy red eyes, my mouth felt like I'd had fillers injected into it - put it down to early onset of hayfever, and downed my next dose of penicillin, and then ended up with serious allergic reaction :eek:

All my joints seized up, the pain was extraordinary, I couldn't move, my ankles, elbows and knees turned bright red, and were so hot you could 'fry an egg on them'! I started wheezing, and my tongue swelled up. Luckily, we keep lots of antihistamine in the house, as I have an allergy to wasp stings, so I managed to quickly down a double dose of that, which stopped the throat swelling getting any worse, and then first thing Monday morning I went back to the doctors, they agreed it was a serious reaction, and prescribed steriods to dampen down the reaction (so a third prescription fee- 3 x £7.20 :eek: :eek: :eek: ).

What worried me most (and makes me wonder about our NHS) was that when my doctor agreed it was an allergic reaction, she checked my medical records again and said "oh yes, there's a marker on the file that you are allergic as you suffered a reaction to it as a child"!!!!!!! :eek:
I have taken penicillin several times over recent years, but never such a high dose as this time, so perhaps I have been lucky to get away with it so many times, but it was incredibly frightening.

Its raining and miserable down south today - no idea what's happened to the weather, as it was glorious yesterday - I actually saw a few mums on the school run in vest tops and flip flops - no idea what they will wear when the summer really does arrive and its in the 30's!!!

Right, I'm off to skim read the masses of posts that I've missed - hugs to all who need them, and I'll try and post again later, or tomorrow
xxJo

cbsexec

Well thats one bonus of living in Wales - free prescriptions
I do remember before free prescriptions that happening to my husband and we had to get another prescription and dump the first - times were so hard I cried - the charges were practically a quarter of my food budget then!!!

Bigsister

Joeck68
"What worried me most (and makes me wonder about our NHS) was that when my doctor agreed it was an allergic reaction, she checked my medical records again and said "oh yes, there's a marker on the file that you are allergic as you suffered a reaction to it as a child"!!!!!!! "

Ask them or make a note of the drug and then you or them contact your local hospital, they are equiped to add an alert to your hospital record and also any hospital case notes they might hold for you. This will mean if you arrive in AE, x-ray or any outpatient or inpatient enviroment, when they look at your electronic or paper record it will state you are allergic to XXX.
You might also want to carry an alert bracelet, it sounds dramatic but if you are allergic and react in that way, and are visiting another part of the country, they won't know of your alert status as hospitals are not linked in that way.

silvermaid

Joeck - how scary for you. I can't believe there was mention of a bad reaction in your notes. SCARY INDEED. An alert bracelet is an excellent idea IMHO.

Cold and wet here, so drying plans scuppered.

Yep, the cost of prescriptions is expensive. I myself am looking into the cost of prepayment, I think for me it is about the same as I spend:(

GreyQueen

joeck68, if you have a bad reaction to meds you might want to think about wearing a medical emergency bracelet or pendant. You can get SOS ones or MedicAlert. First aiders etc are trained to look for them. I wear an SOS Talisman bracelet which tells anyone, in the event that I'm not able to speak for myself, that I have a hidden medical condition which they need to be aware of.

gillst_2

GreyQueen wrote: »

Ditto for me as I have a glut of h.g. red onions stored from last year. This recipe has come along at the perfect time. Gillst, how long does the chutney keep in the fridge, please?

.

Sorry, but I really do not know how long this keeps. I have only ever made it by the single jar and then it has been eaten fairly quickly, within a month.

redlady_1

joeck68 - I feel your pain. I spent over £80 on prescriptions for the bite and lump :eek:


WC - xx

grandma247

GQ you can put the jars of chutney into a deep pan and cover with hot water to two inches above the tops (they must have metal caps). Bring to the boil and boil steadily for ten minutes. They will then keep indefinately.

GreyQueen

Thank you grandma247, I suspect that it won't linger too long. Am quite chipper about the prospect as have all the makings already bar the pepper and garlic.

Well, the benefit refresher was interesting; mostly about how the changes the government is putting thru from Fri 01/04/11 will impact on people who rent privately and claim the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). The loss of the baby premium on Child Tax Credits will be mirrored by the loss of the baby premium on the housing benefit (HB) but the net result for the claimant will be no change and nothing will happen until the tax credit annual renewal goes across anyway.

In our area, we will no longer be paying LHA on 5 bedroom homes. We only have 3 claimant households in these anyway. The biggest homes we'll pay for will be 4 beds. The LHA will go down in our area by circa £10/ week for 3 and 4 bed homes, and between 0.03 and £7 for single rooms and one and 2 bed homes. There's transitional protection for 9 months so that nothing will change immediately. The biggest thing that is a worry for single people in private rented accomodation is that after Jan 2012 they'll only be getting a rate of LHA as if they were in shared accomodation up until age 35 (currently is age 25). Which means, gentle readers, that if you're under 35 and you rent a one-bedroom flat, we won't pay more than you'd get in a rented room in a shared house. And if you can't cover the shortfall from your dole or other benefit, you'll fall into arrears and may end up losing your home......:( Scary territory indeed. Very important to save hard to have a rainy day fund to smooth these bumps and hope that it doesn't pour too hard.

Have now finished my shift and have decided to have a rest from allotmenteering tonight as I get overtired (I have ME) and can crash my carcase and then I'll be no good to anyone....:rotfl:Had a bit of a moment when my supervisor told me an hour ago that I was the only one on with one of my skillsets, so I guess no danger of imminent unemployment...phew. No wonder my phone was sooo busy!

maryb

It's worth looking at a prescription prepayment certificate. I have two regular prescriptions on an eight week cycle and I worked out that it's marginal for me to get an annual one - it would depend on having one or two 'one-off' items on top of my regular medication.

But then I worked out that if I get a three month one, get my two repeat prescriptions as soon as it is issued, again after 8 weeks and again just before it expires, then have a gap of six weeks before getting a new three month certificate, it works out cheaper. It means getting the third repeat a bit before it is due but the surgery are quite good about that if you tell them your prepayment certificate is about to expire. Fortunately my eye drops, while they have to be kept in the fridge, can be dispensed a few weeks in advance.

You can't backdate a certificate AS SUCH but, if you have to get a couple of prescriptions and you know you are likely to need more, get the pharmacist to give you a receipt and a form for claiming back the cost when you pick up your prescription items. Then order your certificate the same day. When the certificate comes you can claim back the cost you have already paid as it is within the period covered by the certificate. Any pharmacy will pay the money over the counter, you don't have to send off the form. But if you don't get the right form at the time the prescription is dispensed then you can't claim it back later.

Hope this helps someone - I realise it's no comfort to those who have already had to shell out, sorry