Preparedness for when

Softstuff

Perplexed_Pineapple wrote: »

You can get iodine dressings here Softstuff, I think a lot of people have got into the mentality of getting stuff on prescription because it is free if you are eligible for free prescriptions, which most pensioners and a lot of other people are. For instance you can get Inadine here but it isn't cheap:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inadine-Dressing-9-5cm-x25/dp/B003TSXKCU
You do hear of ridiculous things, though, like people booking a GP appointment to get a prescription for paracetamol, which costs maybe 50p in the supermarket. Not very preptastic to be without, anyway, I have a small supply of paracetamol, ibuprofen and aspirin for emergencies and if there were a serious SHTF event, strong painkillers like morphine (very strictly controlled here) would be invaluable. Not something that you can keep in your bug-out bag just in case, though.

Ah, I forget about the free prescriptions thing. Heck, I forgot how cheap prescriptions are in general in England :rotfl:

I have a small supply of very strong painkillers (morphine-like) left over from the op. First instinct was (as I'm a minimalist), to take them back to the pharmacy and get rid. That first thought lasted all of 3 seconds as I remembered the time I dislocated my toe in the kitchen :rotfl: I shall keep them on hand as long as they're in date.

mardatha

All prescriptions are free up here. I do miss iodine too.
Nice cat thriftwizard- far too posh to be feral!
- oh and the stove's nice too lol

mardatha

There's lots of iodine on Amazon, some from China. I wonder if it's ok.

Baileys_Babe

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

According to an ad I heard on the radio, it's now a "Stop Tap".

Stop C0ck is probably not seen as Politically Correct any more.

Also "Stop tap" gets through the filters in forums.

GreyQueen

Plumbers call 'em stop-taps, too. All the innuendo has been taken out of the language, don't you think?

ivyleaf, doesn't it feel good to be able to get the kettle on when the water's off? We're racking up several burst water mains per week in this city, peeps always ring the council instead of the water company, gawd knows why, but we always know about a burst main within minutes.

thriftwizard, am suffering from both stove and cat envy, what a great caption, too. Nice one, and long may you enjoy it. What is the moggie called, pls?

Wacky weather hasn't arrived here yet, just the wind blowing a bit of a hooley about 5 am and then it blew over. Not sure if this weather system is going to effect us here, but have plenty of food, water, yarn and books to play with and no compelling need to be anywhere for a couple of days.

thriftwizard

GQ, she rejoices in the name of Tino, short for Emperor Constantine Valentino; as you may guess, when she first appeared, starving, bedraggled & limping heavily, living rough under the shed & very, very shy, we thought she was probably a tom, from her habit of p'ing standing up! DD2 had been agitating for her very own cat, & nothing would do but a black long-haired cat, HRH C.T. for short. So when one duly appeared a week later, Tino it became, and it stuck even when we finally got her to the vet & found out that he was actually a she, inspection of the business end being heavily discouraged at first. It took her a year to set paw upon the threshold, and she nearly died of fright the first time I tried to stroke her; we've checked with the local vets & the RSPCA and no cat fitting her description has been reported missing in the last 5 years. She's probably about 10, and may well have been born in the feral colony about quarter of a mile away; her ear is nicked, which most likely means she was rounded up & speyed as a kitten, then released back into the "wild" near the market.

Bless her, she's adapted well to indoor life, & has got the hang of litter trays & asking to go out very quickly, which is more than can be said for one of the longer-established resident moggies. She will sit on laps, bolt upright & wide awake in case we try anything funny like stroking her below the mid-line. But we think she is mostly deaf, sadly; she doesn't hear anything going on behind her & jumps out of her skin if you suddenly touch her.

It was blowing an absolutely hoolie here last night, but has settled down now. I heard some slates come down, but when I went out at first light to check, wherever they were, they didn't come off our roof. And the chicken shed has survived yet again...

Can light the stove properly this evening; I've had to light it twice then let it cool down so the coating "cures" properly, which is now done, so we're nearly up & running now - just a large chimney breast to paint!

jk0

jk0 wrote: »

Last Saturday I bought some smoked gammon ham from our local street market deli stall. (This lady is there every week, so I might go and see her on Saturday.)

It seemed cool enough, as it was a cool day, and I took it home and had a bit in a sandwich with no ill effects. The use by date was around Xmas, so I had another bit yesterday lunchtime.

Around midnight I started getting a belly ache, and found it hard to sleep. Over the course of the night I had to 'number 2' around 5 times, but fortunately wasn't sick.

I spent the day in bed sipping water, and got up for a cup of tea around 5pm as my belly is okay now.

I think what I didn't consider is how many days that gammon had been out on the stall previously getting warm.

Last Saturday in the early hours I had the belly ache again, and had to contact the out of hours GP. They asked me to come along that morning, and the guy diagnosed Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and suggested I buy some Buscopan.

I did buy some, but by about 10am I was feeling better, so did not bother taking any.

I've been fine until this morning at 6am when I was again in pain. Once again, multiple needs to visit the WC, (even after everything was gone.) Buscopan, Gaviscon & Paracetamol were all ineffective.

I contacted my GP first thing, and after a telephone diagnosis they invited me in for an examination. We went through all my symptoms, she took blood and urine samples, and still seems to think it's IBS. I have a different medicine for it. Again, I felt better by lunchtime, so have not had any as yet.

Googling my symptoms, I wonder if I have a duodenal ulcer. I'm thinking that I only get the pain when I'm lying down, so maybe when I'm upright, the stomach acid doesn't hit it.

Any thoughts?

Softstuff

mardatha wrote: »

There's lots of iodine on Amazon, some from China. I wonder if it's ok.

I often wonder about some things from China. I'm happy to try the odd product that doesn't get used on skin (like a 99c metal cuticle do-dah), but am a bit apprehensive otherwise.

JK0, if the blood tests and so forth come back negative, best advice I have is to push for a gastroscopy just for a double check. After 15 years in England of supposed IBS (that treatments wouldn't touch), I get to Australia, accidentally get a GP who's fantastic, have a gastroscopy and am properly diagnosed. Though I'm treated with correct medication now and am doing fine day to day (symptom free for the most part), there is damage done from having left it and I would have been far better had they found it sooner.

Frugalsod

It looks like governments are getting paranoid about ordinary people.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-12/martin-armstrong-warns-civil-unrest-rising-everywhere-and-government-digging-its-hee

nuatha

Frugalsod wrote: »

It looks like governments are getting paranoid about ordinary people.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-12/martin-armstrong-warns-civil-unrest-rising-everywhere-and-government-digging-its-hee

Governments have always been paranoid about ordinary people, with good reason. If the people ever stop wanting bread and circuses they are dangerous to those who rule, its generally a temporary condition and they go back to wanting bread and circuses and a new lot end up in government, but those who comprise the government at the start of the unrest rarely do well out of their position. Meanwhile maintaining a low profile is generally a good idea as far as getting through it with minimal damage.