Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

That's what I've always done. This pharmacist, if I've understood rightly, said that omeprazole can be taken first with half an hour gap before thyroxine then a four hour gap before the calcium/D3 supplement that I have on prescription. I'm trying it today for the first time and so far I'm not aware of any adverse effects. It's to do with how long each drug stays around to interact with other drugs or foods. Omeprazole only interacts with things for a short time (I think he said half an hour) so that can be taken first, then it's been metabolised enough half an hour later to take thyroxine.

That's my understanding of it, but obviously he was looking at it in the context of my dosage, diet and symptoms, so other people would need to have specific advice for their circumstances.

I've also found that some doctors seem to prescribe certain drugs without fully considering the patient's background, but if you ask a pharmacist, they have a wealth of knowledge about what not to take with what.

Anyway, I've had the bloods taken, along with blood pressure, then had a leisurely walk that turned into a bit of a spend. One of the charity shops had some River Cottage cookery books and I came away with three, along with an ornament. (£5 total).

 After that it occurred to me to check the market stall that does cheap foods, sometimes short dated or foreign labels. I spent £12 but came away with the following bargains:
1 kg honey £3
2 x posh granola @£1.50 each (Tesco has the 'normal' price as £3.70 each but it's currently on offer at £1.85 each - so still a saving for me, though of course £3 spent that I'd not planned).
Pack of chocolate mallow teacakes £1
4 x sachets of berries and chocolate bits £1
Co3ta decaff ground coffee £2
250g Marmite £2

Then I raided Tesco for winter stores for the 'war chest' (the cupboard of dry goods in case we are stuck at home or have a power cut). I also got a large extra-thick double cream (£1.13 instead of £2.10), which I'll make into butter. The addition of salt and careful draining of the whey mean it will last longer than it would as cream. I think that's another 'present from Her Majesty': something discounted because the shops were closed on Monday. If I'm really organised (may not happen), the whey can make scones. Lastly, some Quorn and pineapple and microwavable rice so I can use up some of the curry sauces I mentioned yesterday.

I was going to spend the afternoon cooking but I think I need a rest now! 

Sun_Addict

Being anaemic would explain feeling dizzy. I’ve been lucky enough to never had any conditions that require medication apart from very occasional flare ups of eczema (touches wood) so have no experience of this personally but Mr SA takes several different medications and no one has ever mentioned they need to be taken at different times so that is food for thought. 

badmemory

I'd been taking my thyroid meds for over 20 years when the pharmacy I used got new management & asked me to do a meds review, that is when I found out that I should have been taking them first thing in the am.

Cherryfudge

You aren't the only person not to have known this about thyroxine, @badmemory. I have to handle medication for my job and it's made me more aware, but it can get quite complex so I'm not confident I'm 100% right with mine yet. Likewise, people don't pay attention to whether medication should be taken with or without a drink, or food. It makes quite a lot of difference to the effect it has. There are also possible interactions between prescribed medications and over the counter medications - so people who go to buy something to self-medicate should check with the pharmacist if it's okay with what the doctor has given them.

@Sun_Addict, it's worth reading the patient information leaflets, or having a word with the pharmacist. And you are right about the dizziness perhaps being caused by anaemia, the only thing is that it started suddenly.

I had a bit of a sit down this afternoon then made myself go into work to check the rota. My fears are allayed: I'm on the shift I thought I was on, and I'm not shift lead. I ended up talking to colleagues so I'm slightly more up to date than I usually am after days off. I also bumped into another colleague on the way home: she's been off with Covid but is on the mend and I've not seen her for a while so we had a catch-up. And... I spent £1.87 on some tulip bulbs. The photo on the packet was bright orange and deep pink and they looked so cheerful I felt the garden would benefit come the spring.

I stayed in this evening, being a bit weary after a lot of walking, but ended up making the butter and a pasta bake for work meals. There are 325g of butter now in the freezer, and about 200ml of buttermilk in the fridge as I didn't get round to scones. All this activity kept me awake but I need to get some sleep soon so that I can be up for work.

Today's spending:
Garden £1.87
Household £1
Books £4
Housekeeping £32  

Tonight the things I'm thankful for are managing to use ingredients up and increase my vegetable intake at the same time, free NHS care, catch-up time with colleagues and having dealt with one more item off the mending pile (a pair of socks).

badmemory

I think the instructions changed when they changed from thyroxine to levothyroxine sodium.  I assume the change was due to less horses (the source of thyroxine) & more people needing it.  Certainly when I started taking it the only side effects were from taking either too little or too much.  That is not the case now.

Cherryfudge

Wow, I never knew that! I think the UK nowadays only uses synthetic thyroxine, and only treats hypothyroidism as a deficiency of thyroxine even if the cause is actually a lack of thyroid stimulating hormone - so I suppose that will work better for some people than others.

I've never really got my head round it, to be honest.

Cherryfudge

Autumn Equinox - as good a day as any to have to get up early. It was a longish shift but they needed someone to help out at a nearby facility and that person was me. Generally shifts there are super-orderly and quiet by my standards and the staff are nice.

When I got home, I of course fell asleep - and that's about it for today! The interesting bits are that the change in medication regime is fine so far (and I'm topping up on vitamins and minerals duly spaced apart from medication, with the hope of getting some fitness back), and that DH cooked dinner - sausages, sauteed onion, ratatoille and boiled potatoes - and it was very nice.

P.S. 99p spent on an e-book.

Cherryfudge

I was about to say it's been a no-spend day, but 99p went on an e-book (The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist).

It's certainly been quite busy, 'Frantic Friday' nearly living up to its name apart from me taking it easy for the first half of the morning. Note to self: don't get drawn into stupid videos on Facebook: they are rarely edifying and they steal time.

It was just me from the cleaning team this morning due to holidays, but I got quite a bit done and DH and I will do more tomorrow. I've been asked if I'll consider helping out with the children's work, which I didn't expect but I can see it might work. I'll give it some thought and I can go to observe a few times before I make a decision.

Work was fun: just a jolly shift due to the combination of people there, a member of staff having good news and general good news because payslips are though with confirmation of our pay rise and backdated pay. We all feel wealthy! Of course, the backdated element means it looks higher this month than it normally will, but we are enjoying the novelty.

Things I'm thankful for today: being asked (it's nice to be thought of!), a positive atmosphere on shift, a work situation working out well last night when it could have been a lot worse, new pay levels, J and L being able to come for a meal on Sunday, managing to avoid the shops today, DH's present arriving in good time for his birthday.

Cherryfudge

A busy day! We made it to both car boot sales but by the afternoon, what had been a 16% chance of rain was 100% falling. People were packing up shortly after the grounds opened and we didn't bother to go in. Instead, we had a look round the local charity shops then did the weekend grocery shop (enough for guests tomorrow). My usual bread has gone up 13% since a couple of weeks ago!   My second choice (cheaper with less texture and fewer calories) had sold out. Finally, we completed the cleaning at church that I'd not been able to do yesterday.

Dh and I have very different approaches to cleaning! I'm a detail or nothing sort of person whereas he does the bits that need doing and leaves in time. Ah well: I didn't do detail on the area I set my self to do but have cleaned up the front of the balcony by dint of a long-handled feather duster and a vacuum cleaner - took a while but won't need to be done again for another while.

The evening has been fish and chips, and Strictly. I have a load of apples still to peel for crumble tomorrow (car boot find) so I can't be on here too long.

Spending:
Housekeeping £35.26 + fish and chips around £10.
Toiletries £1.50
Books £3.20
Ornaments 50p
Gift (toy for DGD) 50p
Hobbies (dolls' house dolls' house and callipers for measuring crafts) £5.50
Clothing (necklace) £2
e-book 99p

This evening I'm thankful for being able to get out and about (and still not needing a jacket though it's getting close), for fish and chips and for a day off. Also for a mint and chocolate traybake slice from the car boot, and two heavy bags of apples, ditto and offered to us for £1.50 to clear the stall. And for being able to buy a kilo bag of onions for £1 - not everything is through the roof.

Sun_Addict

You’re good at finding treasures at car boots and charity shops. I’ve never been to a car boot and all I seem to find in charity shops are books. 

Fantastic news about the pay rise and back pay 💰 When we got our rise and back pay at work the HR site crashed with so many people wanting to view their payslip 😆