Hello fellow Harp thumpers and Dart players! I’m Ben
cousin of the Undercover Homeopath, and I’m taking over this blog while she’s away at a homeopathic convention in the French countryside.
She's asked me to come over and mind her place in case any Romanian squatters decided to take over.
Why did she think it would be better to have me taking over her house than the Romanians it’s a mystery, considering she’s always moaning about me leaving the place in mess every time I stay over…anyway I’m not complaining, there’s plenty of food in the fridge, figs and plums in the garden and I’ve brought a good supply of whisky to last me for the 2/3 weeks she is planning to be away.
She said that I could also write a weekly post on her blog, to write about anything I liked just to keep her readers interested, and to be careful not to upset anyone. So that’s what I’ll be doing!
She also said no to worry about Twitter that she would take care of it, and that she would still be doing the #healingmondays , whatever that is…
and she also said that if Tracey Brown called about her next appointment, to tell her that it will have to be re-scheduled for the beginning of November.
So there we are…me, you, and an empty page in front of me…I've always wanted to have me own blog just don’t know how set up one. Since I can write about anything I’m going to dedicate this space to my two hobbies: Harp and Darts!
Over the next few weeks I intend to tell you all about the secrets of melodious Irish Harp tuning, and I’ll also be giving you updates to any Dart tournaments around the country.
This time my lovely cousin is touring around France with her fellow homeopaths, spotting and collecting herbs, and doing all sorts of homeopathy quizzes. I wouldn’t be surprised if the “Tour” also involved a lot of wine tasting from the local breweries…these guys are not against a good drop, especially if it’s organic!
Too bad that she’s left her hangover remedy kit behind. It’s a little box with two bottles of pills inside, one says Nux Vomica 30C on the label and the other Sulphur 30C .
It says:” take one pill of Nux Vomica before bedtime and one of Sulphur on waking. Repeat for a few days for a complete detox or take just once if you‘ve drunk too much and want to avoid a hangover“
…umm… I might try that later…I’ll let you know on my next post if that worked!
Now, last night I got here middle of the night. After spending almost 12 hours on the coach and falling asleep with me neck twisted, I got here worse for wear…knackered and with a stiff neck! Looked for something to take for the pain. Nothing! I mean, she has all sort of bottles of tinctures and pills and all of that - that’s very good of her, but I’m a simple country folk! I know nothing about that hairy fairy stuff she gets up to, all I wanted was a couple of Nurofen! Is that too much to ask?
Anyway went to bed with a whisky, but you know when you are in strange place and no matter how tired you are you just can’t get to sleep? And you know how some hotels will have a bible by the bed?
Well my cousin has the British National Formulary, that’s BNF for short.
Since I haven’t had time to write anything about my hobbies yet, I’m going to give you some excerpts from BNF on painkillers - enjoy folks, this is good quality scientifically proven information not the usual nonsensical quackery stuff no doubt my cousin has been feeding you with!
Okay…so let’s start with the painkillers that you can buy over the counter for mild or moderate pain: these are safe enough for you to buy without a prescription. For the heavier and more dangerous painkillers you will need to see your GP.
Paracetamol:
Side-effects: rare, but rashes, blood disorders (including thrombocytopenia, leucopenia, neutropenia) reported; hypotension, flushing, and tachycardia also reported on infusion; important: liver damage (and less frequently renal damage) following overdosage.
When they say rare, what exactly do they mean? Should I be worried that I might be one of the “rare” cases? Any of those blood diseases they’ve mentioned are very serious!
Ibuprofen:It is one of the NSAIDs - that’s Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
to you and me.
Side-effects: serious gastro-intestinal toxicity; the risk is higher in the elderly. Other side-effects include hypersensitivity reactions particularly rashes, angioedema, and bronchospasm, headache, dizziness, nervousness, depression, drowsiness, insomnia, vertigo, hearing disturbances such as tinnitus, photosensitivity, and haematuria. Blood disorders have also occurred. Fluid retention may occur (rarely precipitating congestive heart failure); blood pressure may be raised.
Renal failure may be provoked by NSAIDs, especially in patients with pre-existing renal impairment. Rarely, papillary necrosis or interstitial fibrosis associated with NSAIDs can lead to renal failure.
I don’t know about you but this “rarely” kidney failure…umm…I think I would like to pass on that!
Hepatic damage, alveolitis, pulmonary eosinophilia, pancreatitis, visual disturbances, Stevens-Johnson syndrome,
I didn’t have a clue who this Steven-Johnson was but I looked it up in a Medical Dictionary which my cousin also keeps by the bedside cabinet.
Gosh! This woman…if this is what she reads at bedtime I don’t want to know what she reads during the day!
Anyway…Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS) is a life-threatening skin condition, in which cell death causes the epidermis to separate from the dermis.
More symptoms: Induction of or exacerbation of colitis or Crohn’s disease has been reported. Aseptic meningitis has been reported rarely with NSAIDs—patients with connective-tissue disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus may be especially susceptible.
All NSAID use can, to varying degrees, be associated with a small increased risk of thrombotic events (e.g. myocardial infarction and stroke) independent of baseline cardiovascular risk factors or duration of NSAID use.
If you ask me there is nothing small about a heart attack or a stroke! They may say the risk is small but if I would prefer if there was no risk at all!
Gastro-intestinal disturbances including discomfort, nausea, diarrhoea, and occasionally bleeding and ulceration occur. Systemic as well as local effects of NSAIDs contribute to gastro-intestinal damage; taking oral formulations with milk or food, or using enteric-coated formulations, or changing the route of administration may only partially reduce symptoms such as dyspepsia.
This BNF is definitely good stuff! I advise you to buy this book as soon as you can. It’s written in a sober manner - a lot of good scientific, factual evidence, and no melodramas! Even when they telling you that you could easily die from taking your run of the mill over the counter painkiller, they still manage to sound very reassuring!
Oh! By the way I forgot to tell you: these side effects are if you are a healthy person.
If you have any thing like asthma, a heart condition, kidney problems; if you are elderly or pregnant; or taking any other medication, there are quite a lot more side-effects to look into!
I think I’ll stick to whisky, and wait until my cousin calls again to see what she recommends. And I won’t even tell you what I found out about Nurefen, so that you won’t lose your sleep too…
Night, Night, Sleep Tight!
