(no subject)

[urocyon]

I am feeling extremely silly right now. I just chickened out of going to a BU pub night, on the basis that pubs are noisy places full of people I don't know (though I'd like to meet more people). I felt even sillier when I realised that I'd pulled a rather blatant procrastination job, getting tied up with cropping and scaling kitty pics, when I knew very well that, (a) I was planning to leave the house, and (b) my sense of time is very, erm, fluid.

OTOH, I did spend most of the afternoon out, getting film developed and doing various things to kill time in the hour and a half it took, including hiking to the doctor's office to put in the monthly prescription refill form and buying a couple of things for supper. That may well be my crowds quota for the day. I am getting more used to the crowds here, at least.

Ah, yes, in a bit of sour grapes, avoiding the beer might have been a good idea anyway. It took me long enough to figure out, after a particularly unpleasant night, that the common denominator between the times lately that I've had digestive upsets is eating rather large quantities of wheat products. (The other day, it was pasta night, after I'd had corned beef on rye for lunch.) The effects do seem worse since I was, unwittingly, on an elimination diet for several weeks, eating fewer starchy things. So, I think avoiding gluten-containing things might be a good idea, especially with the allergy load the way it is right now. My mom wasn't surprised to hear it; she's noticed the same thing, with particularly bad intolerance when the pollen count is up. I'm reasonably sure it's a less serious thing than coeliac-type intolerance, but just avoiding the gluten as far as possible still seems wise. Good thing it's easier here to find corn pasta (yummy anyway) and the like without having to head for a health food store, but they do seem much more aware here that gluten intolerance is a far-from-uncommon problem.

Comments

[ivy]

Also, if you have Irish blood, that does often carry a genetic predisposition to celiac, which sounds like your wheat issue. It starts out more gentle, but can get worse over time. (My Mom's got it, and it's likely that I will become more so as I age. I still hope to avoid that, but you never know.)

[urocyon-c.livejournal.com]

*nod* I have been half-afraid of that, especially since a number of my ancestors did come from western Ireland (supposedly even higher rate than Ireland-at-large). Possibly another reason to put in the paperwork to find a different GP, since this one doesn't seem to take me seriously.

I was interested to read that it can exascerbate or even mimic fibromyalgia symptoms, so at least that side of things might improve with a change of diet. Another gift from my mom. *shakes head* Another reason to see about things, since she has a similar reaction but continues to eat smaller quantities; might be better for her blood sugar control if it turns out she really shouldn't eat gluten and stops doing so.

[nitoda]

Actually, you might like to know that, of pub nights, BU is the most civilised that I know. We have an upstairs bar, usually all to ourselves (last night as it happens there was a cock-up and there were some "not-us" people in for a while, but we eventually saw them off! :-)) There is NO music at all. There are tables where board games can be played. Conversation can, occasionally, get noisy and excited, but is not usually overly so. We were honoured last night to entertain a visitor from New York who was vacationing alone in London. It was a good night! It would be nice to see you there ... maybe next month? My appearance is fairly distinctive and my Lj pic is me, so if you want to come and look out for me I will be happy to introduce you to a few people.

[urocyon-c.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the late reply! I haven't been spending much time online lately.

Thanks. Good to hear that there's no music; it certainly has its place, but not blaring while people are trying to carry on conversations. :) And thanks for the offer of intros--I'd appreciate that. With any luck, I'll be there next time 'round, possibly with vatine. If I'm not readily recognisable, it should be hard to miss the big almost stereotypically Swedish-looking fellow, red beard and all. *g*