The Anonymous Widower

Can You Take A Dulcolax With Uncomplicated Pancolonic Diverticular Disease?

I was suffering from constipation this morning, as the low barometric pressure was drawing the water out of my body.

So I wondered if I could safely take one of my usual Dulcolax tablets.

I asked Google AI, the question in the title of this post and received this reply.

You should not take Dulcolax with uncomplicated pancolonic diverticular disease, especially during a flare-up, without first consulting a healthcare provider. Stimulant laxatives like Dulcolax can be risky and may cause issues, such as gastrointestinal problems or increased risk of perforation. Instead, a healthcare provider will likely recommend consulting them for advice on which constipation treatments, if any, are appropriate, such as bulk-forming laxatives if your diet is insufficient.

I didn’t take any Dulcolax tablets.

But I’ve just hydrated myself with a bottle of Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5% Beer and it did the trick!

October 21, 2025 Posted by | Food, Health | , , , , , | 1 Comment

It Was Hot So I Drunk A Lot Today

It’s still 35 degrees as I write this and judging by the empties I’ve been drinking heavily all day.

I’ve actually had six bottles of Adnams 0.5% Alcohol Ghost Ship, as I started at 09:00 this morning and I’ve also drunk two cans of Diet Coke and three mugs of tea. So I must have drunk close to four litres today, none of which was alcoholic.

But when I was eighteen and serving in The Merryhills pub in Oakwood, I can remember drinking thirteen bottles of Guinness and walking home.

At the time, I didn’t know I was coeliac, so why did the beer not effect my gut?

As my father, who was undoubtedly an undiagnosed coeliac, also drank bottles of Guinness, were the bottles gluten-free, as I believe Guinness 0.0 is today.

It certainly looks like my grandfather, who was a professional alcoholic could have got started on beer to just keep himself hydrated. He then moved on to spirits and that contributed to his early death around forty.

August 12, 2025 Posted by | Food | , , , | 3 Comments

Did I Have A Funny Turn Caused By Dehydration This Morning?

I followed my usual Sunday morning routine today

  • I took my drugs with a large mug of tea.
  • I had a deep bath with emollient in the water.
  • I put my head under the water and opened my eyes, to clear the massive amount of sleep, I get overnight in my eyes.
  • I then went to Leon in Hanover Square for a good Full English gluten-free breakfast.

Unusually, Leon made a mistake and didn’t put any milk in my tea, so I didn’t drink it. So was I low on fluids?

A Transformer Is Being Moved Tonight

This press release from National Grid is entitled National Grid Prepares For Two Major Supergrid Transformer Deliveries In London.

The first one is to be moved into Redbridge substation tonight, so I went to have a look after breakfast.

  • It was easy to get to the site, as it is close to Redbridge station on the Central Line.
  • Out of the Underground, it was quite hot.
  • By the time, I got to Redbridge station, I was feeling slightly unwell and felt my balance was poor.
  • So I immediately turned around and came home using the Central and Lizzie Lines to Moorgate, where I took a bus home.
  • I was certainly feeling better in the air-conditioned atmosphere of the Lizzie Line.

Since I’ve been home, I have been continuously drinking Adnams 0.5 % Alcohol Ghost Ship and I feel that I am now back to normal.

I asked Google AI “Can being dehydrated affect your balance?” and got this answer.

Yes, dehydration can definitely affect balance. It can lead to dizziness and a feeling of unsteadiness, which can make it harder to maintain balance. This is because dehydration can disrupt the fluid balance in the inner ear, which plays a vital role in balance.

I can remember an incident in my thirties, when I fell down the escalator at Oxford Circus station and went round to the Middlesex Hospital to be cleaned up.

Did Dehydration Play A Part In My Serious Stroke?

I had my stroke during breakfast in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong. I’d had two or possibly three very small strokes early in the morning before and I know from measuring my weight, that I can lose up to a kilo overnight.

So I asked Google AI “Can dehydration cause strokes?” and got this answer.

Yes, dehydration can increase the risk of stroke. When the body lacks sufficient fluids, blood volume decreases, potentially leading to thicker blood and reduced blood flow to the brain. This can exacerbate existing blockages in blood vessels or make it more difficult for blood to reach the brain, potentially causing an ischemic stroke.

My late wife drunk a lot more fluids that I do and perhaps, I should have followed her example more, of always having water handy?

 

August 10, 2025 Posted by | Energy, Health | , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I’ve Just Finished My Second Bottle Of Beer Today

And It’s not yet noon!

I felt dehydrated when I got up and started a bottle of Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5 % Beer.

I do find on a hot day, it’s a good thirst-quencher.

Perhaps, hot weather and beer, got my grandfather on the way to being an alcoholic and an early death before forty.

I may already be twice the age at which he died.

I do wonder sometimes, that low and zero-alcohol beer could be used to wean people off the demon drink.

In my case though my father had his own psychological ways, that taught me to be responsible with alcohol.

June 16, 2025 Posted by | Food | , , , | 1 Comment

Exceptionally Low River Levels Raise Fears Over Water Supplies

The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.

This is the sub-heading.

Many of the UK’s rivers have hit exceptionally low levels and that could worsen in the next three months, according to the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), raising questions over supplies to households, farmers and businesses.

These three introductory paragraphs add more details.

The warning comes after the driest spring in England since 1961, with northern regions experiencing the driest start to the year in nearly a century.

Almost all of the UK is expected to have below normal or low river levels in May, apart from the south-west of England.

The Environment Agency has said that the UK is at medium risk of drought and warned households of the risk of water restrictions.

In the 1970s, I was involved in a marginal way, in the planning of the water supply network in the UK, by the then Water Resources Board. My software called SPEED was used to solve the hundreds of differential equations involved.

Since the 1970s, I have felt, that as water supply in the UK has been fairly good, that the engineers, planners and mathematicians of the Water Resources Board didn’t do a bad job.

I don’t think, I can remember a period as long as this without rain.

I am drinking heavily to keep hydrated and I’m already today on my second bottle of Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5 % Beer.

But it just seems to go straight out through my skin, which I talked about in My Strange Skin.

I am Jewish in my father’s male line and Huguenot in my mother’s, so I have lots of ancestors, who lived in poor living conditions. So did Darwinian selection produce my leaky skin, that also heals itself quickly, in the harsh living conditions.

But on the other hand does it make me dehydrated all the time? And also create lots of red spots all over my body?

It’s not something new, as I can remember feeling this this as a child and helping my mother to count all the spots.

I hope that I will be fine, when we get some rain.

 

May 14, 2025 Posted by | Environment, Health | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Name Your Poison!

The weather is hot and my cardiologist, GP and physiotherapist are advising me to keep hydrated.

This picture shows what I’m drinking.

Note.

  • The 500 ml. bottle of beer costs £1.25 or £0.0025 per ml.
  • The 330 ml. can of Diet Coke costs £4.75 for 8 or £0.0018 per ml.

The prices are from Ocado.

Tapwater is not much cheaper.

 

May 13, 2025 Posted by | Food, Health | , , , | Leave a comment

An Annoying Day

My plan was simple on Saturday May the 10th.

I intended to go to Liverpool Lime Street on a Day Return ticket.

I would then buy a Lancashire Day Ranger ticket and visit Wigan North Western, Preston and Lancaster stations, to see how ready, they are for High Speed Two services.

I also intended to go to Morecambe to see how the Eden Project Morecambe was getting on.

I did get to Wigan North Western station and later wrote Is Wigan North Western Station Ready For High Speed Two?

But then there was a points failure at Preston and after waiting at the station for over an hour for tranport to Preston, I changed plan.

I decided to go back to Liverpool by way of Wigan Wallgate and Headbolt Lane stations.

On return home, I wrote Wigan Wallgate To Headbolt Lane – 10th May 2025.

A Quick Run Back To London

At Lime Street station, I walked into the Wetherspoons pub at the station, with the intension of buying a bottle of my favourite brew, which all of the chain stock. But not this one!

So I got an early train back to London.

The Most Expensive Taxi Back From Euston

I paid over thirty pounds, when under twenty is the norm, not because I was being ripped off, but by the number of roadworks, that slowed our journey.

May 11, 2025 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Have Ocado Run Out Of 0.5 % Alcohol Ghost Ship?

I do my base Ocado order, as soon as I get this week’s order on the Saturday soon after six in the morning. I do fine tune the order, as the week progresses.

Yesterday, I was without two products ; the M & S Liver & Bacon ready meal and Adnams 0.5 % Alcohol Ghost Ship.

The ready meal is often short, but I can get it in the Marks and Spencer’s stores locally on most weeks.

One problem with the liver is that it it is not suitable for freezing.

The beer is not a problem, as I have enough in store and I can drink other brands.

But it does seem to have been a victim of Dry January.

After the end of the month, it will be very interesting to look at the domestic violence figures.

January 12, 2025 Posted by | Food | , , , , | Leave a comment

Drinking And Me

Today, I got up at five and was able to drink my morning cup of tea very quickly.

In fact, I’ve been drinking cups of tea all day at a fast speed.

I’ve also drunk two bottles of Adnams 2.5 % alcohol Ghost Ship beer at a fast pace.

But on other days, I pour a lot away, as I just can’t force it down.

Is it the weather, as it is rather unusual today?

November 23, 2024 Posted by | Food, Health | , , , | Leave a comment

A Simple Late Lunch

I’ve just had one of my typical late lunches.

It was one parcel of Marks and Spencer’s smoked salmon pate on toast, washed down with a half-litre bottle of Adnams  Ghost Ship 0.5 % beer.

O’ll probably have the second parcel of salmon for lunch tomorrow.

November 11, 2024 Posted by | Food | , , , | 2 Comments