A Funny Turn On Thursday
Because of my endoscopy at five on Thursday, I had a quiet day. I wasn’t allowed to eat anything for eight hours before or drink anything but water for four hours.
About one in the afternoon, I was sitting at my computer, typing a post into my blog.
And then everything, went rather fuzzy and words were coming out garbage. Often each letter was replaced by one of the next on the keyboard.
I was also a bit unsteady on my feet and as I was alone in my house, I decided to go out, so that if it was something worse and I collapsed, there would be someone to help me.
As I got to the bus stop, which is about fifty metres away, a violent thunderstorm broke out.
On the bus to The Angel, I tried to check my phone to get the time. It didn’t respond and I couldn’t unlock it. And even with help from the EE Shop and a guy on the bus, the phone wouldn’t respond to my fingers.
At the Angel, I did at least have a sensible conversation with an assistant about a clothes purchase, but in the end I bought nothing.
I left the Angel earlier than I’d intended and as I was on a 38 bus, which starts my journey to Homerton Hospital, I gave up on the idea of going home for some water.
I had a long change at Dalston Junction for the 242 bus for the hospital, but at least the rain had stopped somewhat and I was by now steady on my feet.
My phone was also working, so I was able to read the instructions about where to go at the hospital.
So what had happened to me at one in the afternoon?
Was there a low pressure before the storm, that sucked all the water out of my body and in the process made my fingers dry, so they didn’t work the phone?
Interestingly, I lost 0.9 of a Kg between 08:00 on Thursday and 08:00 on Friday. Was that just the fasting?
My INR also dropped from 2.4 at 08:00 on Thursday to 2.0 at 08:00 on Saturday. Was that because of all the fluid I lost, thickened my blood?
A Very Bad Night’s Sleep
Last night, I must have woke several times in the night, before I finally gave up at about three-thirty and got up and started doing the puzzles on the Internet, and having some mugs of tea.
At four I went back to bed and was able to grab perhaps thirty minutes of sleep.
But my body hurt all over with a vengeance.
- There was pain in the back of my left hand.
- My toes hurt badly.
- My right hip was painful.
- All my skin felt very dry.
So at five, I decided to get up and have the cure-all remedy, which is a deep hot bath.
It certainly worked and I felt a lot better,
After the bath, I got back in bed, and although I didn’t sleep, I rose and left the house soon after nine to get my gluten-free breakfast in Leon on Moorgate, with added tea and orange juice.
As I left the house, I noticed that one of the upstairs windows was open, so I had to go back and shut it.
As I never open this window, I thought it must have been the cleaners, who’d left it open. Especially, as it had happened before, a couple of weeks ago.
But then, I realised what had happened.
- The window hadn’t been properly secured.
- Last night, a storm with a low-pressure area had gone through..
- The pressure had just been low enough to pop the window open.
- The low-pressure had then just sucked the water out of my body.
My hot bath had put the water back in, the way, that it had come out.
After breakfast and picking up a prescription from Boots, I took a bus home.
On arriving home, I needed to have a poo, but was unable to go, as I was just too constipated.
After a laxative and several drinks, that problem was cured.
Conclusion
Were all my problems today, down to the fact that the weather stole my body’s water and I didn’t drink enough to put it all back?
Are Bodies Cleverer Than We Think?
Because, I had a serious stroke thirteen years ago, I am on Warfarin for life to thin my blood, so that I don’t have another stroke.
INR is short for International Normalized Ratio, which diverts on Wikipedia to the Wikipedia entry for Prothrombin Time, where these is the first two paragraphs.
The prothrombin time (PT) – along with its derived measures of prothrombin ratio (PR) and international normalized ratio (INR) – is an assay for evaluating the extrinsic pathway and common pathway of coagulation. This blood test is also called protime INR and PT/INR. They are used to determine the clotting tendency of blood, in such things as the measure of warfarin dosage, liver damage, and vitamin K status. PT measures the following coagulation factors: I (fibrinogen), II (prothrombin), V (proaccelerin), VII (proconvertin), and X (Stuart–Prower factor).
PT is often used in conjunction with the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) which measures the intrinsic pathway and common pathway of coagulation.
That is very technical and complicated, but what does it mean practically?
Those on Warfarin to thin their blood are generally supposed to keep their INR between 2 and 3.
I test the INR myself with a Coaguchek meter from Roche and have done so for nearly ten years.
Every, so often, I discuss the level of Warfarin with my GP and we adjust the level accordingly.
Typically, NHS patients on Warfarin have their INR checked every few weeks.
But as I am a Graduate Control Engineer, who has written control strategies for chemical plants, I feel this checking every few weeks, is not enough.
At times, I have checked at a higher frequency.
Four times, I have had minor operations.With the first operation, I agreed with the surgeon, that I would lower my INR to 2.1 for the operation and raise it back to 2.5 after the operation.
It all went well and I repeated the exercise for the three other minor operations.
I have checked daily since about the beginning of April, before which, I generally tested on Mondays and Thursdays.
There were two reasons for the change of frequency.
- Regular storms seemed to roll in and for some reason, they tended to lower my INR.
- I also wrote Do Thunderstorms Cause Strokes?, after reading a paper from the United States about the relationship between thunderstorms and strokes.
So I took the prudent decision to test my INR daily.
Then on the 30th May, disaster struck.
My Coaguchek meter found out it had the wrong firmware and Roche implored me to change it.
But I am not a hardware person, so I was left unable to check my INR.
Luckily, I remembered a story from the 1960s about one of ICI’s chemical plants.
This plant was one of the first fully-digitally controlled plants controlled by an IBM 1800 computer.
It also ran 24 hours a day, seven days week.
So in the middle of the night, the plant operators got out all the computer printouts, which showed how the computer had set all the valves and controllers.
One-by-one they reset all the controls on the plant to the settings that the computer had used for the last few days.
Using, this computer-assisted mode the plant was kept running, until engineers could fix the computer.
On the 30th May, my INR was a little bit high at 2.9 and I was using a dosage of Warfarin of 4 mg. one day and 3.5 mg. the next.
The strange dosage was one, that I know from experiment over time produces an INR of 2.5.
My actual average Warfarin dose was 3.73 over the last thirty days and my INR, as measured most days was 2.6 over the same period.
So, I did what the engineers did on the chemical plant, kept calm and carried on.
Yesterday my son fixed the Coaguchek meter and I was able to take my first reading for 17 days. It was 2.7 and only 0.1 higher than the 30-day average on the 30th May.
I had successfully jumped the gap in the readings.
Conclusion
Most systems have an equilibrium. Make sure you know it.
Heat-Related Hospital Admissions And Deaths In London
I never saw my father ride on a deep Underground line, like the Northern or the Piccadilly, as he always said the air was terrible.
That was despite we lived within walking distance of Oakwood station and his print works was just a hundred metres from Wood Green Underground station.
But then he was a man, who always had a car, when I knew him, so I suppose he felt he better use it.
On one occasion, he took me to the Printing Industries Fair at Earl’s Court, which is just seventeen stops on the Piccadilly Line from Wood Green Underground station, as it still is today.
His route was as follows.
He left his MG Magnette outside the print works on Station Road.
As this picture I took in 2012 shows, parking wasn’t too difficult.
We then walked up the hill to Wood Green station, which is now called Alexandra Palace, from where we took a steam-hauled local train into King’s Cross.
From King’s Cross, we took a Metropolitan Line train to Hammersmith station.
At Hammersmith, we changed stations and then took a train to Baron’s Court station for Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre.
Today, the route between Alexandra Palace and Earl’s Court stations is very different.
- You can change trains at Moorgate, Farringdon or King’s Cross.
- The oldest trains, that you’ll travel on would have been built in 2008.
- All trains will be fully air-conditioned.
I feel, that I could probably get my father to use this route. Although, I doubt it would happen, as he would have turned 120, at the start of this year.
The Growth Of Air Conditioning
Many cars since the 1980s have been airconditioned and now trains are following that route.
In London these are some dates, when trains were air-conditioned.
- Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan from 2008.
- Elisabeth Line from 2017.
- Gospel Oak and Barking from 2019.
- Greater Anglia from 2019/20.
- Lee Valley Lines from 2019.
- London Midland from 2023.
- London Overground from 2009.
- Southern from 2003.
- Southeastern from 2003.
- Thameslink from 2014.
Each year, more and more trains will be air-conditioned.
Conclusion
Has this growth of air-conditioning reduced the number of cases of heatstroke and other heat related admissions to hospitals?
Last Night, I Had A Very Bad Night’s Sleep
I usually sleep very well. In fact like my father, if I need a nap, I can even take it on a hard upright chair.
He would have a nap like this every day in his printworks. It also looks like my 53 year old middle son has this ability to take a quick nap.
Last night, I slept very badly and woke about two, with a pain in my hip.
I nearly phoned 111, as I felt so rough. Luckily I didn’t!
I didn’t get much more sleep and eventually had perhaps a nap of an hour or so, before I gave up and got out of bed to do a few puzzles on the Internet.
After a large mug of tea, the pain in my hip receded.
My now-retired GP, reckoned I suffered when the atmospheric pressure was low.
So, did an area of low pressure pass through last night and suck water out of my body?
After a good bath, I certainly feel better now, with no pain in my hip.
In My Strange Skin, I describe an incident, where weather sucked water out of my body!
It’s Now Ten O’Clock
I’ve survived the day and managed to take a train to Reading and back.
I had intended to take pictures in Oxford, but when I got to Reading, it was raining hard and I turned back.
Northern Lights Stun UK In Spectacular Display
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
The Northern Lights have made a rare appearance across the UK, delighting sky watchers up and down the country.
These three paragraphs add more detail.
Excited onlookers shared pictures of the lights, also known as aurora borealis, visible right across the country, including the south coast of England – and if you missed it you are likely to have a chance to see it again on Saturday night.
They could be seen after one of the strongest geomagnetic storms for years hit Earth, with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issuing a rare solar storm warning.
Such storms increase people’s chances of seeing the lights.
But how did the weather effect me?
- Yesterday, my INR was 2.4.
- I then had a terrible night, as I tossed and turned.
- I even had to get up twice in the middle of the night to remake the bed.
- This is so unlike me.
- In the morning my INR was 2.2.
Was the reduction because low pressure sucked the water out of my body?
That is nnot in itself dangerous, but I do think, that there will have been a lot of strokes last night.
I wrote about this in Do Thunderstorms Cause Strokes?.
I Was Kathleened At The Weekend
Saturday
At 0200 on Saturday morning, I couldn’t sleep.
So in the end, I got up, made myself a mug of tea and did Saturday’s puzzles in The Times.
I had no trouble doing them, so my brain function was normal.
But my left hand wasn’t working that well.
I had breakfast in Leon and had a bit of trouble with their sauce containers, but otherwise I was fine.
I did a bit of shopping in M & S on Moorgate and came home.
I wasn’t having any problems.
For the rest of the day, I watched television and listened to the radio.
Sunday
I got up late, as I was probably catching up the sleep from the night before.
I had lunch in Gordon Ramsey’s Street Burger about one.
My left hand wasn’t working that well and I was making a bit of a mess.
After, I got home, I watched television and listened to the radio.
Monday
I slept in late, but as my left hand wasn’t being very co-operative, I had a small bit of trouble dressing, due to an uncooperative left hand.
My INR was 2.0, so I took 5 mg. of Warfarin.
I had breakfast in Leon, where I made a mess with the sauce container.
I then went looking for a book, which I couldn’t find.
Tuesday
Everything seems better today.
My INR was 2.1, so I took 5 mg. of Warfarin.
I did my usual Monday morning trip, of visit to Marks & Spencer for about three days of food and then had breakfast in Leon.
Conclusion
This seems to be a pattern.
- A storm goes through, I can’t sleep and after some drinks of tea or zero alcohol beer, I feel a bit better.
- My left hand often stops co-operating and won’t do simple things.
- But it does seem to clear up, when the storm passes.
This is probably the third time, that it’s happened.
Note.
- My left humerus was broken by the school bully.
- I had a stroke in 2011, which affected my left arm.
- If I carry shopping in my left hand, the pulling action on my humerus seems to help.
Any ideas will be gratefully received.
A Funny Wet Week
I’ve had a funny few days as regards my health.
Tursday morning, my INR was 2.1.
On Friday night, I wasn’t sleeping very well and got up at three on Saturday morning. But after a couple of mugs of tea, I was feeling a lot better.
I had my usual Saturday morning breakfast in Leon on Moorgate, but I did get slightly confused with my shopping in Marks & Spencer. I put this down to my eyesight having an off day. Is that normal after two cataract operations?
I slept better on Saturday night! But was this because I went to bed before instead of after Match of the Day and then watched it on Sunday morning.
On Sunday morning, I went out to do a bit of shopping, but it was really just to get out and then it was walking in the pouring rain.
Monday was a quiet day, after breakfast in Leon on Moorgate, I wrote for most of the day. My INR was a bit low at 2.2.
Tuesday morning, it was a repeat of Friday night and I got up at four and had a couple of mugs of tea. It was another breakfast in Leon on Moorgate and a visit to M & S. After I returned, I wrote for most of the day, as it was too wet to go outside.
In the afternoon, I started to get a bit unsteady on my feet and even thought about calling 999. But after two mugs of tea and a can of Adnams, I regained my balance and never fell. My blood pressure was fine and the only unusual thing, was that my left food was quite red. But it does this sometimes.
Wednesday was uneventful and I had lunch with a friend at Cote in Sloane Square.
Today, Thursday my INR is down to 2.
I feel OK, but it does seem, that for some reason my INR has tended to slump during the week.
I just wonder if my leaky skin, just lets water out, which surely must lower the INR.
Does my foot go red, as the red blood corpuscles are too big to get through my skin?
The Moths Have Eaten My Long Johns
When I took the pictures in A Sleigh Ride, and at probably most of the other posts from my trip to Poland in Winter, I was wearing an expensive pair of Merino long johns.
I have tried to wear them in this cold snap, but they have been eaten by the f**king moths.
Still at least I don’t feel the cold badly.
That’s probably because I was brought up in Cockfosters, which is the coldest place in London.
The Weather And My INR
I measure my own INR and adjust my levels of Warfarin accordingly.
I typically take 4 mg of Warfarin one say and 3.5 mg the next, as this average dose of 3.75 mg, seems to keep my INR around the required 2.5.
Recent readings have been as follows.
- 18th December – 2.5
- 21st December – 2.5
- 25th December – 2.7
- 28th December – 1.9
Note.
- I test on Mondays and Thursdays.
- Today’s test was a bit low at 1.9.
- I should also say my left humerus was uncomfortable. Was it because bone was unhappy being in a dry body?
Today I took 5 mg of Warfarin to kick the INR the right way. I shall also test my INR tomorrow, just to be sure.
So why did my IRN drop by an unusual amount between Monday and Thursday?
We have just had storm Gerrit (Who thinks up these names? Donald, Nigel or Vladimir would be better, as they’re Low-life!)
So does the the low pressure suck the water out of my body, thus lowering the INR? And bring pain to my injured arm?
The Anonymous Widower 