The grumpy thread

[steve_earwig]

You're right, of course - but the alternative is staring at the ceiling, with no perceptible improvement.  I don't tend to get the pain, but nausea, 'dislocation' and the kind of visual disturbances that Hackney hipsters would pay good money for.

 

I am already working closely with the physic and the apothecary... 

Of course I'm right, it's called "experience". Shower (Old Spice original is a good smell here), fluids, light food and, if all else fails, bed. One symptom of migraine is "digestive shutdown", which generally means you throw up everything, including all the pills you've taken. Motillium is the pill for that, it starts things moving, usually the first sign I get that the migraine is lifting is I start feeling hungry.(btw I can't get them here) My pill of choice for migraines is Zomig but different pills work for different people. I tried all the alternatives but this was the only one that did the job.

 

I've only had one visual migraine myself, I'd heard all about it from my dad and brother so I knew what it was straight away. If I hadn't have know what it was I think I probably would have freaked out - "I'm going blind!!"

 

I'd better make this a link - https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2828/9396099433_dcbeddbbaf_z.jpg It probably wouldn't help for you to look at it, it's just so everyone else knows wtf I'm on about...

[Parky]

Last migraine I had left me thinking I was having a stroke. Numb left side, loss of vision and scarily unable to understand what was being said to me. Left work as a result and the drive home was interesting as I couldn't feel my clutch foot and had what can only be described as a smudge of Vaseline in the middle of my vision, a completely opaque section. Made it home, and went to bed, four hours later completely normal.

 

They are odd things - I tend not to get much pain, just the visual disturbance and nausea. Only started getting them in the last few months too

[chaseracer]

I've only had one visual migraine myself, I'd heard all about it from my dad and brother so I knew what it was straight away. If I hadn't have know what it was I think I probably would have freaked out - "I'm going blind!!"

 

I'd better make this a link - https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2828/9396099433_dcbeddbbaf_z.jpg It probably wouldn't help for you to look at it, it's just so everyone else knows wtf I'm on about...

 

That's the fella.  

 

Happened on the M6 once.  I had to stop at Hilton Park for an hour.  And I only live four miles away...

[chaseracer]

Parky, have you been to see the medic yet?  Anything like that, you should - certainly if you're no longer in the () younger age groups... 

[Doctormop]

Suffered with migraines on and off since my teens, wouldn't wish one on my worst enemy, with me it starts with a stabbing pain over my right eye, then a horrible feeling that my head is splitting open and my vision goes completely, all I can do is be violently sick and go to bed, sometimes for an hour ro two, sometimes a full day.

Have never found any medication prescribed or over the counter that helped once a full blown migraine had developed but found a couple of preventative measures that seem to work for me, wearing dark glasses a lot seems to help, especially in winter when the sun is low and funnily enough wearing a hat when its very warm or very cold keeps them at bay.

[Spiny Norman]

Scottish Power decided to see if I was paying attention yesterday by sending me a letter saying my monthly DD was going up from £63 to £141!
Just off the phone to them and it was all just 'An input error'.....

 

Twats.

[Bren]

Why are tradesmen so unreliable?

 

When you ask for a quote why do they never get back to you?

 

Little wonder we have many migrant workers.

[steve_earwig]

Last migraine I had left me thinking I was having a stroke. Numb left side, loss of vision and scarily unable to understand what was being said to me. Left work as a result and the drive home was interesting as I couldn't feel my clutch foot and had what can only be described as a smudge of Vaseline in the middle of my vision, a completely opaque section. Made it home, and went to bed, four hours later completely normal.

 

They are odd things - I tend not to get much pain, just the visual disturbance and nausea. Only started getting them in the last few months too

Oh shit, that sounds worryingly like stress, if it is then you seriously need to do something about it quickly or it will get far worse. If it's not stress it still could be something majorly serious, so you need to get your GP on the case pronto. I have a horror story but I'll save that one.

[steve_earwig]

That's the fella.  

 

Happened on the M6 once.  I had to stop at Hilton Park for an hour.  And I only live four miles away...

Mine was definitely stress, this was over last Christmas when my sis-in.law died and I had to drive as I needed to get back to my wife as soon as possible. At one point I thought my eyes had gone totally but then I realised it was raining and I hadn't turned the wipers on. I still lost most of my vision to my left so it's not something I'd ever want to do again.

 

Suffered with migraines on and off since my teens, wouldn't wish one on my worst enemy, with me it starts with a stabbing pain over my right eye, then a horrible feeling that my head is splitting open and my vision goes completely, all I can do is be violently sick and go to bed, sometimes for an hour ro two, sometimes a full day.

Have never found any medication prescribed or over the counter that helped once a full blown migraine had developed but found a couple of preventative measures that seem to work for me, wearing dark glasses a lot seems to help, especially in winter when the sun is low and funnily enough wearing a hat when its very warm or very cold keeps them at bay.

Bugger. I never really loose my vision, I just can't bare to look at anything bright, so driving at night is a bitch (I suspect I'm more sensitive to bright lights at night even without a migraine).

 

The Zomig only work if I can get to it quick enough, so not much use if I've have it a while, like if I wake up with it or if I suddenly realise a headache has moved to my eyes and is turning up the volume. I only get 3 pills at a time so I can't just take one as a prophylactic. 

 

Interesting stuff about the hat though. I've been trying to see some correlation between headaches/migraines and stuff like air pressure and humidity and even the things I eat. I know avocados can trigger them, chocolate sometimes, coffee possibly. It doesn't make much sense though. I did talk to a chap at work once that put me wise to a few things, like the digestive shutdown. He reckoned it takes two things to trigger them, like you can handle a bit of stress ok, or eat bad food without consequence, but both together and it's time for pain.

[Largactil]

Feeling a bit of a mug right now, and it's entirely self-inflicted!  

 

Bought my modern last May from Arnold Shark in Glasgow - As it was still a newish car at the time (3.5 years old), I contacted the manufacturer regarding an extended warranty; "no problem sir - £28 per month". Swivered a bit, but given the models reputation for niggles and the occasional engine failure, I elected to go for it.

 

Fast forward to today - Car's in at the main dealer for a service, and to investigate why the a/c is crap before I drive it to Italy next Friday.

 

They've diagnosed a condenser issue. Great, I think - The warranty was worth every penny, as it's probably a £6-700 job at the main dealer...

 

...but there's an issue - The car was due a service around the time I bought it, and while Arnold Shark stamped the book, they didn't identify the work carried out.

 

No worries - I also had it serviced by a VAT registered garage last August, where I provided the proper air & oil filters I bought from a main dealer and also the recommended long life Castrol Edge.

 

"When it was serviced in August do you know if the microfilter and spark plugs were replaced as well as the air filter?"

 

Nope.

 

So they're now in the process of contacting the Arnold Shark dealership to query what they changed - And if they haven't changed the above, my warranty is null & void as I haven't followed the manufacturer's servicing schedule, and I'll have a bill for £127 for "diagnosing the fault".

 

I don't hold out much hope... Bloody modern cars  

[chaseracer]

Don't let them get away with that.  If Arnold Shark stamped the book, then as far as you are concerned the work was carried out.

[cort16]

Warranties are a scam they seem specifically designed to not pay out . Fuckers.

[chaseracer]

I blame Quentin "Fucking" Wilson... 

[twosmoke300]

Scottish Power decided to see if I was paying attention yesterday by sending me a letter saying my monthly DD was going up from £63 to £141!

Just off the phone to them and it was all just 'An input error'.....

 

Twats.

Funny how these input errors are always in their favour. Just trying their luck for a mug.if they sucker one in a hundred they do well

 

Twats indeed

[cort16]

[Spiny Norman]

Arnold Shark are a scam they seem specifically designed to not pay out . Fuckers.

 

EFA.

Fucking scheisters, if they were the only source of cars in the country I'd buy a horse.

[cort16]

Would you take it to the MANE dealer for servicing ?

[Largactil]

EFA.

Fucking scheisters, if they were the only source of cars in the country I'd buy a horse.

 

I've bought twice off them - Look at them as the automotive 'PC World', flogging £299 laptops.

 

Buy in bulk, sell cheap, and make on the add-on's

 

My current car was £2.5-3k less than similar at the main dealers, lower miles & better spec.

 

AC had failed to identify the model correctly, and priced it as the more common lower spec version.

 

(I thought the above was a sales ploy, but they really didn't have a clue...It's all about volume with them and the sales people know very little about cars!)

 

The reason I had an extra service done 3 months after buying was that I had little confidence that they'd actually serviced it, or used the proper oil & filters if they had!

[tooSavvy]

Little wonder we have many migrant workers.

 

R4 did a 'No jobs for British workers?' piece, and got the JokeShop to send about 5 UK UB white guys to a farm - cutting spring onions = piecework.

 

The Rumanian guys - "we come here for the money" - were quite surprised by the arrival of the 'ubber class!'

 

None of them lasted until the last shift of the week..........

 

I think of this every time I buy a Tesco/ASDA/Morrisons salad 

 

 

TS

[Mr Lobster]

Arnold won't have gone to town on the service when you bought it. It was always, always a case of spend as little as possible when I was there.

 

That said, my Toledo came from them and after a suitable staff discount it was a very cheap car and has been the best / cheapest / most reliable / best car I have ever owned so if you just go in and buy the car and don't bother with all the extra bits then you can get a good deal. That applies to most dealers though.

 

Extended warranties are worthless though. The numerous ways the RAC warranty on my Alfa 145 managed to find for not paying out was quite staggering.

[twosmoke300]

On the subject of migrant vs UK workers , I used to be an agri engineer and obviously met a lot of foreign workers.

Part of my jobs was setting up the machines that plant the cauliflower modules. These has 5 people feeding plants into the rotating cups. I had a problem with one row playing up , then the problem would change rows , after a while I realised that the problem was one of the operators missing ones and putting 2 in at once etc. I used the usual talk loud and slow to try and tell him what he was doing wrong. Only to find out he was English. The only one I have ever seen on that job and he was useless. He didn't turn up the next day either.

[Parky]

Oh shit, that sounds worryingly like stress, if it is then you seriously need to do something about it quickly or it will get far worse. If it's not stress it still could be something majorly serious, so you need to get your GP on the case pronto. I have a horror story but I'll save that one.

Yup, pretty sure it was stress related. Had a nightmare few months at work, constant threat of being fired, bully of a boss and even ended up under the care of the works psychotherapist who wondered how I was managing to go to the office without throwing myself off it - this was the guy whose job it was to pass me as fit to work.

 

Eventually company made me redundant with a decent pay off. Been off for two months and feel a whole lot better. Reckon I can now function properly again but not rushing back for the sake of it, next job will be one that I want rather than one the company wants me to do.

 

Since the redundancy, one migraine. Still worry a bit as I am not particularly fit, enjoy a smoke and hit 41 earlier this year so really need to get off the gaspers soon.....

[twosmoke300]

Love that song

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Feeling a bit of a mug right now, and it's entirely self-inflicted!  

 

Bought my modern last May from Arnold Shark in Glasgow - As it was still a newish car at the time (3.5 years old), I contacted the manufacturer regarding an extended warranty; "no problem sir - £28 per month". Swivered a bit, but given the models reputation for niggles and the occasional engine failure, I elected to go for it.

 

Fast forward to today - Car's in at the main dealer for a service, and to investigate why the a/c is crap before I drive it to Italy next Friday.

 

They've diagnosed a condenser issue. Great, I think - The warranty was worth every penny, as it's probably a £6-700 job at the main dealer...

 

...but there's an issue - The car was due a service around the time I bought it, and while Arnold Shark stamped the book, they didn't identify the work carried out.

 

No worries - I also had it serviced by a VAT registered garage last August, where I provided the proper air & oil filters I bought from a main dealer and also the recommended long life Castrol Edge.

 

"When it was serviced in August do you know if the microfilter and spark plugs were replaced as well as the air filter?"

 

Nope.

 

So they're now in the process of contacting the Arnold Shark dealership to query what they changed - And if they haven't changed the above, my warranty is null & void as I haven't followed the manufacturer's servicing schedule, and I'll have a bill for £127 for "diagnosing the fault".

 

I don't hold out much hope... Bloody modern cars  

 

This is flipping absurd. 'The spark plugs might not have been changed so FUCK YOU! We are not going to cough up for some probelm with the aircon' What warranty is it? Not that it makes any difference as they are all a flipping piss take.

[steve_earwig]

Yup, pretty sure it was stress related. Had a nightmare few months at work, constant threat of being fired, bully of a boss and even ended up under the care of the works psychotherapist who wondered how I was managing to go to the office without throwing myself off it - this was the guy whose job it was to pass me as fit to work.

 

Eventually company made me redundant with a decent pay off. Been off for two months and feel a whole lot better. Reckon I can now function properly again but not rushing back for the sake of it, next job will be one that I want rather than one the company wants me to do.

 

Since the redundancy, one migraine. Still worry a bit as I am not particularly fit, enjoy a smoke and hit 41 earlier this year so really need to get off the gaspers soon.....

You're so lucky to have got out of that one, the horror story was a mate of mine in a similar situation, high level sales in a certain huge communications co. No matter how good his sales were they kept moving the goal posts, bullying, threats of redundancy. One morning he woke up blind. After spending months being passed around various consultants he got enough of his sight back to go back to work, where they took his BMW company car off him for falling behind with his work (!) and gave him some old clunker, along with a warning to pull his socks up or else. Nothing had changed, they were still treating him like dirt so he quit and had every intention of taking them to court for constructive dismissal. It looked like he had rather a good case but they caved in and gave him a rather large handout instead.

 

I'm 49, amazingly unfit and smoke like a chimney. My diet has greatly improved though (first thing my wife did when she realised how often I had migraines was march me to the quack, who ordered a shed load of tests). I'm also experimenting with these e-fags, early days yet but I hope to addict myself to them, rather than the gaspers (I ran out of tobacco this morning so I've been puffing away on strawberry shortcake ever since). Not had much luck with the fitness yet but I'm hoping I'll have more energy on the e-fags and be able cycle further than the nearest village more often.

 

I've had 2 migraines so far this year, which is definitely an improvement over 2 a week...

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Heres a tip for you, stop telling us all about the fine details of your health and go for a bicycle ride, walk etc.

[Parky]

Sorry all, I thought we could moan in this section of the forum. Won't happen again.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Of course we can, thats what its for innit, dont have to take any notice of owt I say, I just was amused at the large amount of great details about Steves's migraine symptoms then 'Im mega unfit and smoke like a chimney'

[Parky]

For all we know Steve has been a long term K series user which might explain his situation - stress as a result of constantly watching the temperature gauge and weight gain as a result of a sedentary lifestyle sitting in the car waiting for the AA to turn up.

[steve_earwig]

Oh, the bike thing was meant for me then. I have one, when it's not raining or stupidly hot & humid it even gets ridden.

 

Well, I didn't think I'd gone into that much detail but I tend to think these days I've got nothing to be embarrassed about and that maybe I can help others by relating my experiences. Yes, I smoke too much, I've tried countless times to give up but usually end up smoking more, that's why I'm taking this rather oblique approach to the problem. Fitness, well, I tend to take things a little easier these days, owning to the arthritis in my knee and sciatica, which is where my fitness is going. We can't all be super-fit I guess.

 

Now, if you're very lucky I'll tell you about my bladder.