Blessed are the cheesemakers!
After baring my soul (and other portions of my anatomy) last time, about the effect that Crohn's is having on my life, it seems only fair to post a bit of an update.
So far, so good! The combination of steroids and Azathioprine seems to be working pretty well, touch wood. I'll be very pleased indeed if this turns out to be the case, as it means that if the Aza stops working, there are further treatments to try before getting anywhere near to the "whip stuff out and stick a bag on" options. Not that I would object to a stoma in any way, should it prove to be necessary, just to be clear on this. Crikey, there are worse things can happen than that, and if it would serve a purpose and help, then I'd be all for it. It seems that the Pentasa really may have been the culprit, as no nausea or headaches at all since I stopped taking it.
I drop down another 5mg on the Prednisolone (steroids) from tomorrow morning (Fri), to 30mg daily, and will be keeping an eye on how I react to that an' all. I keep a "symptoms, meds and food" diary daily, and have done since I went into hospital at the end of Feb, as it helps tremendously to be able to look back at my body's reactions to changes of medication or food, and track my progress more clearly - and any road up my memory for the minutiae of life is shite when I'm not at my best, and dodgy when I am (I blame the menopause).
Now to the crux of the matter: CHEESE!
I have rediscovered the joys of cheese after months on the wagon. Currently enjoying Ossau Iraty and Murcia al Vino (or "Drunken Goat"), Wensleydale, trap - in fact just about anything that isn't blue or hasn't got bits in - and stretching my net wider when I can. Morrisons seem to have a rather nice selection of foreign cheeses on their Market Street cheese counter, but I've yet to find anything over here like this http://euro.tienda.com/food/products/e-cs-36.html or http://www.spain-recipes.com/burgos-cheese.html - lovely for a light supper. In Spain you can buy it in small individual-serving tubs in the supermarkets, and it's nothing like cottage cheese, which can be too watery. I wonder that no one has started producing something similar here - or maybe they have, but for a specialist market in that there London or some other southern outpost. Mozzarella has a different texture and needs to be kept moist and eaten fast, before anyone says anything, plus it's not sheep's milk. Add the cheese obsession to the prawns obsession and being poorly can be a dear do...
Now to get my hand on some Gjetöst!
So far, so good! The combination of steroids and Azathioprine seems to be working pretty well, touch wood. I'll be very pleased indeed if this turns out to be the case, as it means that if the Aza stops working, there are further treatments to try before getting anywhere near to the "whip stuff out and stick a bag on" options. Not that I would object to a stoma in any way, should it prove to be necessary, just to be clear on this. Crikey, there are worse things can happen than that, and if it would serve a purpose and help, then I'd be all for it. It seems that the Pentasa really may have been the culprit, as no nausea or headaches at all since I stopped taking it.
I drop down another 5mg on the Prednisolone (steroids) from tomorrow morning (Fri), to 30mg daily, and will be keeping an eye on how I react to that an' all. I keep a "symptoms, meds and food" diary daily, and have done since I went into hospital at the end of Feb, as it helps tremendously to be able to look back at my body's reactions to changes of medication or food, and track my progress more clearly - and any road up my memory for the minutiae of life is shite when I'm not at my best, and dodgy when I am (I blame the menopause).
Now to the crux of the matter: CHEESE!
I have rediscovered the joys of cheese after months on the wagon. Currently enjoying Ossau Iraty and Murcia al Vino (or "Drunken Goat"), Wensleydale, trap - in fact just about anything that isn't blue or hasn't got bits in - and stretching my net wider when I can. Morrisons seem to have a rather nice selection of foreign cheeses on their Market Street cheese counter, but I've yet to find anything over here like this http://euro.tienda.com/food/products/e-cs-36.html or http://www.spain-recipes.com/burgos-cheese.html - lovely for a light supper. In Spain you can buy it in small individual-serving tubs in the supermarkets, and it's nothing like cottage cheese, which can be too watery. I wonder that no one has started producing something similar here - or maybe they have, but for a specialist market in that there London or some other southern outpost. Mozzarella has a different texture and needs to be kept moist and eaten fast, before anyone says anything, plus it's not sheep's milk. Add the cheese obsession to the prawns obsession and being poorly can be a dear do...
Now to get my hand on some Gjetöst!