I woke up around midnight with a serious case of sinusitis. Hubby offered a Sinutab which I declined and I opened up a couple extra windows in the bedroom instead for some (more) fresh air. Around 5am I woke with a wopper of a headache, enough for me to go dig around in the meds cupboard until I found a lone Disprin hidden beneath the myriad of muthi for ailments long gone. This managed to knock it back for a couple hours.
Right now, however, I’m sitting with a screamer of note and my eyes are blurring and my tummy churning. A sure sign of a migraine making its appearance (and I was going on 2 years now not having them), the wellmeaning lot here at work are rallying around bringing me concoctions and handfulls of pills with no discerning names or markings on them, all of them promising me instant relief. I’m not a skeptic for nothing though and the stuff are filling up my top drawer at a rather alarming rate. I was just handed something interesting though, a plastic packet full of ominous looking powder which smells very strongly of ginger and something bitter (is there such a thing as a bitter smell???). Anyway, said lady proclaimed that its a mixture of ginger, carrots, and “other assorted roots”, and a surefire way to deal with the throbber in question.
I’d love to have this stuff analysed, does someone knows where you can do that? I dont mind paying, the experiment is interesting enough to warrant a couple bucks for an answer.
What sort of analysis are you contemplating? Ingredients, chemical, safety and/or efficacy? Or something else?
The SABS does a range of analyses, as do several private laboratories listed in the Yellow Pages. Be warned, though: They are not cheap.
If your headaches are brought on by irritated sinuses, have you tried daily saline sinus rinsing? A visit to an ENT might also be helpful in case it’s a structural problem.
Mostly Ingredients and efficacy (if any). Its a case of curiousity killed the cat and satisfaction bought it back.
I dont get these type of headaches often anymore, I used to when I was younger, but I’ve learned to manage my stress and figured out which foods usually trigger them (MSG being a nasty culprit). The Sinus (severe hayfever) clears up at work (actually on the way to work), its something in my garden that triggers it and until I’ve figured out which flower/tree/plant causes it, I’m going to have live with it.
This stuff changed my life many moons ago. How applicable it is to you, I dunno, I’m no doctor. But I’ll tell you one thing: Those injections sting like a motherfucker.
This is great, I didnt know stuff like this existed! I will enquire directly from my GP. Mine is very seasonal, starts around late August and only lets up around May/June, and I know its something in my garden as I’m fine at work, once at home I start with the sneezing, sniffling, wheezing and thick headedness.
Great, In my opinion totally and absolutely worth it. But I don’t overstate this: They hurt real bad, many a nurse looked skeptically at the syringe: “This can’t be right”, and called a doc for confirmation before going ahead. Never [i]EVER[i] take one in the arm.
Luckily I am not queasy around needles and such.
Maybe they’d just never come across it, who knows…
Is it grainy and dense (inorganic) or fibrous and light(organic). If inorganic, is it hygroscopic and, like salt, attracts a puddle of water when left uncovered?
Take a very small knifepoint full and hold it above a candle flame. The smell will tell you if its animal or vegetable. It will also tell you if its gunpowder, so be careful.
If its vegetable, add some iodine. If it turns purple it contains starch and is prolly a root or tuber. See how much dissolves in water (does it float or sink or separate?) - if the water tastes sweet it’s extracted some small carbohydrates such as fructose, and may be a fruit derivative. Extract some in nail polish remover, turps or surgical spirit, put a few drops on a piece of coffee filter paper and let the solvent evaporate. Can you see a wet spot of residual fatty acids or esters?
Pour some of the powder into vinegar. If it foams, it may contain bicarb of some variety.
Last time I went for a B12 the nurse asked me “Which dimple would you like it in?” - she was serious, so I told her to just pick one and get it done with. I could have done without being reminded of my cellulite.
