
 
-Allergy medicine, huh?  Is this just to get rid of the resultant migraine or
whatever, or does it actually suppress allergic reactions? (i.e. like an
antihistamine does?)  As far as doctors over here are concerned, if you slip up
and eat something you're allergic to (even if they won't test you to tell you
what to avoid) then tough; if a _cheap_ medicine will alleviate your symptoms,
then fine, otherwise you just suffer.  One doctor did prescribe me imigran (costs
the NHS #48 for 6 tablets) after having to rehydrate me because I'd been throwing
up for four solid days and couldn't even drink water - but I got taken off it
again when I moved and had to change doctors.  Reasoning: they did not know what
the side-effects were because it was new.  OK, fine - but it has passed the
safety tests to get on the prescription list, and anyway I was prepared to take
the risk to have quality of life now.  The only alternatives I have is to get it
prescribed privately, which I cannot afford, or to pay a private allergy
specialist to test me and tell me what to avoid.  I am fairly certain I am
allergic to more than one chemical additive, as a lot of things I can't eat have
nothing in common except things I know are safe, so testing myself isn't really
an option; there are too many permutations.
