Phuket/Patong Air Quality

[xylophone]

11 hours ago, billythehat said:

Sir, having exhausted all possible avenues of diagnosis, there remains the only possible explanation for your maladies and I think you better take a seat…seated? Okay, if gives me no pleasure to break this to you gently, but you have ‘Lalalanditis’…yes, you've become allergic to Thailand and there is, sadly, no known cure.????

That's as good a diagnosis as I've had from anywhere, so I'll run with that for now "billy"...……..and your fee is??

[Old Croc]

There are numerous causes of skin rash.

They including heat, insect/mosquito bites, food allergies, alcohol, pet allergies, cellulitis, lupus, chickenpox (hives), contact (careful who you shake hands with), renal disease (when was the last time you had your creatinine levels checked?), etc., etc.

Phuket, because it is an island facing the western monsoons, usually has very good air quality (Indon fires an exception!) and generally would have very low pollen levels in the air as these mainly come from grasslands.

I always look for other reasons when I get rashes, not from the air I breath just because an air quality monitor has a reading slightly higher than usual.

Many people suffer from renal disease without being aware until problems manifest. After a lifetime of bacchulaen feasting and drinking,  I have found I now need to do it all in moderation.

 

[xylophone]

27 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

There are numerous causes of skin rash.

They including heat, insect/mosquito bites, food allergies, alcohol, pet allergies, cellulitis, lupus, chickenpox (hives), contact (careful who you shake hands with), renal disease (when was the last time you had your creatinine levels checked?), etc., etc.

Phuket, because it is an island facing the western monsoons, usually has very good air quality (Indon fires an exception!) and generally would have very low pollen levels in the air as these mainly come from grasslands.

I always look for other reasons when I get rashes, not from the air I breath just because an air quality monitor has a reading slightly higher than usual.

Many people suffer from renal disease without being aware until problems manifest. After a lifetime of bacchulaen feasting and drinking,  I have found I now need to do it all in moderation.

 

Interesting post OC and thanks for the post, I have tried to remedy/rectify the situation by cutting out certain things as a test to see if it makes any difference, but to no avail!

 

I take your point about Phuket's air quality although I have been "suspicious" of it for a while now, what with being able to see the smoke haze on/in the hills and also smell it, so bought the Xiaomi air purifier for my apt and that keeps the place low on the PM2.5 scale. However the reading on my balcony jumps up to over 50!

 

I am inclined to think it is pollen because I am up in the side of the hills here with trees and bushes and shrubs surrounding me (within a metre or so of my balcony) and the area just below me has grasses, which are regularly mown...…….and the possible giveaway is the number of sneezes/people sneezing around me on a very regular basis at the moment, which I have rarely heard before.

 

Regular check ups is something I try to do and the creatinine levels have always been good, however I will get it checked on my next one (thanks).

 

These things are a bit of a rarity for me (having been lived in the relative country-sides of Sussex and new Zealand) although signs have been becoming evident over the past couple of years, and like you I have had a "lifetime of bacchulaen feasting and drinking" so perhaps it has caught up with me, having said that I have cut my alcohol consumption down to 1/2 bottle of red wine a night, plus a glass of Portuguese port.

 

Hopefully the meds I am on plus the fact that the "pollen season" will soon abate, will get me over this thing...…...fingers crossed.

[NamKangMan]

 

@ XP

 

For your skin rash, not mater what it is, or from, try Prednisone.  You can buy it over the counter at pharmacies here.  25mg once a day, for a few days, should clear up your urticaria. 

 

https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-6007-9383/prednisone-oral/prednisone-oral/details

[xylophone]

55 minutes ago, NamKangMan said:

 

@ XP

 

For your skin rash, not mater what it is, or from, try Prednisone.  You can buy it over the counter at pharmacies here.  25mg once a day, for a few days, should clear up your urticaria. 

 

https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-6007-9383/prednisone-oral/prednisone-oral/details

Thanks NKM...…..it is one that I am already on, but didn't realise it could be bought over the counter!

 

PS. Just looked again and I am on Prednisolone, very similar but better for my condition I believe. Thanks again.

[billythehat]

15 hours ago, xylophone said:

That's as good a diagnosis as I've had from anywhere, so I'll run with that for now "billy"...……..and your fee is??

One Turnip supplied in a brown envelope will do fine. ????

[xylophone]

8 hours ago, billythehat said:

One Turnip supplied in a brown envelope will do fine. ????

I know a couple of Swedes, will one of those do...……….?

[NamKangMan]

21 hours ago, xylophone said:

Thanks NKM...…..it is one that I am already on, but didn't realise it could be bought over the counter!

 

PS. Just looked again and I am on Prednisolone, very similar but better for my condition I believe. Thanks again.

 

Perhaps I should have used the term, "under the counter."  ????

 

I am surprised this medication offers no relief.  It has the reputation for being a "silver bullet" in severe cases.  

[xylophone]

38 minutes ago, NamKangMan said:

 

Perhaps I should have used the term, "under the counter."  ????

 

I am surprised this medication offers no relief.  It has the reputation for being a "silver bullet" in severe cases.  

Yes just found that out when I asked for some at the pharmacy……..but I do have a friend who owns one, some will check there.

 

Actually the medication is giving some relief, but I am on the smallest dose at the moment so may just extend it for a few days as stopping abruptly is not advisable.

 

Thanks again.

[billythehat]

19 hours ago, xylophone said:

I know a couple of Swedes, will one of those do...……….?

Hmmmm…possible, but does she like turnips? 

[Old Croc]

On ‎11‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 12:05 PM, xylophone said:

Thanks NKM...…..it is one that I am already on, but didn't realise it could be bought over the counter!

 

PS. Just looked again and I am on Prednisolone, very similar but better for my condition I believe. Thanks again.

I've been on Prednisolone for years, it hasn't stopped me getting occasional skin rashes.

As a steroid it does has side effects, and, with my Rheumatologist, we are slowly weaning myself off it. I've never been able to buy it over the counter here, it can only be dispensed with a doctors prescription.

[NamKangMan]

On 11/17/2018 at 1:25 PM, Old Croc said:

I've been on Prednisolone for years, it hasn't stopped me getting occasional skin rashes.

As a steroid it does has side effects, and, with my Rheumatologist, we are slowly weaning myself off it. I've never been able to buy it over the counter here, it can only be dispensed with a doctors prescription.

 

I only take Prednisone on rare occasions.  It's very effective.  I always have a strip on hand for a flare up. It should not be confused with the "steroids" used by body builders.  

 

I have no problem buying the medication here, but I do have a good "relationship" with my pharmacist.  ???? 

 

 

[Old Croc]

 

Any Pharmacist dolling out a Specially Controlled Drugs risks losing his license.

[NamKangMan]

8 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

 

Any Pharmacist dolling out a Specially Controlled Drugs risks losing his license.

 

I accept the screen shot OC, but we are in Thailand.

 

Isn't Viagra, and all the other versions of it, also a "Specially Controlled Drug?"  If so, well, you know how readily available it is here in pharmacies.

 

I used to have a strip of sleeping tablets on hand, mainly just for an overnight flight back to my home country.  My pharmacist will not sell me these anymore, but was offered Valium by a mototaxi guy, which I refused.  I just buy a strip when I am on a visa run now.   

[simoh1490]

Interesting that posters think the air quality in Phuket is poor right now, I don't doubt that it is but it's a bit of a mystery where the pollution is coming from. Looking at NASA FIRMS there are a few fires burning in Southern Indonesia but not many, Malaysia looks clean currently, the wind is also from the SE so maybe that's it, the density of fires though seems especially light:

 

https://www.windfinder.com/#5/10.5742/100.7666

 

https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#z:5;c:108.8,6.0;d:2018-11-17..2018-11-18

[Old Croc]

If the air in Phuket was any cleaner right now we'd be breathing pure oxygen.  My next sentence was going to start with - Some people just ....,

but I'll refrain for once.

 

 

[NamKangMan]

20 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Interesting that posters think the air quality in Phuket is poor right now, I don't doubt that it is but it's a bit of a mystery where the pollution is coming from. Looking at NASA FIRMS there are a few fires burning in Southern Indonesia but not many, Malaysia looks clean currently, the wind is also from the SE so maybe that's it, the density of fires though seems especially light:

 

https://www.windfinder.com/#5/10.5742/100.7666

 

https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#z:5;c:108.8,6.0;d:2018-11-17..2018-11-18

 

The thread was started nearly 2 weeks ago. 

[simoh1490]

44 minutes ago, NamKangMan said:

 

The thread was started nearly 2 weeks ago. 

Fair enough of course but the number of fires is usually associated with seasons rather than days at a time.

[xylophone]

11 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Fair enough of course but the number of fires is usually associated with seasons rather than days at a time.

The smoke haze that I noticed in the tree lines couple of weeks ago, seems to have abated somewhat, although I can still smell some burning at times, perhaps probably more local burning than anything else?

 

The SNDWAY meter outside on my balcony at the moment shows a reading of over 50 2.5pm , which is considered "unhealthy" for those folks with "sensitive" systems, and above that, it can get very unhealthy.

 

Anyway I'm not sure that my rashes are actually related to fires/burning/smoke, as they seem to be improving somewhat with the meds I am on, and one thing that's sort of convinced me that it's a dust/pollen thing is this example from yesterday.........….

 

Instead of travelling a usual short distance to Jungceylon, I decided to leave its environs and walk up to see a pharmacist friend of mine, past the new Central building work, more building work on another block, and some demolition/repair work on another building/pavement, and of course walked back again after some 25 minutes.

 

Imagine my surprise when I noticed a large red rash stretching from my neck to the exposed upper part of my shoulders, where my shirt line finished. And it was extremely noticeable and irritated me no end.

 

I have made the assumption that the dust and building work in that small space of time/area had that effect, as there is no other real explanation for it that I can see .

 

I find that extremely perplexing having been brought up in the Sussex countryside (farming area), working in London, Sydney and Auckland (busy cities) and also being exposed to the great farming areas and greenery of New Zealand.

 

Furthermore I served my apprenticeship in a very large and old/dirty brickworks, which was on dry days, much like a dustbowl, so why I should suffer from something like this now is strange.

 

Perhaps it is just age and hopefully the symptoms will abate given another short space of time – – 

[simoh1490]

Dr simoh prescribes a long relaxing massage with lotions and oils applied sparingly by somebody with soft hands, the sort typically found on twenty-year-old Thai girls....repeat as necessary and follow up with a nice bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape, 2014.

[xylophone]

6 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Dr simoh prescribes a long relaxing massage with lotions and oils applied sparingly by somebody with soft hands, the sort typically found on twenty-year-old Thai girls....repeat as necessary and follow up with a nice bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape, 2014.

Jeez Dr simoh, a man after my own heart...……….will be on to that today or tomorrow!!

[xylophone]

On 11/18/2018 at 11:41 AM, NamKangMan said:

 

The thread was started nearly 2 weeks ago. 

Sure was, and this morning the Sndway meter showed 60 + 2.5 pm on my balcony and the haze was very evident in the treeline.

 

Perhaps the smoke/ash from the fires causing the bad readings in Bkk (as per the Bangkok Air Quality thread) have spread or it's our old friends from Indonesia again.

[schlog]

Today perfect paradise weather with fresh clean cold air and nice wind. Was perfect to run at the beach this morning.

[Don Chance]

It is still bad all the way to Cambodia.

 

Pattaya:

https://www.airvisual.com/thailand/chon-buri/phatthaya

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, Don Chance said:

It is still bad all the way to Cambodia.

 

Pattaya:

https://www.airvisual.com/thailand/chon-buri/phatthaya

And a smell of burning pervades the air in Patong............adding to the overcast and muggy weather.