I just finished 18 weeks of treatment and had my third blood test. But it takes at 8-10 days for the results to come back. That is right in the middle of my vacation, so I won't see my doctor for another week and a half.
Is this really a big deal? No. But I am anxious to see if our changes in treatment have really started to work on fighting the insulin resistance. A couple of negatives have happened with this round of medicine tweeking.
The first one is loss of appetite. I was warned that some of the medicine would could cause me not to have any appetite, but it has gotten really bad. Especially with some of the heat we have been experiencing. It is not a matter of just fixing something, and once I am eating, everything is ok (like before). Food has actually been gross. So making the eat goal of every 3-4 hours has been nightmarish. I did have a meeting with my nutritionist and we got some strategies to try and work through some things. More of a brainstorming session on foods that were more liquid in nature.
The second one has to do with my stomach. The Doc wanted to increase my Metformin again. I had been only taking it with my large meal in the evening, but she wanted a morning dose too. About a week into that, I started to get some digestive trouble again. Nothing like to where I was before I started treatment. It is a small annoyance, but it is there.
So that leaves me playing a waiting game. Until we can see the results, there is nothing to do, but stay the course. If we are seeing huge results, I can deal with these minor side effects. But if we don't, we have already discussed some other medicine routes, and we may need to look at those. Let the Wait Begin!
Capt Mel
Showing posts with label Side effects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Side effects. Show all posts
Friday, August 3, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Anticipation
Next Tuesday, I have my 6 week check in with my doctor. I had my blood draw this last Monday and in total, I will have had 12 weeks of treatment. I must say, many of the things that I was told would happen have come to fruition. I first I had a burst of energy, but now, while I am not exhausted, but definitely tired at the end of the day.
I am still having trouble in the morning with my medicine. I wonder if this will stay the same or get better. I am within .2ml of where I am supposed to be with my injection medicine, but I rarely find relief with the nausea in the morning. I am also supposed to add metformin back into my morning dosage once I am at 1.2ml of victoza.
But, this statement is not one of wanting to call uncle. There are too many positive signs with my treatment. If you ever read the literature you get with your prescriptions, many times it has a statement that is similar to this: Remember your doctor believes this treatment will have more positives outcomes than the negative side effects.
But it is not easy. I am looking at 208 weeks of treatment. I will only have 12 under my belt. And some of my anticipation has to do with my visual appearance. I can't help but be a tad self consciousness. While I don't think I have gained any weight (unlike the first 6 weeks), I don't feel like I have had any significant weight loss. It feels weird to tell people I have to eat a meal. It could be just my own guilt, but I think people are more comfortable (or less judgmental) when they are around fat people who do not eat. I will persevere.
So cross your fingers, hope for the best, and maybe there will be some positive results!
Capt Mel
I am still having trouble in the morning with my medicine. I wonder if this will stay the same or get better. I am within .2ml of where I am supposed to be with my injection medicine, but I rarely find relief with the nausea in the morning. I am also supposed to add metformin back into my morning dosage once I am at 1.2ml of victoza.
But, this statement is not one of wanting to call uncle. There are too many positive signs with my treatment. If you ever read the literature you get with your prescriptions, many times it has a statement that is similar to this: Remember your doctor believes this treatment will have more positives outcomes than the negative side effects.
But it is not easy. I am looking at 208 weeks of treatment. I will only have 12 under my belt. And some of my anticipation has to do with my visual appearance. I can't help but be a tad self consciousness. While I don't think I have gained any weight (unlike the first 6 weeks), I don't feel like I have had any significant weight loss. It feels weird to tell people I have to eat a meal. It could be just my own guilt, but I think people are more comfortable (or less judgmental) when they are around fat people who do not eat. I will persevere.
So cross your fingers, hope for the best, and maybe there will be some positive results!
Capt Mel
Saturday, May 12, 2012
The Ying and the Yang of Treatment
I envy the people who can take any type of medicine and not have any of the side effects. Though I have to say, through most of my life, most medicines I had to take (and usually in the short term) did not really have horribly negative effects. The worst I could say was that they didn't necessarily make me feel good. I could never understand why people got so excited to hear I had some powerful pain killer for something or other because it did not make me feel good to take. It just took away the pain.
But now with Metabolic Syndrome, Insulin Resistance, and a whole other slew of things, I have tons of meds and supplements to take. And while the results seem to be better than the side effects, it still can be pretty icky and put you in a bad mood.
While I am still on Metformin in the evening, I am not taking it in the morning because about 5 weeks into initially taking it, I got horrible nausea in the morning and even threw up a couple of times. I found out that it was creating an acid reflux effect. I had never had acid reflux before. Or at least not so bad as to make it noticeable. So instead of trying to give me another med to counter act that, I am on a new med in the morning and will hopefully be able to add a morning dose of Metformin .
What the doc did add was something called Victoza. The huge downside to this is that you have to inject the stuff. It really doesn't hurt, but it is awkward. If you don't pinch really hard and continue pinching while injecting yourself, you get this icky bruise. From a pen needle no-less.I have a couple places where I am bruised.
And unfortunately, the second day of taking it, I got nausea. We are not sure if it is just a side effect until my body gets used to it or something I will have to live with. The first thing I was told to do by the nurse was to move from injecting in my stomach to injecting in my upper thigh. I had only a tiny bit of nausea yesterday and today almost zero. So I am thinking of trying the stomach one more time tomorrow. It is completely awkward to inject in the upper thigh spots.
The nausea is weird too. It is not from the belly when you have an upset stomach virus or a bad hangover. This literally starts in your lower throat. And you have to hack and gag. You can't control it. Eventually you have a bout of retching. But it is all within a five minute period. Within another five minutes, you feel OK. It is the oddest thing.
But there is nothing like feeling alive. Even if I have to go three to four years with morning nausea, I will do it. I am feeling better. It is hard to describe the idea that you don't have to just lie down and sleep. Or exhaustion from doing nothing.
Of course, the last thing I need to see happen is loss of weight. This is the first time since I was five years old, I have not actively been trying to train/exercise a lot to lose weight or do something specific. I have promised my doctor that I will try not to go over 10,000 steps in one day or 70,000 steps in a week. That averages to almost 5 miles a day. Now most people will read this and have their jaws drop, but you can see how much I was doing. I remind folks that I gained 30 pounds training extensively for a 1/2 marathon and eating only about 800-1000 calories a day. And when I can start biking again (my right hip is still wonky, but getting better since inflammation in all my muscles is going down), I have to limit my mileage. At first I can only do like 10 miles and then only 20 miles. In the summer of 2006, I was biking 75-100 miles a day.
The Ying and Yang of Western medical treatment. I will keep plugging along and will hopefully see some amazing results!
Capt Mel
But now with Metabolic Syndrome, Insulin Resistance, and a whole other slew of things, I have tons of meds and supplements to take. And while the results seem to be better than the side effects, it still can be pretty icky and put you in a bad mood.
While I am still on Metformin in the evening, I am not taking it in the morning because about 5 weeks into initially taking it, I got horrible nausea in the morning and even threw up a couple of times. I found out that it was creating an acid reflux effect. I had never had acid reflux before. Or at least not so bad as to make it noticeable. So instead of trying to give me another med to counter act that, I am on a new med in the morning and will hopefully be able to add a morning dose of Metformin .
What the doc did add was something called Victoza. The huge downside to this is that you have to inject the stuff. It really doesn't hurt, but it is awkward. If you don't pinch really hard and continue pinching while injecting yourself, you get this icky bruise. From a pen needle no-less.I have a couple places where I am bruised.
And unfortunately, the second day of taking it, I got nausea. We are not sure if it is just a side effect until my body gets used to it or something I will have to live with. The first thing I was told to do by the nurse was to move from injecting in my stomach to injecting in my upper thigh. I had only a tiny bit of nausea yesterday and today almost zero. So I am thinking of trying the stomach one more time tomorrow. It is completely awkward to inject in the upper thigh spots.
The nausea is weird too. It is not from the belly when you have an upset stomach virus or a bad hangover. This literally starts in your lower throat. And you have to hack and gag. You can't control it. Eventually you have a bout of retching. But it is all within a five minute period. Within another five minutes, you feel OK. It is the oddest thing.
But there is nothing like feeling alive. Even if I have to go three to four years with morning nausea, I will do it. I am feeling better. It is hard to describe the idea that you don't have to just lie down and sleep. Or exhaustion from doing nothing.
Of course, the last thing I need to see happen is loss of weight. This is the first time since I was five years old, I have not actively been trying to train/exercise a lot to lose weight or do something specific. I have promised my doctor that I will try not to go over 10,000 steps in one day or 70,000 steps in a week. That averages to almost 5 miles a day. Now most people will read this and have their jaws drop, but you can see how much I was doing. I remind folks that I gained 30 pounds training extensively for a 1/2 marathon and eating only about 800-1000 calories a day. And when I can start biking again (my right hip is still wonky, but getting better since inflammation in all my muscles is going down), I have to limit my mileage. At first I can only do like 10 miles and then only 20 miles. In the summer of 2006, I was biking 75-100 miles a day.
The Ying and Yang of Western medical treatment. I will keep plugging along and will hopefully see some amazing results!
Capt Mel
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