Tag Archives: medication

Another Phone Doctor Appointment (or A Bit Nervous For A Change In The New Year)

I’m glad that I’ve been able to have a lot of my doctor appointments over the phone or via video chat. It’s so much easier since I can fit that into my workday without too many issues. When I have to go in person, it takes a lot more time since I need to consider how long the drive is, waiting in the waiting room, plus the time of the appointment. Not all appointments can be done this way, but it’s nice when they can be so I can stress a little less about making time for what should be a quick check-in appointment.

My phone appointment this week was with my bariatric medicine doctor. I knew it should be a pretty easy appointment since not a lot has changed since my last check-in. But at the same time, not having a lot of changes could mean that things do need to change. I’ve been on the same dosage of my medication for quite a while now. I’m not losing weight as quickly as I did in the beginning, but that’s also not that unusual. I’ve also lost enough weight that I’m considered a success even though I want to lose more. They say that losing 10% of your weight is a success and I’m just over 12%. I’m still experiencing side effects, but they typically are pretty manageable at this point. Overall, I have been very glad with my results taking this even if they aren’t quite as good as I would like them to be.

And these were all things that were discussed in my phone appointment. And my doctor didn’t seem too worried about what I’ve been experiencing. Of course, she would prefer for me to not have these side effects, but the good still outweighs the bad. And it’s not just about losing weight, the “food noise” I have dealt with my entire life is a lot less now. That is still something I consider a huge win. But my doctor knows that I hope to still see more results and that’s something we can try for. So she’s decided that when I get my next refill, I’ll be increasing my dosage.

The next dosage available is double what I’m currently taking. That’s a big jump, but I’ve also technically doubled my dose each time I’ve increased. And I know that increase means a lot of things can happen. I might see some really great results and lose a lot of weight quickly. I also might have an increase in the side effects I experience. The main side effect I still have is nausea, and I really don’t want that to increase. But I’m willing to take that risk to see if increasing my dosage helps me lose more weight. I also know that I can try things like injecting the medication into my thighs instead of my stomach and sometimes that helps make the transition to the higher dosage a bit more tolerable.

I told my doctor that I’m a bit nervous to do this increase, but I’m willing to see what happens. If I don’t react well to it, I can always drop back down to the dosage I’ve been taking. But I’m trying to think positively about this and maybe it won’t be as bad as I fear. I will still be taking my current dosage until this injection pen is done, so my first day on the new dosage (assuming I don’t run into a medication shortage at the pharmacy) will be on New Year’s Day. That actually will work out well for me because I won’t have to work that day so if I have a bad reaction, I can just rest. I also will probably time out taking the medication until after my New Year’s Day workout even if that means doing it later than I normally would to make sure I don’t have any extra issues.

It’s funny timing that this new dosage will likely be starting on New Year’s Day, but it also seems fitting that I will be starting the new year with a new plan for something I’ve been working on for so long! And hopefully, this will help me start 2024 with some positive things!

A Year Of A Medication (or It’s Been A Lot Of Good And Some Bad)

About a year ago, I had my first appointment with a doctor in bariatric medicine. I went into that appointment with a specific concern in mind and really was worried that the doctor would either suggest other options for me that I didn’t want to do or that they would dismiss what I had to say. I was shocked when I was at that appointment and it went exactly how I hoped it would. I was terrified to start a medication that I would have to inject into myself, but I was also really hopeful for what it could mean for me and my future.

It hasn’t been an easy year and I knew this medication wouldn’t be a miracle for me and that I would still have to work at losing weight and there may be some tough side effects to get through. I also had to overcome my issues with needles and I knew that would be a big challenge. My first few injections were pretty bad for me. I did pass out with them in the beginning, but I took measures to make sure that I was safe such as doing them while laying down so I couldn’t get hurt when I passed out. I had a lot of bad side effects from the beginning that I had to learn how to manage. Some of these side effects disappeared after a few weeks or after I had a bit of time at a new dosage. A lot of these side effects are still things I have to deal with now. But after a year, I have gotten used to many of them and they aren’t all as bad as they were when I started.

The main side effect I still deal with almost weekly is nausea. This is something that can vary each week, and I think there are a lot of factors that make things better or worse for me. I know I don’t inject the medication in the exact same spot on each side each time, and I feel like some spots are better for me than others. I just haven’t figured out the pattern of what are the good spots to use so I just have to see how I feel each week. And when I’m dealing with other nausea, the nausea I have as a side effect is amplified. It’s not ideal, but considering the good that I’m getting out of this medication, it’s worth it.

And I have been getting good out of it. I’m not losing weight at the same rate that I was at the beginning, and that’s a bit hard to accept. But I’m still losing weight. I don’t know why it’s as slow as it is now (sometimes it’s only half a pound a month), but I’m glad things are going in the right direction. And based on what this medication is supposed to help with, I have hit the goal percentage of weight loss already. That doesn’t mean I’m stopping, but I know that I’m considered a success story with how things have gone for me.

But beyond weight loss, the best thing for me has been my relationship with food. It’s so hard to explain food noise to someone who hasn’t dealt with it before, but it’s almost like an obsession with food even if you are eating healthy or the right portions. You can wake up and spend your morning planning your meals for the day to make sure it’s exactly what you want. Now, I still have some of those feelings and thoughts but they aren’t as often or as overwhelming. I don’t necessarily think about what I want to have for dinner until it’s almost time to eat. I do have to remember to eat occasionally, especially at lunchtime, but it’s nice to not have food such a focus in my mind.

I know that this medication is controversial and some people don’t believe that people should take it for weight loss, but I’m so grateful that I have been allowed to do so. I haven’t changed many of my food or exercise habits in this past year, but the way that my body is reacting is different. I have known for a while that the simple concept of calories in calories out hasn’t really worked for me. Even when I’m tracking things perfectly, my body doesn’t react the way it should. But now, things seem to be more aligned with what is considered normal. I also know that not everyone would agree that the side effects I’ve been dealing with have been worth it, but that’s a personal decision and some people will be ok with certain side effects more than others. I’m glad that I have been ok with the few negatives that I’ve experienced because this isn’t a short-term plan. I don’t know if I’ll be on this forever, but maybe I will and I’ve had to be ok with that.

It’s been a bit of a crazy year between side effects, medication shortages, positive progress, overcoming my issues with needles, and everything else that I have gone through. But I’m in such a better place than I was a year ago and I’m hoping that things will continue in the right direction for me in the next year and I’ll still be happy with how things look a year from now.

Another Medication Shortage (or I’m Feeling More Calm This Time)

I’ve recently dealt with a few different medication shortages. I understand if I’m taking something that a lot of other people are taking, this can happen. I don’t understand why the manufacturer didn’t plan for something like this because they should have realized when a medication is approved for something that affects so many people that they would have increased interest. But there are a lot of things about the medical community that I don’t understand and that I believe are done more about profit than healthcare.

Every time I’ve had a medication shortage, it does get resolved in one way or another. Sometimes it means I have to miss a week or so of medication and sometimes the medication is back in stock before I run out so I just have to pick it up at the last minute but I’m not missing a dosage. There’s nothing I can do to change the situation. I order a refill as soon as I can (which is usually a week before I run out) and I pick up my medication when it’s available. Sometimes it’s on time and sometimes it’s not. But I don’t stockpile or do anything else that could make a shortage worse. I just take things as planned.

With my injectable medication, the first time I had experienced a shortage things stressed me out. In the end, my dosage was increased early so I could get a refill sooner, and that brought some other issues for me but in the end, I’m glad that’s how it worked out. But not knowing what was going to happen made me worry and I didn’t know how my body might react when I missed a dose, especially since it was a new medication for me. I don’t know exactly how I reacted since when I started it up again, my dosage was higher and those side effects were intense.

The next shortage I had with that medication ended up not affecting anything because I was able to pick it up right before my next dose was supposed to be so I never missed anything. I was a bit worried about what would happen if I had to take another week off, but I’m glad I didn’t have to experience that. I had no idea how long the shortage would take since all I could find out was that it was out of stock, so it was a big relief when I got the text alert that it was ready for me to pick up and I could go that same day.

I ordered my next refill this past weekend because I knew my last injection with my current pen would be on Monday this week. Originally, the system said it would be available to pick up mid-week, but then I got an alert that they are experiencing another shortage. I have no idea if this shortage will be resolved before I am supposed to take my next dose on Monday or if I’ll end up missing a week again. But for whatever reason, I’m feeling much more relaxed about the situation this time.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been noticing the medication working more and more. I’m not experiencing as many side effects which is nice too. Even though it is working, I’m not worried about maybe missing a dose. I know that I will pick things back up as soon as I can if I can’t take it this coming Monday and I don’t have any reason to believe that it won’t continue to work. Maybe the stress in the past was because I wasn’t experiencing all of the positive outcomes yet and the stress was also about worrying if this was the right thing for me to take or not. But now, I know I’m doing the right thing and that I will just continue doing it as soon as I’m able to.

I hope that this shortage isn’t something I have to deal with every time I get a refill, but I know it might be like this for a while. The company that makes it hasn’t really increased how much they can make and more and more people are being prescribed this. Fortunately, it’s not a medication that anyone needs to stay alive, but it is something that helps so much and it’s unfortunate when you don’t have that help, even if it’s temporary. But all I can do is continue to try my best with the other things I have been doing and know that as soon as I can get my refill I’ll be back on track with things again.

A Follow-Up With A New Doctor (or I’m Just Going To Keep Doing What I’m Doing)

A few months ago, I had my first appointment with a doctor in bariatric medicine. That appointment went as well as I could have hoped and that’s when I started the new injectable medication I’m on. I felt so lucky that the doctor I met with understood where I was coming from and wasn’t trying to push other options, such as having surgery. I was nervous going into that appointment because I knew I might have to do some additional steps to try the options I wanted to try. But when that wasn’t the case, I knew that I would have the best chance to test this out. When I left that appointment, I knew my next follow-up would be a few months later to see how things were going.

And since that appointment, I think things have gone pretty well. I have been dealing with side effects and I had to deal with a medication shortage, but I am seeing results and I know that this is giving me the chance that I’ve been wanting. So I was expecting that when I had my follow-up with my doctor, things would go just as well as the initial appointment. But when I got the call to schedule my follow-up, I learned that the doctor I had seen before wasn’t there anymore and I would be talking to a new doctor.

Even though I had such a good first appointment, I was nervous again about what this new doctor might say. You never know how they might feel about progress or different medications. But I tried to just hope for the best and remind myself that this was another doctor in bariatric medicine so they likely had a lot of patients like me and it wasn’t like my case was an oddity. And I knew that having it be a phone appointment would hopefully be a bit less pressure and easygoing.

I’m so glad that my fears were wrong and everything went just as well with this new doctor as it did with the first. We did discuss the side effects I’ve been having and how it might still take some time before they really get better. Although I have been doing my injections in a different location and it seems to be making things easier for me, so that was helpful. And this new doctor seemed fine with me doing the injections in my leg instead of my stomach as long as I was still following the recommendations in the instruction packet. And even though I haven’t had insane results, I have been seeing results and that’s what matters the most. The first week I was on this, I had a lot of change, but I knew that wouldn’t be sustainable. Since then, it’s been a lot slower but it has been steady and that’s what my new doctor was happy about. There is a higher dosage I could take, but since I’m seeing results with the dosage I’m on, there’s no need for me to change things yet. Possibly in the future I would need to, but I’m not going to worry about that until that time comes.

And the new doctor said that could still be a chance I have to deal with medication shortages, but that hopefully if that happens they can be resolved as quickly as possible so I don’t have to miss too many weeks. If it becomes a bigger issue, I feel comfortable enough messaging this doctor and asking what the best options would be for me. But I hope that the medication company understands that there is a high demand for this and they will continue to increase production.

My follow-up appointment ended with us deciding that in a few months, I’ll have another follow-up. I don’t know if that next one will be another phone appointment or if it will be in person. I guess when they call to schedule it I will find out. And hopefully over the next few months before I have that next follow-up, things will continue to go as well or better than they have these last few months.

I know this medication isn’t a miracle drug and that I still have to put in the work myself, but it’s helping in a way that nothing else I’ve tried has. I’m so grateful that my first doctor allowed me to try it out and that this new doctor is going to let me continue with it so I can see even more results in the future.

Another Medication Shortage (or I’ll Just Have To Wait It Out Again)

There was a medication shortage when I had to get the first refill of my new injection. I knew this was a possibility as I had heard rumors of medication shortages from people online who were taking the same medication or similar ones. There are a lot of reasons why there has been a shortage of this category of medication. The biggest reason is that so many people are being prescribed it now.

For so long, obesity and weight issues were treated as motivation problems or laziness. Or doctors assumed you didn’t know what you were doing. I feel like I know more information about calories than most people do. I know what is considered good and what is considered bad. I know what you can eat so you can have a large volume of food for very few calories. And even though I do have an eating disorder, I have known for a long time that there is something else wrong with me. That’s why for so many years, I was going through a ton of medical testing to see if it was a thyroid issue or if there was another imbalance in my body. But doctors never could find what was wrong and I just was treated as someone who had a weight issue and that it was completely my fault that I am this weight and am not losing weight.

But finally, I think more doctors are understanding that obesity is a disease and not just a personal issue. You could ask so many people who have struggled with their weight and they would probably have similar stories to mine. They have tried so many things and maybe only the most extreme things have worked for them. There is just something else wrong with their body that nobody could figure out. But now, doctors are getting that and are working to find ways to work on this concern with patients instead of just lecturing patients and trying to scare them into losing weight by saying they will have all these other medical issues that may or may not actually be related to weight.

So since this is being understood differently, people can finally get treatments like what I’m doing. I know there are some people who are just trying to lose like 10 pounds and are finding doctors to prescribe this to them, but that’s not most people taking it. And I guess the drug manufacturer is just surprised that people would want to try something that is supposed to help with weight loss. I know there were other issues with the manufacturing that caused a slowdown, but I think the biggest issue was just them being unprepared.

With the first refill, my doctor allowed me to start the higher dosage early since that injection pen was available at that time. And since I was going to start that higher dosage eventually, it wasn’t a big deal for me to jump to the next level. And while I’ve had more side effects, they have gotten better from week to week and I’m glad that I’ve been able to do this.

But now that I’ve needed to put in my next refill request (at the dosage I’m at, I need a new pen every 4 weeks), there’s another shortage happening. There’s no estimate for when the injection pens will be available again and I’ll just be notified when my refill is ready for me. I’m hoping that since I have about a week before my next injection that it could arrive in time. Or maybe I’ll just have a single week off if it comes in next week. It’s frustrating because this is working for me and I am seeing results. They might not be as fast as I would have liked, but I also know that this is much more normal than other weight loss things I’ve experienced before. It’s still not a miracle or something magical, but it helps so much. And I am nervous about having to stop taking it again, especially when I don’t know how long I’ll have to wait.

I don’t have another option since I’m not going to pay full price for the injection pen at another pharmacy (which would cost over $1000). And just like the last time I needed to get a refill, I’m just going to have to be really careful and mindful if I have some time off between injections because I don’t want the hard work I’ve been putting in the past few months to go away.

I might be overreacting and I’ll be told in a day or two that my refill is ready. But I’m also mentally preparing myself for what might happen. And this could happen over and over again with the refill requests for a while. I don’t know when they will work on producing more injection pens to meet demand. So I might be going through this every month for the foreseeable future. But I don’t have another option right now and I’m just going to find a way to make it work.

Back To A Medication Routine (or Getting Some More Side Effects)

A few weeks ago, I discovered that one of the medications that I’m taking is having a shortage and I was unable to get a refill for it. I waited until I was late for taking that medication and then I emailed my doctor to see what she would like me to do. I was given a few options by the pharmacist, but the one that my doctor felt would be best for me would be to increase my dosage early since the higher dosage was available.

I was ok with this plan since I had been doing ok with the injections so far. I have had some side effects, but none of them were too bad or unmanageable. Normally, you have about 10 weeks of smaller doses before getting to the therapeutic dosage to get used to how you might feel. I had the first 4 weeks of the first step, but only 2 weeks of the second step before I couldn’t get a refill. So I skipped 4 weeks of the second step because the injection pen I was able to get could not do that lower dose.

Because of this shortage, it’s unknown if I’ll run into an issue getting an injection pen again, but hopefully, that shortage will be resolved soon. And I know that some people take this medication for much more serious reasons than I do, and they need these. While I want to take something that has been helping me, I can wait if I have to. But I’m glad that I had the option to increase my dosage early so I didn’t have to wait too long.

I’ve read online that the medication stays in your body for a few weeks, so I shouldn’t have felt a difference after missing a week. But I think because I was on a low dose that isn’t really supposed to work (mainly you do those to get used to the side effects), I did notice a difference from a week off. I also have noticed a difference from day to day and always felt like it worked more right after the injection and it faded away through the week. So I was glad I was able to start back up again after missing just one week.

I had prepared myself for having side effects again because I had the week off and because I was going to be taking a much higher dose. Technically, this was going to be double what I was taking before and 4 times what I started with, so it was a big difference. And I probably should have expected the side effects to increase more because that’s exactly what happened.

Some of the side effects were things that should happen because the side effects are what help me. But they were a bit more extreme than they were on the lower doses. Eating on Monday and Tuesday was very difficult for me. I was having a different type of nausea than I’m used to. This was a weird, uneasy, and queasy feeling. I felt really unsettled and couldn’t figure out how to feel better. So I just tried to be gentle on myself and I’m glad that toward the end of the week that feeling was starting to go away.

I also continued to have issues with low blood sugar and feeling lightheaded. This was to be expected and I’m still figuring out the best ways to manage those feelings. The biggest one that has helped has been to make sure I eat something before my workout. I still am having chocolate milk before working out since I don’t want real food in my stomach, but having something with some protein and calories has made a big difference. I also have been having some moments when I feel shaky, which I dealt with before, but it’s a bit more frequent now.

All of these side effects could be things that only happen for a few weeks before my body gets used to this medication. If it’s something that starts to affect my life, then I can discuss with my doctor what the best plan is moving forward. But I am still seeing positive effects from this injection, even just being back on it for this week. And I’m glad that I was able to get my prescription filled when there was a chance I could have to wait a few months to get it again. And now I have another 3 weeks of taking it before I have to see if I can get a refill again.

I Guess I’m Taking Some Popular Medications (or I’m Not Sure What This Will Mean)

While I don’t take a lot of medications, I do take more now than I did before. I remember when just taking one daily medication seemed like a lot to me. Now I have 2 daily medications, one of which I take 3 times a day, plus some weekly and sporadic ones. I use a pill reminder app so it’s not a big deal for me to remember to take them and I seem to have a good system down for staying on top of things. The only thing that I’m not always able to be on top of is ordering refills.

For some of my regular medications, you can’t order a refill until you are almost out of the prescription. This isn’t always a huge deal since I do have to go in for my prescriptions more often than I can get them mailed to me (plus I’m nervous about using mail order after one was almost lost in the mail). So I just have to order the refill through my insurance app and it’s usually able to be picked up within a day or two. I just have to prioritize going in to get them since I usually am ordering a refill when I have less than a week left before I need it.

About a month and a half ago, I started to take injections to help with my weight loss. Right before I did my last shot of the injection pen I had, I noticed I wasn’t able to order a refill until the next day. That would mean I would have 6 days between when I ordered the refill and when I would need it. This seemed ok to me and worked out with the timing of another refill I had to get that I always have to go to the pharmacy to pick up as it is considered a controlled substance. So I ordered both refills and figured I’d go to pick them up later in the week.

Then the next day, I got an alert that the injection pen was delayed and wouldn’t be available to pick up for 3 business days. I figured that would be ok and I could give it an extra day and go to pick it up on Saturday after work. I didn’t need the new injection pen until Monday so I wasn’t worried about getting it on Saturday.

When I got to the pharmacy on Saturday, I still hadn’t received an alert that the injection pen was available, but since I had gotten the alert that it was going to be available after 3 business days, I thought maybe I wasn’t supposed to get a new one. But that wasn’t the case.

I went to check in to get my prescriptions (which is how I always have to do things), and they told me that the injection pens weren’t there. They had a shortage and didn’t know when they would be coming in. They couldn’t tell me much more than that, so I waited for my other prescription to be ready so I could at least pick up that one.

And when I finally got to pick up the other one, they only gave me part of what I was supposed to receive. Typically, I get a 3-month refill each time. This time, I only got 30 days. I asked if there was a mistake or something because this was my last refill and my doctor wasn’t going to see me for 3 months, and they said that medication had a shortage so they could only give me 1 month at a time. But they did offer to send a note to my doctor to add additional refills so I could come back each month to get another 30 days of medication.

There wasn’t much else I could do since a shortage isn’t something my hospital controls. But as soon as I got home, I emailed the doctor from bariatric medicine regarding the injection pens. I don’t know if I have to start at the lowest dosage again or if there is a different plan. I also have no idea when I will be able to get that refilled. Right now, all I can do is call the pharmacy each day to see if their shipment included it. At least that saves me time from driving there each day, but I’m hoping that they will get it in soon.

I’m not sure why there is a shortage of the medication I could only get a 30-day refill for. It’s something that I’ve been taking for a while and isn’t newly popular or anything like that. For the injection pen, I know that because a lot of people have been hearing about using it for weight loss, it has rapidly gained popularity and that could be the reason for the shortage. And I know that there are people who use those for much more serious reasons than what I use it for, so if there is a limited supply it makes sense that those go to the people who are using it for things such as diabetes.

It is frustrating since I don’t know what the new plan will be or if this will be a frequent problem when I need refills. Maybe my doctor will allow me to request a refill sooner so there is more time for shipments to come in. And even though I know these injection pens have been helping me a lot, I’m not going to use lack of availability as an excuse. It might be harder to stay on the path I’ve been able to do the last month and a half, but I’m going to try my best. And hopefully, soon I’ll be able to get back to using those injections to help me to continue to make progress.

A Few Weeks With The New Medication (or I’m Hoping I Continue To See Progress)

It’s almost been a month since I had my appointment with the doctor in bariatric medicine and got put on a new medication. This was a medication I was interested in and one of the main reasons I made the appointment. However, I was nervous about it since I knew it was an injectable and I know how much I hate getting shots. But since it could be something that would help me, I was willing to try. And I’m very glad that when I went to that appointment, the doctor I met with agreed and I started the new medication that day.

Since I started the shots that day and they are once a week, I did my fourth one this past Monday. And the way the medication is set up, you have to work up to what is considered a therapeutic dosage. You start at a very low dose for 4 weeks before increasing to a higher dose. And you don’t get to the therapeutic dosage until 8 or 10 weeks in. So I have only done the lowest dose so far and I will be switching to the next level when I do my shot this Monday. I know that because this medication, or ones that are like it, are being advertised a lot on tv that a lot of people are curious about it. So I thought that I would share my thoughts and feelings on how this has gone for me so far.

I’ve tried many different medications in the past for either weight loss or my eating disorder. I know that none of the things I have taken are a miracle cure and that they have always been tools that can help me with the effort that I’m making on my own. And while I would love to not have to try, I understand that I can’t just rely on medication to do the work for me. Fortunately, I have been doing a lot of the right things already. I didn’t need to worry about adding in exercise since I’m at Orangetheory 4 mornings a week. I know that my eating isn’t great, but it’s much better than it has been in the past. And I have felt for a long time that if other people were doing what I have been doing, they would see results. But I know that my metabolism has been off for a long time and I have wondered if it’s gotten worse over time and that’s why I haven’t seen a lot of change.

And so far, I can say that with this new medication, I do notice some changes. And I’ll start with the positives. I haven’t been as focused on food as I have in the past. I know that other medications were supposed to do the same thing for me, but maybe I have needed the combination of them in order to get that feeling. I do still have moments where the desire to binge eat happens, but it’s less frequent than I can ever remember. I’m also not eating as much at each meal as I did before. I know that this new medication slows down digestion, so you feel full sooner. And I do notice that.

But feeling full sooner isn’t always a good thing. I’m not great at eating lots of little meals, but I think I need to try to do that or add snacks to my day. I can eat too fast and that makes things very uncomfortable. I haven’t had some of the more severe reactions to eating too quickly or too much, but I have felt pain when I haven’t done the right things. I also know that my blood sugar is probably very low now. This new medication does lower your blood sugar (it was originally for diabetics) and that really affects me throughout the day. It’s a struggle to work out in the morning, and I’m working on finding the best things to have before a workout in order to not feel lightheaded or shaky. I’ve been drinking juice, but I think I might need to eat something more substantial before going to class. I just need to find the balance of what will make me feel ok but not sick when working out. I don’t like to eat before a workout, but I will just have to be flexible with that idea and do what is best for me and allows me to push myself as much as possible in class. And the main side effect that I’ve experienced has been nausea, but I also know that can be due to other things in my life so I’m not sure how much is from this new medication. I know that when I do the shots, I feel worse for a few hours, so I know some of it is from this. But it’s not nearly as bad as what I deal with normally each month.

Even though I’m not on the therapeutic dosage yet, I have seen results. The first week I had a pretty significant weight loss. It was about 5% of the weight I want to lose. That’s a lot, but I also knew that the first week or so of any new medication or eating program can cause a lot of weight loss right away. I haven’t lost a lot of weight since that first week, but I have seen very small changes. I’m trying to not weigh myself too much since there are so many things that can cause fluctuations in my weight, but it is reassuring sometimes that I’m still making progress. Even if it’s not fast, it’s something. And if I lose a pound or so a week, that’s still going to add up to a lot. So I’m hoping that I’ll continue to see this type of progress, especially as I work up toward the therapeutic dosage.

As much as I hate shots, I’m lucky that injecting myself with this new medication hasn’t been as much of a struggle as I feared. It’s still not easy, but it’s tolerable. And I think seeing the results I’ve had so far has been good motivation to keep going. So after 4 weeks of this, I have to say that I’m glad that I am trying this. I think it was the right step for me to take and even with some of the negative side effects I don’t have any regrets yet. And I hope that’s how I continue to feel as I keep going and that it will be the tool that I have been needing to work toward recovery.

Getting Through A Few More Doctor Appointments (or Hoping For Some Positive Outcomes)

I continued with my numerous doctor appointments this week. I had one in-person appointment and one phone appointment so far this week. And this weekend I think I will have some medical testing done. Like I said in my other post, I have a lot of appointments this month and they just happened to pile up. But I’m working on getting through them one by one. But they are all for good reasons and I’m hoping that through all these appointments I will have some plans for how things are going to move forward for me.

My first appointment this week was my in-person appointment. This was with someone in bariatric medicine, which was through a referral from my therapist. There are a few new medications that can help with weight loss, even though they are used off-label, and I wanted to learn more about them. My therapist couldn’t go over those with me since they weren’t her expertise, but she knew that bariatric medicine would be able to do that.

I was a bit nervous going into that appointment. Maybe it’s just me, but I have always thought of bariatric medicine as weight loss surgery. And I knew that I was not interested in doing that. There are a lot of reasons why I don’t want surgery, and I didn’t want a doctor trying to convince me otherwise. I know that surgery is usually the option with the best results, but it just wasn’t something I was willing to do.

Fortunately, my appointment went a lot better than I expected. I really liked the doctor that I met with and she did discuss the various options with me, including surgical ones. But once I said that I was not interested in surgical options, she didn’t discuss it further. We went over the history of my weight, various diets I’ve attempted, and my eating disorder. She was very clear that nothing she could help me with would help with my eating disorder, and I knew that. I take Vyvanse to help with that, but I think my history of dieting and other weight-related issues has really messed with my metabolism. I can have what should be perfect food days for multiple days in a row and I won’t see any weight loss. There should be at least a little weight loss when I know I’m not overeating. Or when I’m sick and not really able to eat, I don’t lose weight when I know most people do. So I wanted to find a tool that might be able to help my body lose some weight while I do the rest of the work myself.

Going into my appointment, I specifically wanted to discuss a few different medications that all were essentially the same thing but with different dosages or protocols. The one downside to these is that they are all injectable medications and I really hated that idea. But I think my desire to see if this would work was higher than my fear so I was willing to try it. And after going over my medical history and other information, the doctor agreed that one of these injectable options could be something that helps me. It’s not a guarantee, but I at least want to try it.

So I was prescribed the medication and then had to be taught how to use the injectable pen. It’s similar to what an EpiPen looks like, but there are multiple doses in each one so I had to learn how to select the correct dose and change out the needle. This is something I will need to inject once a week, and I started the same day I saw the doctor. I was terrified to do it, but I watched all the instructional videos and did it while laying down on my bed in case I passed out. And I was shocked that I didn’t pass out! I was shaking pretty badly before and after the shot, but I think that was just nerves and nothing else to worry about.

I hope that each injection is as easy as this first one was. I won’t have my next one until next week, so at least I have time between each one. And because of how this medication can affect you when you start it, you start with a dosage that is below the therapeutic dose. So I might not notice results for a little while as I build up to the dose that is supposed to work.

My second appointment this week was my phone appointment with a general medicine doctor. This was to get a referral to orthopedics because of the pain I’ve experienced recently. I’m feeling much better now, but I also know it’s better to get checked out since it’s been several years since I’ve seen anyone in orthopedics. I didn’t know if this phone appointment would be all I needed for the referral, but the doctor I spoke to could see my history of working with different doctors in orthopedics as well as the notes that I will likely need more surgeries. So she put in my referral without asking too much or needing me to come in to see her first. And I’ve already spoken to orthopedics and I’ll be seeing them in about a month. I think just making sure I’m ok and having a new game plan will be smart since I know I will need additional surgeries at some point.

And the other things I have to get done are medical tests related to the appointments I had this week. I need to do some blood work for the doctor I saw in bariatric medicine just to have some baseline information since this new medication has some rare side effects and it’s important to have a bit of monitoring around that. And I also need to do a general x-ray of my hips to prepare for my appointment with orthopedics next month. I know that in the past, my hip issues are not seen on x-rays, but that’s the process when you start with a new doctor. And after my appointment, they might order an MRI since that’s how they can really check how things are. I don’t have to do either of those tests immediately, but I would like to get them out of the way so that’s why I’m trying to get them done this weekend.

Over the next 4 weeks, I have 3 more appointments. I don’t know if I’ll have more than that, especially with how quickly appointments piled up already, but at least I’m getting all this done so I can make sure that I’m doing the things I need to do for myself and I’m as healthy as I can be. And hopefully, this new medication will help me with losing weight, and when I see the new doctor in orthopedics I will have a good plan figured out for my next steps.

Some New Medication Side Effects (or At Least I Know How To Handle This)

When I saw my dermatologist recently, I added another medication to my regular routine to help get my autoimmune condition into remission or a lower stage. Just like any medication, if you are taking something for the first time, there can be side effects. And sometimes these aren’t a big deal and sometimes they are a reason to stop taking the medication. I’ve been pretty lucky, I don’t usually get bad side effects from medications. I have had a few reactions that made me stop taking something, but those are rare cases.

And usually for me, if I have any side effects, I notice them quickly. Sometimes they start immediately and sometimes they take a few days. But they usually happen quickly so I know what will happen. And I assumed if I had any side effects to this new medication, it would be the same.

But I guess this one had delayed side effects or my body had to get used to this medication to start reacting because I only started to feel side effects this past week. Fortunately, they aren’t that bad and I was told to prepare for them. I also have a friend taking the same medication who warned me. I thought I would be one of the lucky ones that didn’t react, but it’s not horrible that I did have a reaction.

The side effect that I started to feel this week is dehydration. And considering this medication is sometimes prescribed to people who are retaining water, it makes sense. It can also cause dry skin and hair, but I haven’t had that happen yet. All I’m noticing is that I’m thirsty a lot throughout the day.

I tend to be someone who overhydrates, so to feel thirsty isn’t something I usually experience. But because I typically overhydrates, at least this is easy for me to deal with. I do have to be careful and not drink too much water because that can make me sick. But increasing my water intake is very easy for me to do and not a huge change to my routine. I have to make sure that I am tracking my water because being thirsty can make me forget how much I’ve already had. And I know that some of the thirst that I’m feeling is just the medication and not really thirst.

I am grateful that staying hydrated is something I’m used to doing. I don’t drink a lot of things other than water, so I don’t have to worry about drinking things that actually dehydrate me. I also am not someone who struggles to drink water, so I don’t feel like I’m forcing myself to drink. It’s been a part of my regular routine for as long as I can remember, so increasing things a bit isn’t a huge change for me.

I’m hoping this is the only side effect I get from this medication. There are a few others that are common that I do worry about getting. And even though I’m experiencing dehydration now, that doesn’t mean that more side effects can’t come later. I’m a bit more paranoid now about side effects happening later since it took some time for the dehydration to hit me. But I also know that I will either be able to get through whatever side effects happen or I will let my doctor know and we can stop the medication.

I know this isn’t that big of a deal, but it is an annoyance to add to my life. But at least a lot of other things are going better in my life so one annoyance isn’t too bad.