I’ve been lucky that a lot of the doctor appointments I have can be handled either over the phone or through a video call. It’s so much easier not to go to the hospital for an appointment and work things around my work schedule. I know that not all appointments can be this way, but I’m always grateful when they can be since they end up being a much smaller part of my day.
My most recent doctor appointment on the phone was with my doctor in bariatric medicine. It has been a while since I’ve had an appointment, but there also hasn’t been much to say about the medication that I’m on. I have noticed a difference in how food relates to my life. I’m not struggling to eat as much as I did when I started the injections, but I also still have to be careful with food since it can make me sick. It’s a balance I have worked on figuring out and I think I’m in a good spot with that. I do still have side effects and those can be annoying, but compared to what others report, I know that I’m not having as difficult of a time as many people do.
The best thing about this medication has been something I wasn’t expecting. I don’t know how else to explain it, but the noise in my brain about food has quieted down a lot. I know I’ve shared this before, but this has been a change that has helped me mentally more than I thought it would. It’s not perfect or a miracle, but it has been a huge positive change in my life. As far as weight loss goes, things have stalled a bit. I am grateful that I haven’t started to gain weight and I have lost a little bit more, but it’s not what it was the first few months.
I knew that I wanted to bring up some of my concerns in my appointment, but I also knew that this could just be what things will be like. And I’m so glad that my doctor was very cool with just hearing me out and hearing my positive and negative thoughts. She agreed that I’m doing all the right things and that I am seeing success, and I agree with her. It might not be success the way I wanted to see it, but it is working. But she also understood my frustration, especially since what I’m experiencing now is similar to what I felt before I started the medication with my struggle to lose weight. We did discuss what some number goals should be in my head, but they are very broad so I’m not focused on a goal that may not be possible for me. And we did discuss if I should increase my dosage to see if that will kickstart things for me again.
But there are things to consider about increasing the dosage. First, there is only one dose higher than what I’m on. So if I increase it and then it stops working, there’s no higher dose that I can take. And since I’m still seeing success, it might not be the right time for me to go to the highest dose. Also, because the higher dose would be doubling what I’m taking now, I might get some significant side effects. My doctor does believe that they would level off, especially with how I’m doing with the side effects now. But I do remember how difficult the first few weeks were for me and the side effects I had then that I finally got over.
I was on the phone with my doctor a lot longer than I expected. Usually, phone appointments seem to be maybe 10 minutes long. This time, we talked for almost 25 minutes. And in the end, we agreed that right now is not the right time for me to increase the dosage. I may not see a lot of results right now, but they should be happening in time. Even just losing a little bit of weight over a few months is better than nothing. I haven’t been on this medication for a year yet, so increasing it to the highest dosage might be a bit premature. If I was insisting that I felt like I needed to increase it, I think my doctor would have supported it. But I’m not in a rush to get the results that I know will come eventually. And this could just be a simple plateau and I might break out of it without having to change the dosage. So I’m ok with giving things a bit more time and reevaluating the situation when I have my next appointment in a few months.
I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect out of this appointment since I had a few concerns I wanted to address, but I feel good about how the call ended and what the plan is for now. And the most important thing to me is that I felt heard by my doctor. My concerns weren’t dismissed. I wasn’t told I wasn’t trying hard enough. She listened to me and made me feel like we were a team with a plan moving forward. And I think because of that feeling, I think I feel more positive about what the plan is moving ahead and what the next steps might be. And I guess I’ll have to see when I have my next appointment if things will change or if I’m seeing more success with my efforts.
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