Tag Archives: eating disorder

Still Having Easy Therapy Check-Ins (or A Few New Things To Do)

Posted on February 14, 2024 | Comments Off on Still Having Easy Therapy Check-Ins (or A Few New Things To Do)

My therapy appointments haven’t felt like appointments for a long time. They feel more like a check-in to make sure everything is going ok and I don’t need to change anything. I think I’m on a good dosage of the medication this doctor prescribed and I don’t see the need to change things up. I know there are other medications that I could try that might help me, but every time I’ve added something new I have new side effects. And I’m already dealing with enough side effects at this point so I don’t need to add any more. I’m glad my therapist is fine with these appointments turning into check-ins as well so they can be easy and quick. Plus, they are still virtual appointments, so they are even quicker for me since I don’t have to drive there and back.

I only have appointments every 6 months now, so they aren’t that often. I’m ok with that and know I could always schedule an additional appointment if I felt like I needed one. But since things have been pretty steady for a while, I don’t feel like I’m missing anything.

I actually brought up in my appointment this week how I feel like I just keep telling her the same thing every time, how things are going well and I feel like I’m on a good path. She thinks that it’s fine that I haven’t wanted to change what I’ve been doing and what the plan has been. But even though we don’t want to change anything, there are some new regulations for controlled substances (which my medication is) that I now have to go through.

Some of the new regulations have been things I’ve been working with. I can only get a month of medication at a time when in the past I could get 90 days at a time. It’s not that bad that I have to go in every month because I have to do that for another one of my medications. But it was nice to not have to worry about a refill for a few months. And now, I can’t request a refill as early as I used to. In the past, I could request a refill when I had about a week of medication left. That allowed for time for it to be filled since it can take a day or two. Now, I have to wait until I have only 2 days of medication left to put in my refill request, and that means that I can go a day or two without it. There’s also a shortage of the medication, so that can add even more delays with getting my refill. It’s frustrating because I know I’m not doing anything wrong, but I understand why there are regulations in place.

And while I was in my therapy appointment, I found out another regulation that I have to do so I can continue getting my medications. I have to go to cardiology to get an EKG to make sure that my heart is ok and there’s nothing weird going on with my medication. I’m not worried about my heart because I know I’m taking everything as prescribed and not abusing my medications. And I’m pretty aware of my heart rate since I wear a heart rate monitor in my workouts. But it is something that I will have to pay for to get done and I will have to find the time to go in to get it done. It’s a minor inconvenience for me so I’m aware that things could be much worse. And I don’t think I will have to do the EKGs regularly, so I’m hoping that I will just do it this one time and then I won’t have to worry about it again.

I’ll have my next therapy check-in in 6 months, right after my birthday. I’m not expecting anything to be different then and the plan will continue to be to keep doing what I’ve been doing. And hopefully, there won’t be any additional regulations with my medication that I will need to worry about. But if there are, I’ll just do what I need to do so that I can continue to make and see progress.

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

Posted on December 13, 2023 | Comments Off on 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!

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

Posted on October 11, 2023 | Comments Off on 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.

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Back To Back Doctor Appointments (or Still Having Easy Check-Ups)

Posted on August 16, 2023 | Comments Off on Back To Back Doctor Appointments (or Still Having Easy Check-Ups)

Even though it seems like I always have doctor appointments on my calendar, I’ve been very lucky that they usually are very routine and easy. I have several ongoing conditions that I’m trying to manage, and they seem to be a lot more stable now than they have been in the past. This is what I’ve been trying to achieve, so it’s nice to manage things tolerably instead of figuring out what to do next. But even with things being stable and manageable, I still have regular check-ups with my doctors to make sure nothing has changed.

And I had 2 of these check-up appointments recently just to make sure everything is fine. Fortunately, both appointments went as easily as I assumed they would.

First, I had an appointment with my dermatologist. These appointments have been pretty easy for a while now. My autoimmune condition has been more stable than ever and I really don’t have to think about it that often anymore. Occasionally, I do have a bad flare-up, but they are less frequent and usually not as many at one time. When I had my appointment, I did have a bad flare-up, but it was only a single location and a single flare-up. In the past, it could be multiple flare-ups at one time and in different locations on my body. When that was happening, the pain took a lot of my focus each day. With how my flare-ups have been lately, I only think about them if I position my body in a way to trigger the pain. It’s such a nice change compared to what I had been dealing with for so many years.

One of the medications I’ve been on to manage it for the past few months may or may not be working because typically it takes about 6 months to see if it’s helping. So hopefully, by my next appointment, I’ll have a better idea if it’s working and if I want to stay on it. It doesn’t really have any side effects so it’s not hurting me to stay on it to test it out. If at my next appointment, I don’t think it’s helping, I might go off of it just so I don’t take an extra medication that I have to pay for each month. But I’m trying to stay optimistic and thinking that I’ll see some positive results when I go back again. And because things are so stable, I don’t have to go back to my dermatologist for 6 months this time. Of course, if something comes up I can make an appointment sooner, but this is a longer time between appointments than I have had in the past.

And a few days after my dermatologist, I had my check-in with my therapist. Again, these appointments have been very simple and easy for a while. They are even easier than most appointments since I can continue to do them as video appointments. That makes it so much easier to fit into my schedule and they take significantly less time now that I don’t have to drive to the medical office and wait in the waiting room. I’m glad this is still an option for me and it should continue to be that way since my therapist used to see me in person and we haven’t always had virtual appointments.

This appointment was very similar to the last several therapist check-ins. She wanted to make sure that I’m still doing ok with my medication and that nothing much has changed with my mental health. The only thing we had to discuss was how I had to stop taking my medication for a bit because there was a shortage and I couldn’t get a refill. That’s not something that can be predicted, so it could happen again. But I’m hoping it won’t because I noticed a significant difference in how I was feeling when I had to stop taking it.

Other than discussing that, there wasn’t much talked about with my therapist which was what I expected. And just like with my dermatologist, my next check-in will be in 6 months so I have a bit of time before my next appointment.

It took time to get to a place where these appointments could be so easy and everything under control. I’m so grateful that I have gotten to this place because it wasn’t straightforward and it took trial and error. And I know that this isn’t necessarily what it will always be like and things can change and I could struggle to get to this stability again. But I’m just going to enjoy that things are like this for now and remain hopeful that when I have both of these appointments again in about 6 months that I will still be in the same place.

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Another Easy Phone Appointment (or Sticking With The Same Plan For Now)

Posted on June 14, 2023 | Comments Off on Another Easy Phone Appointment (or Sticking With The Same Plan For Now)

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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Another Virtual Therapy Appointment (or Preparing For Potential Changes)

Posted on February 16, 2023 | Comments Off on Another Virtual Therapy Appointment (or Preparing For Potential Changes)

My therapy appointments have been every 6 months for a long time and ever since the pandemic, they have also been virtual appointments. I did some virtual appointments before the pandemic, but they weren’t every appointment because there was a rule that you had to be seen in person every so often. I’ve been grateful they have been video appointments that I can do from home because that makes them very easy to fit into my work day. I just take my lunch break when my appointment happens so I don’t have to worry about much. If I had to drive in and wait for my appointment time, I might still be able to fit it into a lunch break, but it would be harder to do. So keeping them virtual has worked out perfectly for me.

Because of the timing of when these appointments switched to being every 6 months, my appointments are now around my birthday and half-birthday. And the one this month just happened to fall on Valentine’s Day. I found that kind of funny, but I also didn’t mind having my appointment then since I knew it would be a pretty routine check-in.

And for the most part, it was very routine. My therapist made sure that I was still doing ok in general and I did let her know I was getting over a cold so if I sounded down it was because of that and not my mood. She confirmed I was doing ok on my current dosage of the medication I have been taking for years, which I am. And we discussed the new medication I’ve been taking and how it’s been working for me. She’s happy that I’m seeing success with it but was frustrated for me about the medication shortage. But she agreed that there’s not really anything I can do other than to be patient and pick up my refill as soon as it is available.

After my check-in, my therapist gave me a heads up that the medication she prescribes me might have a shortage soon. For some reason, of all the medications that do similar things, all the doctors at the hospital are switching their patients to the one that I am taking. So there will be a higher demand for it than there was before. We discussed what this shortage could mean for me, but hopefully it won’t affect too much if it happens. And if I have to go a week or so without my medication, I would be able to start back at the same dosage I’m already on and I wouldn’t have to worry about starting at a low dosage and working back up. I won’t need to order my refill for another month or so, so there is a chance there won’t be a shortage when I have my refill in. But she wanted to make sure I knew so I could be prepared.

And she also gave me a heads up that I may have to go to occasional in-person appointments again. My next appointment in August will be virtual, but the one in about a year might have to be in the office. She’s not sure if that will be necessary because the policy is about making sure patients see a doctor in person at least once a year, and I do see other doctors in person on a regular basis. So I might not have to go in for therapy. And a year is a long time from now, so a lot of policies could change in that time. But just like with the medication shortage, she wanted me to be prepared for this potential change and not have it seem sudden or surprise me. I really appreciated that.

That was about it for my therapy appointment. It was simple and easy, just like it’s been for a while now. And I guess I’ll just have to see if I’m affected by this other medication shortage in the next few months and if in the future I’m back to going to in-person appointments again. But maybe nothing will change and my appointment in 6 months will be another boring and routine check-in, which sounds perfect to me!

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

Posted on February 15, 2023 | 1 comment

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.

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

Posted on December 20, 2022 | Comments Off on 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.

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

Posted on December 2, 2022 | Comments Off on 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.

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

Posted on November 22, 2022 | Comments Off on 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.

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