stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2022-08-31 03:45 pm
stevenpiziks) wrote2022-08-31 03:45 pm
Entry tags:
Mixed Blessings
This is another medical post, but unrelated to my shoulder, for a change. :)
I'm Type II diabetic, but just barely. I take meds for it and try to be careful about carb intake. A few months ago, I told my endocrinologist that I was tired of taking big handfuls of pills every day. I take pills for diabetes, to protect my kidneys from diabetes, for anxiety and depression, for kidney stones, and for other urological reasons. It's a LOT, and I've been trying to figure out how to cut down.
The doctor said we could combine two of the diabetes drugs I was taking into a single daily pill. I was up for that! So we did.
A strange thing happened. The next time I went to the urologist, he said the levels of sugar in my urine were off the charts. I told him about the new drug, and he nodded understanding. The drug makes your kidneys pull sugar out of your blood and excrete it. This worried the doctor a little. He said this kind of thing can cause strain on the urinary system, including bladder spasms.
A while later, I found myself having to run to the bathroom more and more often. It became unusual for me to last an hour. Darwin noticed because whenever we went someplace, the first thing I did on arrival was hunt down a bathroom, and I usually had to go again before we left.
I couldn't keep that up. Certainly not with school coming up. I talked to my endocrinologist again and asked what we could do. She suggested switching back to one of the pills and a weekly injection of Trulicity, which I could administer at home. She had suggested this several months ago, in fact, but at the time I was going through absolute hell and the thought of adding a weekly shot to my platter was just too much. Now I figured I could handle it.
She told me that common side-effects include nausea and loss of appetite, but they fade after a couple weeks. Another side-effect is weight loss. (See the above "loss of appetite" effect.)
I got the drug and injected myself on a Saturday morning. That night, I had really bad nausea and sweating. It was awful. I was up most of the night with it.
The next day, things had improved, but the appetite loss was kicking in. Very few foods sounded any good. Weirdly, kid cereals like Cap'n Crunch and Corn Pops sounded tempting, so I bought them. Most days, lunch didn't interest me at all, and I might have a piece of fruit, nothing more.
The nausea has stuck around. It's a low-grade nausea that continually hovers at the edges. All the literature says the nausea should only last about two weeks. I've been taking Trulicity for just under a month, and it's still causing me the problem.
And I've lost weight. A big chunk of it. I was at 187 when I started Trulicity. Now, less than five weeks later, I'm at 181. Last year, after my big weight loss, my clothes were hanging off me, and my jeans wouldn't stay up. I had to buy new clothes. Now it's happening again. My shorts and jeans have a lot of room at the waist.
Hence the mixed blessing. The nausea is bad, but it's bringing my weight down farther. I'd be thrilled if I got into the mid-170s. I'm going to give it another three weeks. If the nausea hasn't ended by then, I'll need to make changes again.
I'm Type II diabetic, but just barely. I take meds for it and try to be careful about carb intake. A few months ago, I told my endocrinologist that I was tired of taking big handfuls of pills every day. I take pills for diabetes, to protect my kidneys from diabetes, for anxiety and depression, for kidney stones, and for other urological reasons. It's a LOT, and I've been trying to figure out how to cut down.
The doctor said we could combine two of the diabetes drugs I was taking into a single daily pill. I was up for that! So we did.
A strange thing happened. The next time I went to the urologist, he said the levels of sugar in my urine were off the charts. I told him about the new drug, and he nodded understanding. The drug makes your kidneys pull sugar out of your blood and excrete it. This worried the doctor a little. He said this kind of thing can cause strain on the urinary system, including bladder spasms.
A while later, I found myself having to run to the bathroom more and more often. It became unusual for me to last an hour. Darwin noticed because whenever we went someplace, the first thing I did on arrival was hunt down a bathroom, and I usually had to go again before we left.
I couldn't keep that up. Certainly not with school coming up. I talked to my endocrinologist again and asked what we could do. She suggested switching back to one of the pills and a weekly injection of Trulicity, which I could administer at home. She had suggested this several months ago, in fact, but at the time I was going through absolute hell and the thought of adding a weekly shot to my platter was just too much. Now I figured I could handle it.
She told me that common side-effects include nausea and loss of appetite, but they fade after a couple weeks. Another side-effect is weight loss. (See the above "loss of appetite" effect.)
I got the drug and injected myself on a Saturday morning. That night, I had really bad nausea and sweating. It was awful. I was up most of the night with it.
The next day, things had improved, but the appetite loss was kicking in. Very few foods sounded any good. Weirdly, kid cereals like Cap'n Crunch and Corn Pops sounded tempting, so I bought them. Most days, lunch didn't interest me at all, and I might have a piece of fruit, nothing more.
The nausea has stuck around. It's a low-grade nausea that continually hovers at the edges. All the literature says the nausea should only last about two weeks. I've been taking Trulicity for just under a month, and it's still causing me the problem.
And I've lost weight. A big chunk of it. I was at 187 when I started Trulicity. Now, less than five weeks later, I'm at 181. Last year, after my big weight loss, my clothes were hanging off me, and my jeans wouldn't stay up. I had to buy new clothes. Now it's happening again. My shorts and jeans have a lot of room at the waist.
Hence the mixed blessing. The nausea is bad, but it's bringing my weight down farther. I'd be thrilled if I got into the mid-170s. I'm going to give it another three weeks. If the nausea hasn't ended by then, I'll need to make changes again.