To the "bring it on" stage

[missdiane]

The last time I messaged my GP to get drugs refilled and that it was time to go from 2.5mg to 5mg, she said to message her before she's out of the office May 8 so I did over the weekend. I also noted that I so far wasn't feeling any difference on the 5mg (aside from the usual occasional gastro weirdness now and then and being fatigued the first couple of days after, typical side effects).

She called me today to ask about those before refilling and I said that I thought that the 5mg would have more side effects and would also hopefully turn the food noise off again, which it hadn't. I stopped losing weight a month ago. It also hasn't had any more difference on the blood sugar on the higher dose so far. Yesterday in the morning it was 104 which made no sense since I thought I slept pretty well. So she asked if for the next round if I want to go ahead and hop up to the 7.5mg dose.

Normally I'd be all nervous about it but screw it, I need this drug to WORK already so let's just do this. I still have three more doses/weeks of the 5mg before switching over to the 7.5mg so it shouldn't be a complete shock to the system.

Probably was also affected by thinking I was looking rather huge in my gardening video and also that recent blood test I didn't like the results of. Meh, whatever motivates, I suppose.

Comments

[spiffikins]

I'm honestly impressed that you lost any weight on the 2.5 - everything I've read indicates that nothing much is expected on the 2.5 and it's mostly just a starter dose to make sure you don't have any crazy side effects before going up to something that is expected to have an effect.

Hopefully the 5 kicks in and the 7.5 starts off strong.

Food noise though...honestly mine came back a while ago and it sucks :(

[missdiane]

Most of the weight loss was the first week and a half or so when the food noise went off right away so I wasn't eating much at all because I was so confused. I got the food noise back a couple of weeks after that. I was and are still on 1000mg of metformin so the two together is probably why the 2.5 initially did something.

What's your current and max doses?

[spiffikins]

I've been on 15 since August 2023, with a few months at 10 or 12.5 when it was hard to get - but pretty consistently 15 which is the max.

I've been on metformin the whole time as well - just a couple of weeks ago, we decided to cut the dose in half on that, so I'm now down to 1000mg of that per day. I've never had any luck with metformin doing anything other than helping with controlling blood sugar though.

[missdiane]

Ok, thanks. So I should probably anticipate titrating up to those doses eventually. I started as you know because my Metformin wasn't working as well to keep my A1C in check

[bluecatartist]

I've been interested in how this is working for you but just found out I can't use it bc of my osteoporosis. I hope the increase works without side effects.

[missdiane]

I have osteoarthritis (tricompartmental in both knees. Whee) and it's ok for me as long as I prioritize proper nutrition. Is it something that conflicts with your meds?

[bluecatartist]

I have osteoporsis in my hips, the steriods used in the epidurals for the hard, high nerve pain for the ruptured discs added up. My hips joints already feel weak. I had read that osteoporosis is a boundary that shouldn't be crossed with the weight loss meds. I'm not physically able to do enough exercise to not lose muscle either.

How does it affect your diabetes? I have to eat regularly so I don't have low blood sugar episodes w. type 2 diabetes. Mike and I both eat on schedule and I don't overeat or eat sweets. My husband said he wouldn't know what to suggest I do to cut calories as I already eat a pretty good diet and not too much.

[missdiane]

I really need to get my butt in gear and exercise more. Also, I've only lost about 15ish pounds over the last two and a half months so I'm not doing it at any breakneck pace that's going to put me at any particular risk.

I have more of a risk of high blood sugar than low. The meds slow down your digestion so you don't tend to get hunger signals as much. I do my last of the 5mg shot this afternoon and so for the next couple of days I need to stick to things like simple proteins (chicken breast, fish, etc.) and cooked veggies to avoid reflux.