Good morning, kids! Say, what's for breakfast? Here's what's on the menu today:
Metformin ER. (generic form of Glucophage XR) This is the primary drug addressing high blood sugar for type 2 diabetics. If you know a type 2 diabetic, they are probably taking some form of this, unless they reached their "fuck THIS" stage and gave it up. Each pill is huge; they come in a bottle roughly the size and shape of a Red Bull can.
Potential Side Effects: Good lord. One 500mg pill did nothing to or for me, two made me vaguely nauseous and fatigued. It was when I went up to three that the real fun began. Extreme nausea, diarrhea cha cha cha, and a fun thing where you burp a lot and the burps taste like you have been eating a skunk, ass first. I finally had enough and stopped taking them while I was working over the weekend, and guess what happened? I INSTANTLY felt 100% better.
Actos. This is another drug for high blood sugar. Starting today, I'm taking one of these a day instead of that third Metformin.
Potential Side Effects: A whole new set of possibilities! Shakiness, dizziness, sweating, confusion (beyond my usual level, I assume), nervousness or irritability, mood swings, headache, facial numbness, pale skin, sudden hunger, and my favorite, seizures! Wouldn't it be ironic if I got seizures before Schuyler? I went and read what other patients said about Actos, and a lot of them complain about weight gain. Which is funny, since two of the other drugs I'm taking are supposed to cause weight loss. A war is shaping up inside the Rob!
Lisinopril. Okay, so this is the thing I didn't want to talk about last time. This drug is normally used to address high blood pressure, but my BP is normal. In my case, it is being prescribed to arrest and hopefully reverse early signs of kidney failure. Yeah, that's the thing I didn't and don't so much want to talk about.
Potential Side Effects: Dizziness, headache, fatigue, dry cough, muscle cramps, numbness, nausea and diarrhea (well, of course), and a rash (delightful!).
Phentermine. This is my supermodel diet pill.
Potential Side Effects: Restlessness, nervousness, anxiety, headache, insomnia, cha cha cha, and extreme sexiness! Oh, and it is habit forming.
Cinnamon Bark. This is my new age natural supplement to address high blood sugar. No idea if it works.
Potential Side Effects: No idea. Cinnamon taste will make me a more attractive target for cannibals and vampires. Fucking vampires, man. As if life wasn't hard enough already.
Banana. A tasty treat.
Potential Side Effects: Improper disposal of the peel may result in comical injury.
Gosh Rob, thanks for sharing this. I am pretty down about my daily little cocktail, side effects, and as always, some pill's inability to do the miraculous for me.
ReplyDeleteAnd I really looked a lot closer @ the Luke Chueh drawing of the guy trapped in the pill bottle.
Man, do I ever feel like THAT!
Anyways, appreciate the realness and I'll respect your desire to rather not discuss certain topics (i.e. KD). Hang in there man!
I couldn't deal with the huge ass Glucophage pills. 2000 mg a day, for 6 months, my gag reflex kicks in taking an advil now. Doctor switched me to actos and I gained 30 pounds in a month. Hopefully you won't have the same experience.
ReplyDeleteThe vampire bit nearly did me in. So funny.
ReplyDeleteLisinopril--one of the side effects is insulin sensitivity which can cause sudden drops in blood sugar. Is that why you were prescribed it? My husband has type I diabetes and when he took it he had a seizure while driving (everything turned out OK). So be careful!!
ReplyDeletejoanna-
ReplyDeleteoh geeesh! like he wanted to hear THAT!
Never forget that bananas are a good source of potassium! My dad has occasional problems with heart arhythmia (sp?), and eating a banana every morning helps with that. I don't think he's skipped his morning banana since the time his heart went out of rhythm in a small town in Montana, and Mom had to chase his ambulance over sixty miles in the middle of the night for fear of losing her way.
ReplyDeleteI take my Metformin horse pill at night, along with my dried frog pill and (since the beginning of spring) a couple of Benadryl. Hasn't interfered with my sleep (or at least, hasn't made it any worse), and I haven't noticed any other side effects.
I definitely developed the dry cough from the Lisinopril (which I was taking for high blood pressure). It was icky, coughing all damn day, so the Doc switched me to Diovan. And the only side effect I get from that is an achey sensation in my wallet.
ReplyDeleteI have PCOS/IR and have been taking Met for several years. Recently my doctor switched me to ActoPlus Met, which is both meds in one pill. I don't get the Met side effects, and have lost weight instead of gained. Might be worth asking about...
ReplyDeletehi rob.
ReplyDeletei just wanted to tell you I grok.
I originally was dx'ed with diabetes because I had signs of kidney failure! I had this bitch of a "backache" and went to the doctor, and they got very concerned and said, "your kidneys failing!"
completely sucked.
anyway, from one who nearly died when she went on glucophage (omg, the stomach stuff!) and is also on lisinopril and actos (interesting the cocktail is so similar - I wonder how much the pharm. companies pay our doctors to think alike?), I really do feel your pain.
peace.
Cinnamon rocks, it helps me like metformin, only without the GI side effects. Plus it's tasty.
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate about the kidney thing. My husband found out a few years ago that he had a strange autoimmune kidney disorder and the possibilities for the future with that are definitely not fun for him to consider. You'll cross that bridge if you come to it, though.
Good luck.
Nothing like having your own personal pharmacy, eh? And if you get one of the "common" side effects, how will you know which tasty treat to remove from the line up?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I sent you this link for EFT already, because I tend to try to be quiet and not push my "oh, here's your solution!" assvice on people.
But here i go.
Even though EFT sounds woo woo and looks a bit odd, it actually works (I use it on my allergies and asthma with very good results). If nothing else it has a few of these fine perks:
*it's free. you can download the manual and do it FREE. no copay, no nothin'. did I mention it's free? (If you do end up getting a set of the CD-roms they aren't very expensive and I think they let you copy 100 of them and give them away.
*you can encourage people to keep their distance by doing a hearty "tapping" session on the bus or in the grocery store.
*won't take up valuable real estate in your medicine cabinet.
to be clear: i'm not saying do this instead of your medical regime, just that i noticed a lot of improvement in myself and others due to this technique and it's free, free, free.
www.emofree.com
Dry cough, I presume, although with that list of side effects I wouldn't be surprised if Linisopril (sp) DOES cause "dry couch". (One also assumes that something ELSE you're on potentially causes WET couch!)
ReplyDeleteBut I just like the "skunk, ass first" comment. If it weren't what you're actually going through, it'd be REALLY funny. Instead, I feel guilty for laughing when I read that.
Aw, Rob. *hug*
ReplyDeleteI am thinking good thoughts for you. You shouldn't have to deal with this - I wish I could snap my fingers and make it all better.
Man, Dr. Hottie needs to chill with the script-writing. (I thought the side effects of Metformin wore off with time?) I hope things stabilize inside the Rob soon. -victoria
ReplyDeleteHeh, yeah, I fixed it. If I want a dry couch, I'll get rid of the dogs.
ReplyDeleteI'm on lisinopril for my blood pressure and to protect against beedies-related kidney crap. It's been good to me - it keeps my blood pressure low, and has been side effect free for me. (Unlike every other blood pressure medication I've been on.)
ReplyDeleteA report recently came out saying that most doctors are too slow to adjust medication for diabetics if the current treatment isn't working. So, at least Dr. Hottie seems to be on top of things.
What form does the cinnamon bark come in? Because if it's little curled up stick-like things, I used it to help me quit smoking. I could hold one like a cigarette and tap it out the car window and everything. I don't have da beedies (at least not yet), so that's the closest I can share. Hope things get better soon. And yeah, try not to have seizures while driving. That's generally good advice for anyone, really.
ReplyDeleteIt's in a pill, actually.
ReplyDeleteI take no daily pills. I'm so proud of this fact that I don't go to the doctor for fear of being convinced to take something. Seriously, I'm just lucky. So far. My dad was on a bunch of stuff, though, and had some weird symptoms that no drug had as side effects in their official poop. But when I researched the side effects I found people blaming Fosamax for similar ones. I took him off of it and he got better. But when something is wrong and you are already on all this stuff it is really hard to know if it's an illness or the drugs. But kidney failure? Darn, that's an awful thought. Diabetes has so many awful side effects. I hope you get it all under control.
ReplyDeleteSo, yeah, I'm sorry you are suffering but that's one funny post.
Sorry your going through this but seriously I would love to hear more about Schuyler and her BBOW instead of all the medicines you are taking. How is she doing in summer camp? Does she take her BBOW with her on the field trips? Is she liking the summer camp or is she still a little hesitant?
ReplyDeleteEveryone, raise your hand if you see why I sometimes wonder why I fucking bother. Anyone?
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Seems like Rob should get to choose what Rob writes about on Rob's blog. And the rest of us can suck it up and close the Blogger window if we don't happen to like what he's writing about. Right? Or did I miss the post where Rob decided to let anonymous commenters decide what he should write? WTF!!!
ReplyDeleteRob, I hope things start looking up soon. I can't imagine how you're keeping all the meds straight. YIKES!
Rob, my father was taking cinnamon for a while (I'm not sure if he still is), and he thought it was helpful. And hey, it's showing a lot of promise in studies.
ReplyDeleteAnd you've hardly gotten to the part yet where they start prescribing more meds to address the lousy side effects of the life-saving meds. Sometimes I think the drug companies design it that way.
ReplyDeleteBoy, you really had a couple of doozey-whopper idiot comment writers on this one, blow'em off man, hope you don't let them get to 'ya and that today will be a better day for 'ya.
ReplyDeleteGah! And I thought I was taking a lot of pills! But, you know, if those vampires come around, perhaps a bite or two might be helpful? Bring the blood pressure down, perhaps the blood sugar, too? You could be a pioneer, not only in the medical field, but in the area of human/vampire relations!
ReplyDeleteRob, I wish I could write half as well as you do, so that you could find as much amusement in my daily crap as we all do in yours. It's not really fair, is it.
ReplyDeleteHow about this? Yesterday, we took our 2 year old dog to the dog park for the first time this summer. We were having a great time until she sniffed something in the air and took off towards the lake. By the time we caught up with her, she'd already had a good couple of minutes with her new love in life, dead fish. She'd been rolling all over it, and was REEKING to high heaven. You couldn't stand closer than 6 feet from her without hitting a gag reflex, she smelled like a dead fishy sewer. It was intense.
After a very grim car ride home with a stop by the supermarket for tomato juice, we gave her a very unpleasant bath in the front yard, during which she spattered me and my favorite t-shirt with pulpy fishy tomato mess. When we finally let her back inside, after covering all the furniture with sheets, I went upstairs to change into clean, dry clothes. When I came back down, she was up ON the table, with her still-fishy face entirely buried in my dinner. My only dinner, that I'd picked up at the supermarket as a treat for the fish ordeal. So I had no food.
So... I decided to splurge on delivery, since at this point I figured it wasn't wise for me to get behind the wheel. As I was waiting downstairs, still fuming over the theft of my dinner, I hear a tinkling sound near the door.... where the dog was in the process of peeing on the rug.
So yeah. I know it's not diabetes or muteness or giant-ass pills, but that's what I've got for now. I hope it made you smile.
Tomato stains are easy to get out, right?
Hey Rob, you probably know this, but the number one way you can help stave off any further complications of diabetes is by getting your blood sugar into the normal range. If the pills aren't doing it for you - and if you're having to stop Metformin just to stop feeling nauseated and weak constantly, I am thinking the pills aren't doing it for you - have you considered insulin?
ReplyDeleteI was on insulin during both of my pregnancies, and after the initial "OH MY GOD I HAVE TO INJECT MYSELF WITH A NEEDLE OMGWTFBBQ!!!!" stage, I really liked it. I'm not lying. All of a sudden, I could actually EAT FOOD again and not see my blood sugar numbers go through the ceiling.
A lot of times doctors treat insulin like this last-resort drug for "really bad diabetics" but think about it: the only side effect is possible hypoglycemia, and you can mostly avoid that by being careful. Also, as a type 2 diabetic, you're highly unlikely to get so hypoglycemic that you go into a coma, which is one of the concerns with type 1 diabetics and insulin use.
I dunno, I just found it really convenient and helpful, and the pleasure I got from seeing actual good numbers on my meter far outweighed the "OMGWTF NEEDLES" factor for me. If you're seeing some of the nastier side effects of diabetes and the pills are making you crazy, I'd consider it, personally.
Robmeister,
ReplyDeleteFYI, as if you need to know of any more side effects. I took Lisinopril for high BP last year. Things were great (I mean as great as they can be for a 32 year old Type 2 diabetic and freaking high BP patient). But I started getting this weird cough, constant infection thing.
Went to a specialist (pulmonologist) and he took me off the Lisinopril and said it can sometimes cause this 'cough' issue. Lo and behold, problem solved. Never would've made that connection myself. Maybe that'll save you a copay or two. :) Hope things get better soon.
-MB (who has no blog identity but has been reading you for forever and lives in your area-but doesn't stalk)
P.S. I raise my hand. Fucking bodies.
ReplyDelete-MB (who still has no blog since the 2.2 seconds of my last post, wherein I said I had no blog.)
Fucking blogs.
ok im not sure if youll get this but since ive been on glucophage for about 3 years now and have been through all of this you might want to email me about this karinwilcox@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI was on 2000mg a day of metformin so trust me I KNOW what your talking about Im ALSO now going through the whole kidney damage stuff too and I can give you some insight on that as my father ALSO went through it as well.
A big part of it was being OVER medicated with metformin there is something about that drug that screws with your kidneys really badley. There is an injectable they can put you on I think its called Byetta but I know your NOT interested in that lol not fun at all and im not either.
They have dropped my dosage by half down to 1000mg a day and I will say some of my uh problems have went away but some are still there but I have other genetic issues prexisting as well that complicate diagnosing the extent of my problems.
One of the other issues they really need to watch with you on metformin is your iron and B12 and anemia issues which could also be clues to your kidney problems metformin makes your body (sometimes) very difficult to uptake B12 which is essential to make red bloodcells which can make you anemic which makes you tired and lethargic and after a long period of times can lead to other issues as well. blah no fun at all but Im sure youve probally heard all this.
Anyway My email is up there if you want to chat with me about any of this. I thought I had a blogger acount but i cant remember my login for the life of me.
Everyone, raise your hand if you see why I sometimes wonder why I fucking bother. Anyone?
ReplyDeleteYou've trained them very well, unfortunately. It's okay, Anon will be back.
The GI side effects I managed to contain by eating plain, fat free yogurt for a few days. I'm on 2 doses of 500 mg of Metformin daily and it improves - I've been on it since 2003.
ReplyDeleteMeg, that's not entirely accurate. Insulin can and does help Type II diabetics process the excessive blood sugar that's in the blood stream. Some Type II diabetics can manage their blood sugar by altering their diet and/or taking oral medication. Others need more aggressive therapy.
ReplyDeleteI should have mentioned in my post that I'm a type 2 diabetic. Insulin can and does help type 2 diabetics. There have been recent studies demonstrating that insulin can be a highly effective therapy in newly-diagnosed type 2s, in fact, and research on this topic is ongoing. (To be clear, insulin has been known to be an excellent therapy for type 2 diabetics for years; my grandmother, who was a type 2 diabetic, used insulin back in the 1970s and 1980s - what's new is the idea that it could be a first-line therapy, used before Metformin or Actos or Avandia or any of the other cocktail of diabetes drugs that tend to have icky side effects.)
ReplyDeleteI'm not a physician and I can't speak to the mechanisms involved, but I will tell you that starting even an extremely low dose of insulin snapped my blood sugars into perfect shape immediately, and I do mean immediately. Like, the next morning when I woke up, my fasting blood sugar was deep within the normal range, which is not somewhere I had seen it during all the time I'd been trying to control my blood sugar with diet and exercise.
I'm just saying it's a possibility, and like I said before, there are no side effects except hypoglycemia. No nausea, no vomiting, no liver disease, no lethargy.
Also, with respect to Casey, I would not classify insulin as "aggressive therapy", necessarily. It tends to be treated that way by some doctors and patients, but it's really just another treatment option. If your current treatments are leaving you feeling like shit all the time, I personally would start looking into different treatments. But that's me.
And incidentally, the insulin injections are far, far, far less painful than daily finger-sticks are. I generally couldn't even feel the needle.
Everyone's a doctor. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not. I think I stated that fairly clearly in my last post, unless "I'm not a physician" actually means "I'm a physician" these days.
ReplyDelete:)
I just got done with the toilet for over an hour sit while feeling dizzy, I shit my brains out at least once a week and yet gained at least 40 pounds sense I started the acto plus, I think tomorrow is a new day and I'm going to stop the meds I would rather be diebetic 2 then 3 tons of shit. vince
ReplyDelete