I guess it’s time for another health update from me –
I’ve gained back almost all the weight I lost when I dieted – but hey – at least I don’t have that weight on top of the other weight. I’ve been “crashing” every day for the past few months but at least a lot of the days haven’t been too bad.
It’s just frustrating that it’s every day and there’s no rhyme or reason to it. The biggest problem with crashing that often (besides feeling bad) is that I’ve been taking at least one Klonopin every day. Klonopin helps a lot but is addicting and a controlled substance and I don’t want to keep relying on it.
I was finally able to get to my doctor last week. I told her about the research I have done and how my body has been acting lately and, of course, she hadn’t heard of the condition, which I didn’t expect her to. But I went to her because I had a feeling she would at least have some suggestions for some things to try.
I’ve been going to her for years and she knows I’ve tried so many things already. She is also good about using whatever works – whether it is a prescription or a natural solution – and she isn’t afraid to let me try things. Here is what she suggested and how it is going so far –
Zoloft – this is an anti-depressant and helps with anxiety too I guess. It made me really nauseous and I gained three pounds in two days on it. I also could barely tell that it was doing anything to help me. So I decided to stop taking it for now and maybe try again later.
Buspar – this is an anti-anxiety medication that isn’t nearly as addicting as Klonopin but can take a few weeks to fully kick in. It makes me quite dizzy but that’s getting a little better every day. So far, it helps about half as well as Klonopin, and seems like it is better at prevention. So I’m still taking Klonopin as well but not as much as I was and I have some hope that in time it will kick in enough it won’t need Klonopin.
The Zoloft and Buspar are to hopefully replace the Klonopin and help me feel better but we know they aren’t going to help the problem in the long run so that’s what the next medication is hopefully going to do.
Semiglutide – this is the compounded version of a new type of medication with the brand names Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy. You may have seen commercials for these and they are like $1,000 a month. I get the compounded version at Westlake Pharmacy in Saratoga Springs and it is $130 for a month’s supply and the insurance doesn’t cover it.
For me, a month’s supply is up to 50 units a week but the normal dose for Type II diabetes is 200 units a week and for weight loss, it is 250 units a week. However, my doctor wants me to start out at 10 units a week and work my way up to 50 units or less. She said to try to find the sweet spot between it helping and not having too many side effects. One advantage of that is my “monthly” dose could last a lot longer than a month.
She wants me to try it because she has had two other patients try it that felt like they were having hypoglycemic symptoms but didn’t actually have low blood sugar and they both said it helped a ton. She said it works by helping your body’s various systems talk to each other better. It sounds like it’s worth a try since neither of us know anything else to try.
It’s a weekly injection with the same needles Tyler uses for diabetes. So lucky for me, I don’t mind the injection, and it’s nice to only have to do it weekly. I did my first injection on Monday. I felt really weird yesterday and today I felt really nauseous for a few hours randomly. So that just means I’ll be doing 10 units again next Monday. But so far, the symptoms are quite tolerable so I’ll have to see if I think it is helping at all.
The other “fun” thing this week is my atlas came out again. We’ve been going to a specialized chiropractor for a few years and he focuses on your atlas bone. Your atlas bone is the top bone at the top of your neck.
Pretty much everyone’s is out as far as I can tell. You can tell if yours is out if your feet don’t line up evenly when you lay down on your back and put your feet out straight in front of you. To put it in, they have to first do x-rays to see how to adjust it and then they adjust it by having you lie down on a chiropractor table with your neck on something that’s kind of like a vertical board.
Then they level your neck using the measurements they got from your x-ray and then they use sound waves to “pop” it in (you can’t feel anything). That’s kind of a weird explanation but it’s kind of a weird thing to explain. I’m sure there’s a Youtube video or something that would explain it better than I can and why you would want yours in if you are curious.
On the first day, you have to wear a neck brace and be really careful and you don’t feel like doing anything but lying down. The first time I had it put in a few years ago I felt sore from it for like a month but I was functional after a few days. Overall my back is so much better than it used to be. Nowadays I’m only sore for a few days after getting it adjusted.
When my atlas comes out I have a really, really hard time sleeping, my feet aren’t level, I feel like I’m walking crooked and I just feel really, really bad. That’s the disadvantage of having it out because when you are used to it being out you can’t really tell it’s out but when you get used to it being in you feel really bad when it comes out (at least I do).
Most of our children have had their atlas’ put in and theirs stick for years and they seem to be able to do anything they want. I don’t seem to have such luck. On average mine seems to come out every six months or so. The main thing that makes it come out is if I put my head back too far but it can just happen randomly. Most of the time I have no idea when or how it came out.
So I’ve been taking it easy since yesterday doing a lot of resting and I’m starting to feel a lot better than I did yesterday morning. I guess it’s good to have several health issues at once and just get them over with. I should hopefully feel fine in time for all the Christmas fun.
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