Author Archives: Tony New (TxCowboyDancer)
Soooooooooo close! 300.8 lbs!
This is going to be the week!
Just a very quick post to share some good news. I just got off the scale and for the FIRST TIME in ages my weight has dropped below 301 lbs!!!
Yay!
Yippee!
Doing a “happy dance” in my chair as I type…which is quite the feat of dexterity!
Woot!
Uh-huh…uh-huh…uh-huh!
So, given that my weight is 300.8 lbs today and given that for the past few days it has been dropping by a few tenth’s of a pound every day, it is EXTREMELY LIKELY that by the end of the week I’ll be below 300 lbs. For the first time in almost two years. Yay!
Light a candle and send positive energy my way…
Keep me in your thoughts…
…and watch for a longer post later this week about my first week back in the dance studio. Yes, it is finally happening. I’m dancing again.
Woot!
See ya on the dance floor!
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Sharing Diabetes and Supplement Information #2: Janumet
Second post in a series…
This is the second in a series where I go through all the drugs and vitamin supplements that my doctor has instructed me to take and I provide you with a list of links / readings / background information.
For the full backstory and the 411 on Invokana and the ACA, check out the first post:
Sharing Diabetes and Supplement Information #1: Introduction, Invokana and the ACA
I can hear the collective groan from my assembled readers… “Just give us the short story!” — well as you should all know by now, I don’t do short very well. But, I shall try. 😀
I am a fairly new diabetic. I was diagnosed in June 2015, approximately 5 months ago. My doctor immediately put me two diabetic drugs. This was in addition to the drugs I was taking to control my high blood pressure and dust/dust mite allergies.
A month ago at my last doctor’s visit, I was ordered to start taking a HUGE number of mega-doses of vitamin and mineral supplements.
Which lead me to a BUNCH of questions:
Are there any interactions that I should be watching out for?
..- What are all these things supposed to be doing to improve my health?
.. - Are any of these things the cause of:
- …a constant low volume ringing in my ears?
- …a weird pattern I’m seeing in my blood sugar levels? [Since I’ve started taking the supplements, my fasting blood sugar levels have increased dramatically.]
..
Standard Disclaimer:
I am NOT a doctor. I am not offering medical advice. You should ALWAYS consult your doctor before making any medical decisions.
Why share such personal information?
Well, I’m a bit of a drama queen. LOL I love talking about Moí!
Actually, I’m a retired Librarian. I enjoy sharing information. I get a kick out of it.
Since I’m doing this research online no matter what for my own benefit, I thought I’d make a series of blog posts out of it so that others could benefit as well.
Read the first article in this series for more detail on how and why I chose these particular links / articles.
Janumet (Sitagliptin / Metformin)
Q: When and how should I take Janumet?
A: Online, everything I read said “take with meals” — but that wasn’t exactly “helpful. Sheesh. I wanted EXACTNESS! Did “with meals” mean just before the meal or actually when I was eating? Did the drug need time to be absorbed BEFORE I started to eat? And if I was supposed to take it “with meals” then wouldn’t that mess up the timing if I’m taking two pills a day? I mean, logically, it makes sense to take two doses of medication 12 hours apart if you are taking “two per day”. If I took it “with meals” then it wouldn’t be 12 hours apart — after all, breakfast and dinner are NOT 12 hours apart. *sigh*
Of course every article also said to “ask your doctor” so I did. 🙂
My doctor said: to take the 1st pill of the day 10 minutes before eating breakfast (basically I take it when I start cooking breakfast). For the second dose of the day, my doctor said to take it approximately 12 hours later. So if I eat breakfast at 9 am, then I should take the second pill around 9 pm.
Q: Any drug interactions that I should watch for?
A: Yes, as with most drugs there is a big long list of possible interactions.
I discovered that, for me, what I need to be most aware of is a possible interaction with my high blood pressure medication, Enalapril and with my Niacin supplement. So, I bet you can guess what I’m about to say…all together now:
Note to self: ask my doctor about this when I see her next time!
Janumet (Sitagliptin / Metformin)
Information / Articles / Links
Janumet (WebMD)
Link: http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-148074/janumet-oral/details
Diabetes Medicines You Don’t Inject (WebMD)
Link: http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/oral-medicine-pills-treat-diabetes
Sitagliptin (MedlinePlus)
Link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a606023.html
Metformin (MedlinePlus)
Link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a696005.html
Medication Guide for Janumet (Food & Drug Administration)
Note: This is a PDF file. Get the current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Link: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/drugs/drugsafety/ucm204268.pdf
Janumet (website mantained by the drug’s manufacturer)
Link: http://www.janumetxr.com/sitagliptin_metformin_HCL/janumetxr/consumer/what-is-janumet/index.xhtml
Note: Yes, you can get lots of information on the manufacturer’s website.
However, when using any manufacturer’s website, you need to put on your “buyer beware” hat. Think about it: the company is a business which means that it is to their advantage to emphasis the positives and minimize the negatives even as they do everything the law requires them to do in terms of disclosure of risks.
Trust, but verify be thy motto when reading information provided by the manufacturer.
Discount ($5 copay program / Savings Card for Janumet)
Note: I am on this program. The application process is easy to complete. Basically the program works like a coupon when you pick up your monthly prescription at the pharmacy. My copay for this drug is $100. The pharmacy rings up $100 then they apply the “coupon” and Tah-DAH, my balance due is only $5.
Link: http://www.activatethecard.com/7159/
Free Trial for Janumet (30 day supply)
Note: I took advantage of this when I first started taking Janumet. For me that was 60 tablets because my doctor ordered me to take it 2x per day. The Free Trial works like a coupon at the pharmacy during checkout. When the coupon is applied, there is zero cost. You pay nothing. Your insurance company pays nothing.
Special Note: If you have trouble redeeming the coupon have the clerk ring the transaction all by itself. When I did this, it wouldn’t work if I had anything else on the ticket other than just the Janumet. I have no idea why the computers were not happy but once ONLY the Janumet was on the ticket, everything worked fine.
See ya on the dance floor!
P.S. If you find any of this information valuable, please “Like” and “Share” it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter etc.
P.P.S. If you found this information REALLY helpful and/or valuable then please consider helping me out by making a small donation via PayPal to help me
- pay for my medications,
- pay for vitamins & supplements,
- and/or to help me pay for practice fees as I return to the dance floor.
See ya on the dance floor!
Share with folks on the Interwebz :-)
Sharing Diabetes and Supplement Information #1: Introduction, Invokana, and ACA
First post in a series…
When I started writing this post two days ago, I had intended it to be just a “quick” post.
SIGH
Well, it is turning into quite the project. And waaaaaaaaay too long for a single post. So, here is the “introduction” and the 411 on Invokana.
For those who aren’t hip to all the current jargon… “411” is what the kid’s these days call “information.”
Questions! I got Questions!
Because of a recent doctor’s visit, I have a bunch of questions. And I went online and started doing some research, trying to get answers to those questions.
After a little bit, it occurred to me that I should put the information I found into a blog post. Sort of a one-stop shop with links, where I use my searching skills to save you folks a lot of time.
I know that I’ve had a recent surge of new subscribers who found my blog because of the Diabetes information that I’ve posted.
So, if any of you folks have answers or comments based on your own experience then, please SHARE them in the comments at the end of this post.
Standard Disclaimer:
I am NOT a doctor. I am not offering medical advice. You should ALWAYS consult your doctor before making any medical decisions.
A bit of background…
I was diagnosed with diabetes in June of this year. I started taking Invokana and Janumet in mid-June and started testing my AM fasting blood sugar levels in late June.
I’m visiting my doctor once a month right now so that my doctor can keep a close watch on things not only because I’m a newly diagnosed diabetic, but because I’m “obese” (workin’ on that!) and I have high blood pressure (workin’ on that too!)
One bonus of going to see my doctor monthly is that it really helps me; just knowing that I’m going to weigh in and will have my blood pressure checked, keeps me on track. To date, I’ve lost 27-30 lbs since my heaviest weight of 333 lbs. Yay!
My weight fluctuates a little, of course. This morning I weighed 305 which gives me a 28lb loss to date. But the good news is that I’m nearing at a threshold / plateau breaker of 300 lbs. Unfortunately my body is resisting going past that hurdle. Grrrrrrrrrr
At last month’s regular visit, about four weeks ago, I had a really BIG blood work panel done when I was at my doctor’s office. That visit was the 3 month anniversary of my diabetes diagnosis; which is why she did the big blood work panel — 3 months after I had been taking the two diabetes medications.
Well, last week, at this month’s doctor visit, she gave this multi-page report that were the results from the blood work.
OMG! It was huge.
Who knew that you could discover so much about a person just from their blood! A bit overwhelming actually.
Good & Bad News in the Report
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Insurance Lessons Learned
…In the School of Hard Knocks
Because right now I’m doing a lot of insurance related things I thought I’d share some “tips” drawn from my own experiences.
Disclaimer: EVERYBODY is different. I believe these tips to apply to most people but you need to double check when applying them to your own situation.
None of this stuff is new, there are tons of sites out on the Interwebz that can tell you this stuff…
HOWEVER… whatcha get here is proof that those “tips” — well these “tips” actually do produce results. I’ve “been there” and “done that” and have the battle scars to prove it.
So, hopefully my experience can help you minimize the pain of dealing with insurance companies whose primary goal is to make money.
You gotta know the rules
My personal experience has shown me that “Insurance companies are NOT your friends“. Insurance companies are not there to make you healthy or to get you healthy.
They are there to make money. They are a BUSINESS and the less that you use your insurance, the MORE money they make.
Which seems counter productive from the view point of us folks who NEED the medical services. The insurance company will say “NO” unless they are required by law or by contract to say “yes”.
Don’t misunderstand me — I am not advocating that you try to stick it to the insurance companies and rack up unneeded medical costs. That is called “fraud” and will get you in trouble. But what I am saying is that if you and your doctor think you need it then make the insurance company do EVERYTHING it is obligated to do.
Insurance companies are restricted by laws and by the contract to which you agree when you buy the policy. But they are counting on your ignorance to not utilize all of your benefits.
And they do NOT make it easy to figure out exactly what you can get. sigh
To protect yourself, you will need two VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS:
- Your Policy Handbook — This is your contract with your insurance company. It has TONS of information about your benefits under the policy and sometimes has forms and/or procedural information. Often, near the front is a “summary chart” that gives you the basics of your policy including Out of Pocket Maximums, Copay information for doctors and drugs
- Your Drug Formulary — This is a list of the drugs which are covered or not covered under your policy and the level at which they are covered. Prices and coverage vary from plan to plan even within the same company. (see the above disclaimer)
Often these are available online either as a webpage or as a PDF file. The Drug Formulary is often available as a searchable interface online.
Save EVERYTHING!!!!
Save a copy of every email sent and received. EVERYTHING!!!!
Why?
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My shortest post ever… “I’m on a Positive Feedback Loop”
In completely random order…
OK, folks this is going to look more like a “Facebook” or “Twitter” post than one of my usual blog posts…
BUT… Sqqqqeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! I am feeling AWESOME at the moment and I just had to share
The past couple / three weeks have seen some NOTICEABLE improvements in my health and fitness. A few months ago I felt as if I had hit the very bottom; I just didn’t see how it could get any worse.
Now, a few months further along, I think I was right. That was the “bottom” — why? I’m glad you asked. Because since then things have been getting better, a little at a time. A TEENY tiny LITTLE itty bitty bit at a time, but better.
So, in no particular order, these are the things that I’m happy about this morning:
- My weight on the scale this morning was 300.6 lbs. OMG!!! OMG!!! OMG!!!!! Sooooooooooooooooo close to being under 300lbs! I can almost TASTE it!
- I went shopping at Kroger this week. Which is a HUGE step. I’ve been shopping at this tiny grocery mart called “Braums” for the bulk of my food. Because frankly I didn’t have the strength or stamina to go shopping at a large grocery store — the distance I had to cover to do my shopping was more than I had the strength to do. Literally. No exageration. But this week I shopped at Kroger, AND I was able to carry ALL of the groceries up the stairs without having to ask my room mate for help! Yay!
- I did a two loads of laundry on Saturday. And it wasn’t until I was done that I realized that it wasn’t an ordeal. Which is FRIGGIN’ AMAZING!
- I have met my Out of Pocket Maximum with my insurance for the year, which means that for the rest of the year everything is covered at 100% Yay! Even doctor’s visits copays and Rx copays are all zero! Yay!
- Did I mention that my weight was 300.6 lbs?
- I sold my bed! Yay! That means that I no longer have to pay $29 a month for a storage unit. Yay!
- And the money from the bed ($150) covered the gap between my monthly pension and the amount I need to pay bills. Now all I need to earn is money for food for the 2nd half of the month. Yay!
- I did a chart for my doctor — I have an appointment tomorrow morning (Tue Oct 6). My blood glucose numbers are on a downward trajectory which means that the diabetes medication is doing its job. I think it will do an even better job once I start taking it on a completely regular schedule. I sometimes forget to take the night-time dose. (My bad.) My doctor is going to give me a “Mom Look” tomorrow when I see her. But she’ll give me a hug for loosing more weight! 😀
- Avg for Last two weeks: 125
- Avg for Last four weeks: 126
- Avg for Last Last eight weeks: 127
- Avg for Last twelve weeks: 130
- Avg for Sept: 126
- Avg for Aug: 128
- Avg for July: 137
- And finally. This is the week. Come hell or high water, I am going to get to the dance studio three times this week! Well, technically, I’m not going to a “dance studio” — For me my “dance studio” is actually 24 Hour Fitness aerobics room, butcha know what I mean.. 🙂
See ya on the dance floor!
5-6-7-8 Dancing My Way to a Healthy Me! 