MWard52's Journal, 10 Jul 24

Yesterday I had my 3 month follow up appointment with my PCC. It had been 3 months since I saw her. She's been keeping a close eye on my because my blood pressure has been too high even though she's got me on the maximum dose of medication. On the last visit she told me the ball was in my court and that I needed to lose weight. She wanted me to lose 5 to 6 pounds before she saw me again. As I have chronicled here, I've met that goal and lost it - met it and lost it - at least twice. AT yesterday's weigh in I was 197.1 or four pounds down in three months. That's better than gaining, but it's just not enough to make a real difference.

So she started talking to me about weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy and that lot. She explained that my insurance would cover these because I'm diabetic. It would mean close monitoring and weekly check ins for the first few months, and that I would have to stay on the medication for good or any weight loss would come back. She talked about how these things work and what the common side effects are. I had of course heard much about these before and my overall reaction was that I don't think it would be a good choice for me. I hate the idea of adding additional drugs that I will be stuck with forever. I already have enough of those. I also don't like the sound of those side effects. I have IBS but I've been on an elimination diet and have found some foods that I'm quite sensitive to. By eliminating those my symptoms have been greatly improved, so I'm not keen on the idea of bringing that misery back into my life. So, when she paused to get my thoughts on the topic, I expressed my misgivings. But she went on to focus more on a particular one in the group that she's had good results with in her practice and that's Trulicity. Now apparently that's one that is specifically for diabetes and not labeled as a weight loss drug per se, but weight loss is experienced in people who take it. So I said that I would think about it and she accepted that and went on to talk about other stuff. My BP, by the way was a "gold standard" 120/74 - so that's nothing to sneeze at.

I have been doing more reading and research on Trulicity and my feelings are still that I would rather not go there, but I want to see what can I do over the next six months until my next appointment. I want to really try to buckle down and see if I can turn things around on my own. I'm setting myself a goal to lose 10 pounds (minimum) over the next 6 months. That's less than 2 pounds a month and less than a half pound a week. That should be quite "doable". If in six months time I'm still struggling with the same 5 pounds off and on, I will be willing to give Trulicity a try.

In addition to working on my food intake, I need to get my sleep back on track. I have gotten less than 5 hours each night for the past 3 nights in a row. That's not enough. When I don't get enough sleep I easily overeat as I'm looking to food to give me the energy I'm losing from now getting proper rest. Then my ability to resist temptations is also much weaker when I don't have proper rest.

So, FS friends - wish me luck.

89.4 kg Lost so far: 2.2 kg.    Still to go: 25.9 kg.    Diet followed: Reasonably Well.