Ten Years a Diabetic

 

I was diagnosed with diabetes ten years ago. I started going through the ritual every day of testing my blood three times a day when waking and two hours after a meal. I'm also taking pills for controlling blood sugar, but it's a disease that is gradual. Five years in, I started on insulin. I gradually got up to 120mg a day, why my weight went up so high. 

Then daily injections of Victosa, which helped some. 

TV started advertising Ozempic. It's only once a week injection and supposed to help lose weight. I had to wait two years before Medicare would cover it.

I weighed 275 lbs. when I started taking Ozempic. In three months, I was down to 235. It was like having a mild case of motion sickness. My stomach was queasy all the time. I could skip breakfast. Anything fatty turned my stomach. Bacon, sausage, pulled pork I grew nauseous at the smell. Chicken, turkey, hamburger in a small amount was okay. Once I went from eating lunch at noon and didn't eat again until the next day at noon. The longest I've ever fasted.

Then my body adjusted. I could get by with a couple of slices of bacon and patty sausage, but still not pulled pork, and I used to love a good barbecue pulled pork sandwich.

My blood sugar skyrocketed the first six months because he had me stop taking Lantus. He had me go back on Lantus for only 30mg a day. Blood sugar leveled off, so I was usually around 130 to 160 in the morning.

My weight went back to between 245 and 255 but most of the time was 250. This is why Ozempic is not a weight loss drug. It helps with your weight until the body adjusts to it. Then it doesn't work for that. It does help keep blood sugar down.

My doctor suggested Rybelsus. It's a daily pill, and he said it was the pill form of Ozempic. Hey not having to remember to take an injection sounded good. The major drawback of Rybelsus is you have to wait 30 minutes after taking it before being able to eat or drink. It worked for three months for my blood sugar but didn't help with my weight. I got up to 260. Then I needed to increase insulin to 50 mg.

For two years Ozempic has made national news. Even though the drug states it's not for obesity, doctors have been prescribing it for overweight patients. I read that they're still working on Ozempic in pill form and that Rybelsus is not as affective. The doctor lied.

I got a new doctor and I asked to go back on Ozempic, this past August. He complied and it took until September before I could get any. A three-month supply. My weight went down again and I'm not eating as much, and my blood sugar has decreased. I was taking 50mg of Lantus a night and finding that in the morning I was around 110 to 120, then it started to drop to under a 100 and one morning it was 69. I had to take glucose tablets to get me to the kitchen for some orange juice.

I cut down to 30mg of Lantus and things have balanced out. If my blood sugar is over 230 at bedtime, I'll take 50mg if it's under that I take 30. I can regulate it this way. 

When I was down to my last pen, I ordered a refill. The local pharmacy didn't know if they could get it. It took three weeks to get the first three-month supply and they might not get any for a month or more. 

I hate having to go to Express Scripts mail order, but I thought they would be able to get it. I ordered it and they e-mailed back they didn't have it in stock and to transfer the prescription elsewhere, then charged me 23 cents to deny my request.

I had to get the doctor to transfer the prescription back to my local pharmacy and just as I was about to run out and forced to go back to Rybelsus (still have some left-over from before) They got one pen. Three pens are $120 on my insurance. Getting one pen was 45. Great getting it one month at a time runs up the cost from 120 to 135, if I can get it. I've got one week on this pen and the pharmacy still doesn't know when they'll get another one.

To add insult to injury the news has reported that not only are primary care doctors prescribing Ozempic for obesity, but so are psychiatrists. Yesterday I read that plastic surgeons are prescribing it.

I'm waiting for insurance companies to cry out for cutting the time for a drug to go from prescription to over the counter like they did for Prilosec and Claritin. Fat chance (pun intended,)

BTW, I did get my doctor to prescribe the Freestyle blood testing sensors. I got 16 weeks of sensors for free, only had to buy the reader for 87 bucks. It was great. I could check my blood sugar any time, like right before I am deciding what to eat and knowing what I can get away with or go for the salad.

When it came time to reorder the sensors cost $495. There's a "donut hole" in Medicare. Back to sticking my fingers again.