Strange Complaints

Despite it not being covered by my insurance - at least, as of yet - I’ve been taking samples of a pill suggested by my cardiologist. Normally I’m not that big on trying samples, but as this was one of the new GLP-1 pills I was curious enough to work through my usual hesitation.

So far, I’m not sure if it’s been worth it or even working?

As of now I’ve been taking them for six weeks and if you’re wondering “Michael, have you lost any weight or noticed any difference in the way you think about snacking?” I’d have to say that I don’t know and also that I don’t know.

Over the past six weeks I’ve lost a few pounds and then the next day I’ll gain them back only to add one or two on for good measure and then that will happen over and over again.

Taking the timeline out to look at the entire month and a half as a graphed line if you squint REALLY hard you can see that OVERALL I’m trending slightly downward but it’s the kind of downward slant that nothing would roll down from,

As for snacking or generally always thinking about food I’d have to say that is maybe where I feel a little more positive that these little pills are doing something?

Before I started trying these pills I’ll confess that if I went to get one bowl of chips I’d end up eating that bowl of chips and then going to refill it at least one more time. Then, an hour later I’d probably have gone to get a bowl of popcorn.

Currently I’ll get a bowl and fill it halfway up so that if I do feel the urge to refill the bowl, It’ll end up simply being a bowl of chips and that’s… it? 

Of course there are also days where I am stubborn and just grab a honey bun because I want one and no stupid medication is going to deter me from having it - and those are the nights my blood sugar goes up to two hundred and I can hear my mother’s voice in the back of my head calling me a dumb###.

So, obviously the samples (which are the lowest possible dose and can’t really go up because, well, they’re SAMPLES) aren’t quite hitting that spot where they quiet down that “food noise” they are always talking about. 

I’d love to try it properly but my insurance doesn’t cover it. In fact they don’t cover most of the GLP-1s out there, choosing only to cover Ozempic and even then only as a shot.

Pills are too easy apparently, and they want you to suffer anxiety over giving yourself a shot if you want to get a better handle on your diabetes and weight.

Never mind the fact that as a child I have distinct memories of my mother calmly telling a nurse to give me my vaccinations as a child THROUGH my jeans if I didn’t cooperate with her.

I don’t like shots. Still.

These sample pills are doing just enough to interest me into seeing what more I could try, though. As nervous as I was about reaching the age I’m at (an age neither parent reached) I think I’d like to see how much further I can outlive them, y’know?

That’s going to require me to take better care of myself, though. If that means talking to my primary doctor or my cardiologist about shifting these samples to a covered medicine then that’s what I’ll have to do.

I suppose I’m writing this to say if you are also considering such a move - no matter your age - I believe that you can do it. If a fat old man like me can muster up the courage to try then I’m 1000% positive you can do it too.