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Today was my consultation and lab follow-up appointment with my new doctor. Wow – I like her! She has PCOS herself (I thought that was nice – she can identify with what I’m going through) but says that they’re calling it PCOS less and less and simply referring to it as Insulin Resistance. . . or even pre-diabetes (yikes!).
She didn’t have my progesterone, testosterone, or estrogen checked like I thought she would. She checked my thyroid and my fasting insulin (and the a1c) instead. While the insulin was at a “normal” level of 12, she said that was way too high considering that I’m on 1500mg of metformin a day. It should have been much lower. Supposedly it’s supposed to be 5 or under.
Then she informed me of my new lifestyle changes. Basically a low-carb diet and 30 min of exercise a day. She said fruits and veggies are ok (I asked her how it compared to Atkins since I’m somewhat familiar with that diet), but no rice or pasta or bread. I told her that I’m famous for my homemade bread and she just laughed at me. I asked her about the exercise (we just got a treadmill and an exercise bike in the past couple of weeks) – she said that I have to sweat for 30 minutes. . .so I told her I hate to sweat. . .she told me that that’s what showers were made for. :laugh_tb: She’s pretty no nonsense, but you can really tell that she cares.
She switched me from the extended release metformin and put me on the regular (which is cheaper, yay!), but upped the dose to 850mg a meal, so I’m going from 1500 mg a day to 2550 mg a day. . . :blink_tb: (the tummy fun began about an hour after eating dinner tonight) She did tell me that the fewer carbs I eat the fewer GI problems I should have, so we’ll see.
I was concerned about picking up the medicine today because this week is one of the tighter weeks of the month (because of where bills fall in the month). I prayed that God would provide the money for the medicine, and picked up the phone to call the pharmacy to see how much it would cost. It was $3 less than I had mentally allotted. I couldn’t help but smile – God was proving to me that He indeed would provide. It was just a small thing, but it was a reminder that I needed, especially after the medical bill that came in the mail today from the testing I had done last month.
So. . .Stephen is changing his diet too. We started tonight. I don’t mind changing our eating to low-carb, but it’s going to take some getting used to while I get new ideas for meals. . .
Thanks Debby – I’ll look into it.
Try the Sonoma Diet. It’s very big on fresh fruits and vieggies and meat. The only grains allowed are whole. Brown rice, whole wheat bread and tortillas. The recipes are really yummy too!
http://www.sonomadiet.com
Meredith – thanks for the encouragment! Just thinking about your blog reminded me that I need to blog about the thrift store steal I got the other day….
Susan – thanks for the heads-up. I’ve found that I tolerate metformin pretty well, it’s just upping my dose that usually does me in. So far I’m feeling better on the regular than I was on the extended release.
Stephanie – the budget is the biggest concern of mine with the low-carb eating. I can think of plenty of great meals, but most of them would cost more than I have to spend in a week.
When you come up with this new recipes ideas send me some. We need to do some changing of our diet (on a budget) and you are good at figuring out that stuff. If you come up with anything let me know. Hope everyone is well. I love the beach pics. Seems all beaches are different. Gods amazing hand.It amazes me how there all different. Anyway hope all the meds work they work pretty good for me. Mixed with iron though is not a good thing let me tell ya. I am off to school. be safe and we love ya
This is very interesting to me! I’d love to hear how you do as you make your changes.
If you’re having tummy trouble with Metformin that doesn’t stop, be sure to tell your doctor. I took it for 6 months and had some very unpleasant bowel problems the whole time. By the time I decided to tell the doctor, I was feeling worse and worse every day. My sugar was good, but I felt like dirt! I found that I can’t take any amount of Metformin. Not saying that will happen to you; just don’t want you to go through the horrible stuff I did with it!
Looking forward to hearing how things go for you!
Melody, I cook this way for my husband. It’s really hard on the budget at first, because you no longer have those cheap fillers like rice and potatoes. But it balances out in the end, because the proteins fill you up longer and keep snack cravings to a minimum.
I’ll be praying for your success!