Friday, June 28, 2013

Victoza- Two weeks in

You can see my first post about my journey with Victoza here.  Okay, so the Victoza journey started two weeks ago, and here was my dosing:  Week One: 0.3 units/day.  Week Two: 0.6 units/day.  Now I am starting week three, with 1.2 units/day.  
As last week progressed, I noticed that my body was changing.  I typically have a small "spare tire" around my middle (which I can strategically hide with certain styles of waistbands and tops).  I have long suspected that bundle of extra padding was caused by my insulin pump.  I always have the insertion on my stomach someplace.  With all that insulin being pumped into my tissues for years in the same region, it is bound to cause some fat to accumulate there.  Anyway, the past week I noticed that area getting more lean (it's also where I inject the Victoza).  I have a much (noticeably so) smaller "spare tire".  In fact, it's almost gone!  I have lost about 4 pounds total since starting, which ends up being about 35% of my body weight!  (Yes, I did just calculate that.)
I have found that if I skip breakfast, I have to force myself to eat the rest of the day. I just have no appetite.  Then I get weak, feel tired, etc.  So the trick for me has been to actually eat breakfast, and that seems to allow me to eat for the rest of the day. Mind you, I am not ever HUNGRY anymore- just can eat when it's time to eat without feeling like I don't want to.  Oh, and the wild cravings I have always had- they are gone.  I don't crave anything.  I just eat whatever I fix.  Really, really nice.
The biggest improvement has not been the weight loss, but rather the CONTROL I feel.  I have often felt like food controlled me- because I had to watch every little thing I put in my mouth.  I had to be so restrictive in order to keep my insulin usage down and therefore my weight under control.  I had to worry about going too high, going too low, and if I wanted to LOSE weight, I had to starve myself. I had crazy cravings almost all the time- because I had to deprive myself of what I wanted to eat.  It was a constant battle, a constant concern, a constant distraction. All that has completely vanished.  My glucose numbers are stable all day- no extreme highs or lows.  I am totally EMPOWERED.  I feel better about my diabetes now than I have in the past 7 years. 
If there's one thing Victoza has done for me, it has given me back my control over food.  I am no longer its prisoner.  I am the one in control.

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