About a year ago, I scheduled a doctor’s visit with my family physician to have my A1C checked. I was experiencing signs of high blood sugar and was just feeling like something was wrong.
It turned out my assumptions were correct and I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes with an A1C over 10. I was placed on Metformin and Glipizide to see if that would help.
Initially, the new medication and the change in diet seemed to be working. My next A1C checkup gave me a number in the 7 range. With my A1C number down, things seemed to be looking up. However, the good news didn’t last long.
It wasn’t long and I started to feel ‘icky’ again. My vision was blurry more often than not. I would get headaches and my face would begin to feel hot. I started to regularly check my sugar level again and the numbers were typically in the high 200s and low 300s. Numbers in the 100s were rarely on my meter readout.
The Next Step
My follow-up appointment arrived quickly and I was not surprised to hear that my A1C was at 8.6. It was moving up again.
A lot of this was my fault. I was eating pasta again. My dad would call me up and say, “Hey, you want to go to Olive Garden for dinner?”
My answer was typically, “Absolutely. When are you picking me up?”
Aside from the pasta, I’ve been eating Bridge Mix. I don’t know if you’ve had Bridge Mix lately, but you should run to the store and get some. Unless you are diabetic, and then you should probably ration yourself.
I’m trying to do better.
I explained to my doctor about my late night Bridge Mix issues and my love of pasta. I also talked with her about how, even on very good weeks when I really try to eat as healthy as possible, numbers in the 100s for my blood sugar seem to be extremely difficult to achieve.
Her response, “Ashley, let’s try Ozempic.”
I have heard of the medication, since it seems to be in the news lately, and I was willing to give it a try.
My First Ozempic Dose
Ozempic is taken with an injection pen. You dial your dose, and then inject the medication under the skin in either your stomach, thigh, or upper arm. You take one does per week.
Since the box said to use the stomach for the best results, I chose to try it even though I was very hesitant about using the abdomen area.
My husband, Brian, and I searched up a YouTube video on how to administer the medication. The video that I found was very straight forward and easy to follow. You can find the video here if you would like to watch it.
After some procrastinating, I finally pushed the pin onto my stomach and held the button down. The dial turns to ‘0’ and then you hold it for another 6 seconds.
It was basically pain free. I hardly felt anything at all.
I take Enbrel injections once a week for my Psoriasis. For those injections, I use my thigh and they sting for about 30 seconds as the medication enters your body. With the Ozempic Injection, I felt the tiniest of pricks on my skin and that was it.
Weekly Updates
My plan with this Blog Post Category is to just give weekly updates on how my blood sugar levels are doing, as well as if I am seeing any weight loss.
This category will also be where I document any side effects that I may experience.
I took my first dose of Ozempic on 9/20/23. The first four weeks of injections are at a small dosage of 0.25 mg. After the first 4 weeks, the dosage increases to 0.5 mg for 2 weeks and then I believe you move to dosages of 1.0 mg per week.
While I know that Ozempic is not a magical cure and that I need to eat healthy, I’m hopeful that this medication will help me get back on the right track.
Goals for Today:
- Go For a Walk
- Clean the Kitchen
- Spend Time in My Cabin