I've been on Megace for about a week and a half so far and doing well except for one thing. My blood sugars. They are high and continue to rise. If I weren't on Megace right now and had these readings I would be diagnosed as a diabetic as the fasting readings are above 125 (even though I am being careful with my diet, keeping it low glycemic and not overeating, in fact I've lost 5 pounds since starting the medication). I am taking my own readings every morning, but only started 4 days ago, so don't have any pre-Megace readings to compare them to (I was delayed a bit by having a script faxed in for my old meter which I then discovered was broken). In the last year I have had 3 PET/CT scans and they always took a fasting reading for those and they were normal (below 100). I've been keeping in close contact with my internist about all this and emailed him a bit panicked this morning as the reading today was 18 points higher than the one 4 days ago and I'm really trying hard (seems to me by the way I'm eating they should be holding steady or going down). He called me within a half hour of my sending the email (I love this new dr.!) and was reassuring. He said that if I were actually diabetic he would be happy with these kinds of readings so to keep working on the diet and exercise (oh yeah, I'm supposed to do that too LOL?) and we'll just take this slow, no need for medication at this point especially if I end up going off the Megace in a couple of months (if it doesn't work, or if does work and the med onc switches me to a different type that doesn't raise blood sugar levels). I will go in and get an A1C blood test, which will help determine if I may have been diabetic before the Megace (it gives you a sense of you blood sugar levels over the last 2 or 3 months). He didn't think this short period on the Megace would make much of a difference in those results. So I'll go do that tomorrow.
Meanwhile I am getting really paranoid about eating. First I have to watch my sodium intake because of my blood pressure (which has been pretty good at home, but awful at the drs. lately), then I have to watch everything else because of the high blood sugars. It makes me afraid to eat and I find myself spending a half hour to an hour before each meal trying to figure out what to eat. I'll get used to it, it's not like I haven't done this before (when I was pregnant and had gestational diabetes and also all those years on The Zone) but it's a PITA and I'm not happy about it. I probably should go back to The Zone diet as it works real well at keeping my insulin levels stable. I am kind of doing that now, without all the calculations and paranoia about any carb that is not a vegetable (meaning some whole grains and legumes are okay).
I hate this, it just sucks all the joy out of food and cooking and eating for me. I love food, I love cookbooks (I have over 1000 at least), I love eating. I hate deprivation, I hate calculations, I hate feeling like food is the enemy. I'll get over it (hopefully) eventually, but for now I'm feeling pissy about it all (my typical initial reaction to having to make life changes for my health's sake).
2 comments:
Hey Michele, I think feeling pissy about it is a perfectly normal reaction for anyone, let alone for someone like you who has been through so much! I was reading something earlier today about how caffeine can affect blood glucose levels, and how a particular arthritis drug can perhaps protect against type 2 diabetes. And then you have this Megace increasing glucose levels. It's enough to make your head spin! (but luckily for you, not your back ache :^)
Yes, thankfully the back is holding up (please, everyone who is reading this knock on wood, I am so afraid to jinx this!) And today I had a fasting reading below diabetic range (but still above normal- 118). Only thing is that I'm getting hungrier, could be because I'm eating a lot less, or could be the Megace side effect kicking in. Should be interesting!
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