Not getting into too much detail, I’ve been a raging animal for several months. Months. I’ve flipped out on a dime, popped blood vessels out of my forehead, and pissed off some clients a time or two (you know you’re raging when it comes across via e-mail). This is why I had my blood drawn for levels Friday at clinic.
The results are in.
A little background first
I began shots when I was barely over 100lbs and pre-diabetic, on the verge of going on diabetic pills. After doing that for a while, I gained weight and we changed our diet and I had been vitamin compliant for a few months. I started getting angrier and angrier. They reduced my dosage and switched me to doing it every 2 weeks to reduce the ups and downs. Eventually that concentration of testosterone cypionate wasn’t available, so when that got cut in half, we doubled the frequency to get the same amount.
Here’s my history:
| Date | Free | Total |
| April 2010 | 74 | 402 | August 2010 | 104 | 376 | November 2010 | 167 | 516 | September 2011 | 255 | 966 |
Legend
April 2010: post-compliant, pre-diet change, no change in dose: 300mg bi-weekly
August 2010: post-compliant, pre-diet change, gained weight, changed frequency, not amount: 150mg weekly
November 2010: post-compliant, post-diet change, maintained weight, same frequency: down to 100mg weekly
September 2011: post-compliant, post-diet change, maintained weight, changed frequency and dose: down to 50mg bi-weekly
I’m being cut back by 75% because my levels are anywhere between 2 and 4 times what they should be, depending on which number and who you believe about what levels are normal. I guess now would be a good time to apologize to anyone who’s had a “bad Jesse experience” in the last few months. Maybe you deserved it, but I probably still overreacted beyond my normal, even demeanor.
So… it would appear that the boys are working doing their job making juice. This is starting to explain a little bit why I was so small as a teen considering how underweight I was. I know CF probably had some to do with it, along with my parent’s height, but I was also darn thin and small-boned. I’ve just started to fill out like a man in the last year. We’ve been eating a lot of fresh veggies and fresh meats since Beautiful was diagnosed with several allergies, so I have relatively few processed foods compared to our first 3 years of marriage.
The more we watch shows on food-related health issues, the more we’re able to weed out the crap and get good stuff. I’m eating a ton of eggs, more salmon, taking fish oil caps, and actually taking my ADEK + zinc, all of which are supposed to increase natural levels anyway.
It’s starting to look like I won’t need any next time we do levels, which I’d be fine with, because it’s a pain in the butt.
Hi, I’m Jesse and I’m weird.
Clinic visits and figuring out details related to planning for future events always turns my mind towards transplants. I’m sorry if it depresses you, and I know I’ll be scared bowel-less in pre-op if that day ever comes (even though my doctor said “we’ve never lost anyone on the table”), but some people also need to be reminded that this as a reality of CF. Unless there is a cure before my bugs become resistant to every treatment available, it is inevitable sometime down the road.
I’ve mentioned a few times on finance-related posts before that we have several savings accounts that are directly associated with my CF. We’ve come a long way since we got married with our financial planning, and every time I wonder where our money goes, I’m reminded of how much we need to have sitting out of touch for medical events – medical events that would have sunk us faster than the Titanic had they happened 4 years ago.