Author: kathleen

My gastro doctor called last night and said she had not received the coverage review paperwork for me, but had for other patients.  She also wondered if there was another medication we could use that wouldn’t cause so many problems.  So I called Medco last night, they told me I had to call the coverage hotline to get the paperwork sent and that all other medications that could be used instead also had to have coverage review under our policy.  Also called the coverage hotline and they are supposed to send in the paperwork.  She also said that she’d have her people call the 1-800 number.

On my part, I’m experimenting with going with 1 tablet a day instead of 2, and see if there is a difference in my sleep.  Scary, but I am going to give it a try.

The best part though, is the samples from the endo’s office, because now I can relax a bit and don’t have to have the protonix TODAY.

And the gastro doctor did call in an emergency supply but the insurance doesn’t want to pay for it.  (According to Alberton’s pharmacy).

At least, I assume that giving patients samples are no big deal to most doctor’s office.  I have had a few, especially primary care physicians, that always made sure you had enough medication samples that you’d "covered" the copay. 

However, for me it’s a BIG deal. My prescription bottle of Protonix is going to run out the middle of next week.  Right now, Medco is still showing that the gastric doctor hasn’t asked for the coverage review — though it could be that she has, and they haven’t done it yet.  At any rate, it isn’t shipping.

I’d emailed my endo’s office at the beginning of this saga (on Monday, December 24, when this all started on December 22), and asked for Prontonix samples.  They’ve actually been able to hook me up before, so I was hoping.  I’d even called the Primary care physician but they were out.

Well, the endo’s assistant was back in this week — he’s still out — and she gave me a huge bag of Prontoix samples.  Enough to last me over a MONTH!  I didn’t realize just how much at the time, I always think it’s rude to look in the horse’s mouth when it’s handed to you — so I didn’t look until I got back home.   So I can relax a bit now.

This is scary until you read the explaination and then it makes sense. And yes, I have documented restless leg syndrome from two sleep studies.  I wasn’t a believer in it until they put me on Requip.  It seems that some patients respond to it and not to the other medication (which I was on and saw no difference in sleep).  Luckly, I still find gambling boring (a side affect of these medications).  And a good pun, now that I think about it.

Restless legs and heart… – Blogs – Revolution Health

 

artery disease. Over 3000 men and women were evaluated in the Sleep Heart Health study, a large ongoing group of patients being evaluated for various sleep disorders. About 7 % of the women and 3.3 % of the men had RLS.These people were then compared to the people without RLS for the likelihood of having either ccronary artery disease (heart attack) or stroke. People with RLS were about 2 times more likely to have one of these conditions.

Check the URL of the website — this content is currently being stolen.  For legimate content, see http://www.kweaver.org

I know I was! I still miss my local gym — I worked out there for years and really enjoyed them. Used their personal trainers, etc. Since they closed I built a home gym. I’ve never really been happy at any of the chain gyms, even those that specialized in women.

The gyms at Texas Instruments was great too.  A benefit I really miss.

Quoted from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/local-gyms-outpace-the-national-chains/:

Local Gyms Outpace the National Chains – Well – Tara Parker-Pope – Health – New York Times Blog

If your New Year’s resolution includes going back to the gym, you may be happier at a local club than a national chain, according to a new survey by Consumer Reports.

Actually a combination of a couple of these items happened during my first period class.  My Dexcom reciever kept going during my first period class — I teach computer science so random beeping always disturbs the class.

I pulled out the receiver and said, "whoops, I’m high". My kids said that was the first time a teacher ever said that to them, and it was the first time that they realized it probably wasn’t a good thing.

Quoted from http://www.diabetesmine.com/2008/01/you-know-youre.html:

Diabetes Mine: You Know You’re Diabetic When…

You say that you feel “high” in public and then wonder why people around you give you weird looks.

My content is being stolen again <sigh>.

If you are reading this anywhere but with the domain name http://www.kweaver.org then you are reading stolen content.  Funny thing is, I happen to be female, not male!  At least I’m being referred to as male at http://my-diabetes-blog.com/

If you do find me elsewhere, drop me an email at kathleen at gmail.com and let me know — like I said, I know about http://my-diabetes-blog.com/

FYI:  My 6 year blog anniversary is coming up soon.  So I guess I should take content theft as flattering.

2007 was an iffy year for me when it came to diabetes.  First, my blood sugar and other health problems have been more difficult to deal with.  My A1C has been higher this year, dog agility has been harder (my ruler for fitness), and over all just haven’t been doing well.

However, I’ve also taken advantage of some new advances — the Dexcom CGMS, though I am not sure that it me manage diabetes that much, and Fit4D.   They’ve really helped me figure out what I need to do to improve diabetes management, but short term, it often doesn’t seem worth the effort. 

As for 2008, I’m going to focus on trying to improve all of the above.  My highest priority right now is to work on sleeping better so I’m not tired all the time – that still has been a problem.

For every one reading — have a Happy 2008, and let’s hope it is better for all of us.

Argh!  I just checked — and the Protonix order is on hold — they need to hear from the doctor. Of course, it was too late to deal with it today — doctor’s office was already closed, so I’ll check on it on Wednesday and I am definately going to have to get a short term supply, hopefully via samples.

As seen in this patient insert at http://www.symlin.com/PDF/HCP/SYMLIN-pi-combined.pdf — we’re making progress. It indicates that a Symlin pen injector is available.  However, I called to ask another question today, and the respresentative on the phone indicated that they were not shipping yet, but that I should contact my pharmacy. They are hoping for mid January.  I think I’ll last that long.