Hectic, I must say (just checking in)

[otherindigo]

Actually things have slowed down a little bit, just momentarily. Last Friday and Saturday, my debaters and speakers competed in UIL District competition. My guys placed 1st (UT) and 3rd (Harvard) in LD and will both be advancing to regional competition at UT-Arlington the 1st weekend in May. (Where they are headed this fall)
The Saturday events:
4th place Current Issues and Events - regional alternate (only a sophomore)
4th place Poetry Interpretation - regional alternate
2nd & 3rd Informative Speaking - both to regionals though only one will compete (2nd place has to go to his senior prom)
3rd & 6th Persuasive Speaking - 3rd headed to regionals (only a freshman)
2nd place speech team
Pretty successful weekend, I say. Just so stinkin' proud of my kids. Oh and in January my student congress participants competed at the State UIL Student Congress competition. It was just a pilot program and didn't count for any points towards UIL overall score, but it was a great experience for my debaters and me.

STAAR testing last week. Spring time is always super crazy at probably any school, especially high school

In other news, I'm heading to OKC in a couple of weekends for the Biggest Loser casting call. I can't even begin to try and remember how many this makes, but I could also say that about WWTBAM. I'm hoping this is my season, the one where I just fit perfectly for whatever the producers are looking.

Oh and trivia has started back, at least for points, qualifying for semis and finals. The team I'm on placed 2nd on Tuesday and 1st on Thursday.

[MarleysGh0st]

Congrats to your kids and good luck on the casting call!

[otherindigo]

Congrats to your kids and good luck on the casting call!

Thank you so much!

[ghostjmf]

I'm not trying to earn your eternal enmity here, but (the famous "but..."), since I'm guessing most people don't try out for Biggest Loser for the cash prize but for the enforced weight loss regime, can I suggest an unexpected weight loss aid; one of the drugs they put me on for sudden onset of type II diabetes, Metformin. There are web sites that think Metformin is something the whole world should be taking, that it can cure cancer, whatever. I'd really like to have been on it before I developed my cancer, in case it's true, but one thing I can report is that on a massive daily dose of Metformin, because I had/have massively dire diabetes, A1c test of 14, giving an average blood sugar for a 3 month average of 350 I've lost 13 lbs in 3 months.


The weight loss is because it's an appetite suppressant, pure & simple. The effect against diabetes is currently thought to be that it mimics a natural chemical signal, CBP(?) that tells your liver to stop producing glucagon, a hormone that causes your liver to turn precursor carbohydrates into glucose & put the glucose into your blood. (Either my body is, suddenly, not producing enough insulin on its own [I'm also taking insulin, which generally makes people gain weight to some extent] o its not producing CBP, or both.)


They've got me on 2000 units/day of Metformin, 1000 in the morning, repeat at night. The drug has nausea as a side effect (which eventually mostly goes away), so they put you on 500 units/day at 1st & gradually work up to the larger dose.


People I've spoken to who are diagnosed as "pre-diabetic", & on a much smaller dose, do not report weight loss.


What's really weird is that the weight loss, for me, is in exactly the places most people want weight loss & can't get except by (ugh) plastic surgery; my stomach, my butt. Places my body stores fat, especially my stomach, that I've always been fat in even at a much lower weight. Even at my target weight, to a certain extent.


There's a new drug on the market, vysera(?) which is advertised as causing exactly this kind of weight loss in these target areas; as far as I can tell, the only reason there's an ad campaign for this drug (so far, just for diabetics) is because it's a new drug &, I'm told, even for people who's health plans don't pay for it, Metformin, as a generic drug for many years, is cheap.


My guess is that Meformin never hit the public knowledge as a weight loss drug because the effects are not so dramatic. as. say amphetamines, something I would never get near with a 10-ft pole even at my highest weight. But, along with a severely reduced carbohydrate intake, because of my diabetes, I do seem to keep losing weight. Which is good. I've got 35 lbs to go. Depending on whose scale you believe.

[Bob Juch]

Vysera is an over-the-counter drug so no insurance will pay for it.

[Catfish]

Vysera is an over-the-counter drug so no insurance will pay for it.

Didn't he get killed by Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones?

[Bob Juch]

Vysera is an over-the-counter drug so no insurance will pay for it.

Didn't he get killed by Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones?

That was Viserys.

[ghostjmf]

On local TV, Vysera is being promoted to diabetics, & the ads say "ask your doctor". They also mention that its an injectable drug, via an injection pen, not a hypodermic needle (a la insulin these days), "though not insulin". I would say that being delivered by injection pen is not a selling point for most people.


In various magazines, its promoted at a weight-loss drug, pure & simple; no aim at diabetics, just people who want to lose weight. That the weight is lost from these same areas (stomach, butt) as is caused by Metformin is interesting. I haven't looked up how Vysera is supposed to work; I know that the opinion on how Metformin is supposed to work has only recently been revised to what I stated in the previous post, even though it's been around about 40 years.

[Bob Juch]

On local TV, Vysera is being promoted to diabetics, & the ads say "ask your doctor". They also mention that its an injectable drug, via an injection pen, not a hypodermic needle (a la insulin these days), "though not insulin". I would say that being delivered by injection pen is not a selling point for most people.


In various magazines, its promoted at a weight-loss drug, pure & simple; no aim at diabetics, just people who want to lose weight. That the weight is lost from these same areas (stomach, butt) as is caused by Metformin is interesting. I haven't looked up how Vysera is supposed to work; I know that the opinion on how Metformin is supposed to work has only recently been revised to what I stated in the previous post, even though it's been around about 40 years.

I've seen ads for nonprescription pills, not injectables. Here's a webpage describing the OTC pills: http://dietpill-reviews.co.uk/vysera-cls/

[ghostjmf]

What I've seen the ads for is definitely a prescription drug, being marketed to diabetics; there's "beg your doctor" language in the ad. Maybe it's this other drug, called something like "Victoryx", only that's not it because it doesn't google.

[ghostjmf]

http://www.victoza.com/?campaign=000722 ... %20(broad)

Well, I got the "Vic" part right, anyway.


I don't know why anyone would take this if Metformin works for them; Metformin's list of potential side effects is much smaller, plus it is a pill, not an injection. As someone currently taking insulin injections, I can tell you all that it's not the pinprick injection that's the problem, its the need to be out of sight so as not to freak passersby out.

[earendel]

http://www.victoza.com/?campaign=000722 ... %20(broad)

Well, I got the "Vic" part right, anyway.

I don't know why anyone would take this if Metformin works for them; Metformin's list of potential side effects is much smaller, plus it is a pill, not an injection. As someone currently taking insulin injections, I can tell you all that it's not the pinprick injection that's the problem, its the need to be out of sight so as not to freak passersby out.

I'm currently taking both at my endocrinologist's recommendation. I haven't noticed any of the weight loss associated with either product.

[ghostjmf]

ear, are you taking the megadose of Metformin I'm on? I've talked to several people who I didn't know were diabetic or pre-diabetic until I talked to them about me, they're all on Metformin but much smaller doses. No-one on a smaller dose reports the appetite supression or the weight loss. (One of these friends has lost weight, but while they're not telling me, I have a feeling it's attributable to another medical condition or procedure.) The only reason I agreed to this megadose, & the insulin besides, is that my blood sugar was spectacularly high. All of a sudden, & for no apparent reason (except an operation for cancer that everyone swears up & down shouldn't have affected my blood sugar, but, because various hormones besides insulin are, it turns out involved in various feedback mechanisms in the human body, one of which does get involved with insulin, it could have).

[Bob Juch]

High doses of Metformin can cause vitamin B12 deficiency so a supplement should be taken also.

[earendel]

ear, are you taking the megadose of Metformin I'm on? I've talked to several people who I didn't know were diabetic or pre-diabetic until I talked to them about me, they're all on Metformin but much smaller doses. No-one on a smaller dose reports the appetite supression or the weight loss. (One of these friends has lost weight, but while they're not telling me, I have a feeling it's attributable to another medical condition or procedure.) The only reason I agreed to this megadose, & the insulin besides, is that my blood sugar was spectacularly high. All of a sudden, & for no apparent reason (except an operation for cancer that everyone swears up & down shouldn't have affected my blood sugar, but, because various hormones besides insulin are, it turns out involved in various feedback mechanisms in the human body, one of which does get involved with insulin, it could have).

I guess you could say so - I'm on Metformin ER and taking 5 tablets a day - 2 in the morning, one at noon and two at night.

High doses of Metformin can cause vitamin B12 deficiency so a supplement should be taken also.

I'm also taking a multivitamin supplement.

[ghostjmf]

I hadn't read about B12 problems in the articles I've read about possible Metformin side effects. I've been a little worried about B vitamins as I'm not eating anywhere near the amount of grain I used to, though. I suppose a supplement is in my future. Sigh. I liked living on food, I don't like living on pills.

[otherindigo]

While I appreciate the dialogue about different things to take for weight loss, I really want it to be about a lifestyle and mental change. I have been on just about every diet under the sun and have lost, only to gain it all back plus extra. I still even have my Deal-a-Meal cards from high school (wonder how much those are worth on eBay, HA).

Again thank you all for the advice and sharing your personal journeys with losing weight.

[Bob Juch]

While I appreciate the dialogue about different things to take for weight loss, I really want it to be about a lifestyle and mental change. I have been on just about every diet under the sun and have lost, only to gain it all back plus extra. I still even have my Deal-a-Meal cards from high school (wonder how much those are worth on eBay, HA).

Again thank you all for the advice and sharing your personal journeys with losing weight.

I'll bet you haven't tried a fecal transplant.

[otherindigo]

While I appreciate the dialogue about different things to take for weight loss, I really want it to be about a lifestyle and mental change. I have been on just about every diet under the sun and have lost, only to gain it all back plus extra. I still even have my Deal-a-Meal cards from high school (wonder how much those are worth on eBay, HA).

Again thank you all for the advice and sharing your personal journeys with losing weight.

I'll bet you haven't tried a fecal transplant.

Ewww... just ewww

No I haven't tried that, nor have I had any weight loss surgery.