Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Phone Call from the Endo

My next appointment with Dr. Ku at UCSF has been pushed to 4/28. I rescheduled so I could go get my labs done, DOH! He forgot to give me a lab slip, and I forgot to ask. It would be nice to actually have results to talk to him about when I see him :-) Anyway, he called today to tell me he got my labs from 3/9/09, that lovely glucose tolerance test again. It just keeps getting better and better trying to force myself to drink that nasty stuff without vomiting :-D I think I worry the poor lab tech. I must look visibly paler and more sickly every time I drink it :-D Back on topic, my GH was 1.2 ng/mL (after 2 hours) which is lower than it's been before, and that's great! It was 2.2 ng/mL in 5/08. So the 4 months on the increased Sandostatin 40mg has helped. Dr. Ku says he'd like my GH to be under 1 but if my IGF-1 is at a good level then he won't worry much. Unfortunately my IGF-1 may not be at a good level. My IGF-1 from 3/9 was 521, and that's up from 464 in 5/08. That's higher than it's been in the past. So Dr. Ku wants to know if the IGF-1 is actually higher, and he's sending me to another lab to try to pinpoint that number. If my IGF-1 comes back high again then he says he'd like to be more aggressive in my treatment because I'm topped out on the 40mg of Sandostatin. Hopefully I'll have good news to report in a few weeks.

5 comments:

miss magpie said...

I'm glad your GH is low! This shows the treatment is working! I hope your IGF-1 will be in the normal range in the following blood test. I'll keep my fingers crossed!!

(I also feel sick everytime I have to face the glucose drink!... arghhh)

polarchip said...

Yes, I think everything you have told us sounds pretty good! Fingers crossed for your IGF-1.

I have found that using a straw to drink the glucose drink helps a bit - have you tried it?

Alecia E. said...

Good news on the GH level! I hope you have just as good news on your IGF-1. I almost wonder if the drink won't throw us all into a diabetic state one day - ha! How can it be healthy to drink it again and again? I had to take that test three times in a row in the beginning of my diagnosis (I know that is not the norm - the doctor was profusely apologetic). That was the only time I ever got a little nauseated while having to drink it.

I found drinking it with a straw helps, too.

Anonymous said...

I hope you get good results and that hGH will continue to be low and that the IGF-1 will come down. Best wishes. Rose

Anonymous said...

I think you should add Somavert (pegvisomant) to your medication. It will surely lower your IGF-1 levels. Many doctors suggest the combined therapy worldwide.