Monday, September 27, 2010

The Latest..

Good news. I'm on a new dosing schedule for Sandostatin 40mg - every 3 weeks now instead of every 4 weeks. I was tested after 3 months on the new dosing schedule. GH is 1.8, IGF-1 is 379. But, my numbers were basically the same on Sandostatin 40mg every 4 weeks. I'd hoped to see a dramatic improvement. I'll be seeing a new endocrinologist at UCSF end of October to discuss whether I should go back to the old dosing schedule, and a possibility of re-operation (slim in my opinion based on my MRI).

Also on Sandostatin side effects, my blood pressure may be slightly higher. I haven't been taking blood pressure readings every day, since I've been jogging daily and at my doctor's appointments my blood pressure is always low enough. And any other issues are negligible, although I do worry about potential damage to gallbladder.

On another note, I believe the high doses of Sandostatin had been causing almost daily muscle pains. Any time I exercised (it was very infrequent before), or did even a small repetitive activity I would have muscle pain for days. Since I started jogging daily (jogging or jog/walking 15-30 minutes) I haven't noticed the muscle pain, so that is wonderful! It seems I may have less Sandostatin side effects due to exercising, even a small amount daily. I did approach my new exercise plan carefully and slowly, and I don't push myself too hard. I'm naturally a very lazy person, but I'm realizing that not exercising doesn't seem to be an option for me. It's imperative to my health.