Ozempic - the trials of getting started.

Enjoying an encounter with wildlife.

It's hard to enjoy yourself when you feel lousy.  A cold, the flu, covid; all things that cause you to hunker down with the aim of getting better so you can get on with life.  These, for the most part, must be endured for a time and then disappear.  But what happens when you can't get past the waiting part?

I started taking Ozempic almost four weeks ago.  The first two doses were only 0.25 ml, barely anything at all, and I felt no ill effects.  Then, as suggested by my pharmacist, I upped my dose to 0.5 ml.  If 0.25 did nothing, double nothing should still produce the same result.

Boy, was that ever a misconception.

It turns out that my injection day is Saturday.  On this particular day, two things were happening.  The first was my 0.5 ml dose of Ozempic for the first time.  The second was a dinner with my daughter and her boyfriend's family.  Greek food, good company, and feeling good.  It was a great evening.

The next day I woke up feeling a little nauseous.  I enjoyed my usual breakfast and then headed out to church.  As I am sitting in the service, I notice my nausea increasing.  It was a most uncomfortable feeling, and the last thing I wanted to do was be sociable or sing merrily.  After the service, my discomfort rose and suddenly I found my mouth watering tremendously.  It was a sign, not from heaven, but from my beleaguered body.  I needed a bathroom, now.

Dashing through the milling congregation, I barely made it to a bathroom stall where I, if you will excuse the parlance, thoroughly woofed my cookies.  Breakfast, dinner, and no doubt some biological material contributed by yours truly, all disappeared into the yawning porcelain receptacle.  That was just the beginning.

Six days later I am still feeling nauseous most of the time.  I can only eat about a third of my normal fare and have no interest in doing anything other than sitting quietly trying not to think about the turmoil happening in my upper digestive tract.  To put it very succinctly, I feel yucky.  

Tomorrow I have to take my next injection.  There is no way on God's green earth that I am doing 0.5 ml again any time soon.  No, it's back to 0.25 ml and we'll see how it goes.  I am hoping to go camping for two weeks and I can just imagine the fun I will have with a double dose coursing about my system.  I would like to enjoy life for the next few weeks, thank you very much.

I am assured that such experiences (innocuously enough called "side effects") are transient and will dissipate over time.  Of course, I have to work my way up to 1.0 ml before that happens.  Oh, joy.  

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com