End of the Experiment

Well, the results of my experiment are now clearly known.

Cesamet is without a doubt the cause of my "eating disorder."

Won't my doctor be pleased to learn that I have solved yet another medical mystery that is me?

As I posted earlier, I figured it would have taken about five days on the higher dose (I increased back up to 4mg per day on Monday, February 8th) to find out if there were any indications of eating difficulties.

I guess my post on Friday, February 5th was a little prematurely optimistic (or was it optimistically premature?) when I said that I hadn't yet seen those signs.

After putting up that post, we went into Carleton Place to take care of a few shopping errands that needed doing.  

John dropped me off at one shop while he went on to another across the street.  When I finished, I walked across the small parking lot (estimated to be less than 150 yards) to another shop to browse while I waited for John to return.  By the time I got to that second shop, my hips wouldn't let me walk another step.  The manager greeted me with quite a level of concern;  the first words out of her mouth were, "Where is your cane?" (OK, so I shop there frequently.)  We had taken John's truck rather than my car and my cane happens to 'live' in my car.  I will be getting a second cane that will 'live' in John's truck!

It was pretty evident by the time we got home that I was definitely not enjoying any bump in pain relief from that higher dose of Cesamet.

That evening, we sat down to a lovely meal of what has been dubbed by some as my "famous" meat loaf.  Less than half way through the meal, that discomfort that I hadn't felt for some two weeks was back.  And I couldn't eat!

The next morning, I went into Ottawa to meet my sister (and best friend) for breakfast.  I managed to eat some fruit and one piece of toast. 

And the pain was back.

Without having another piece of food all day, I tried to eat dinner that evening.

No can do.  And the baked beans that John had made earlier in the week were awesome too!  I simply could not get them down.

Naturally, I was also dog-tired from the long day in Ottawa and that combined with the no-food led to a nice fun nauseous bed-time.

Sunday -- Valentine's Day -- I tried having a bagel with honey for breakfast.

Got half of it into me, with a lot of work.

Didn't eat another thing all day until dinner.

John makes an awesome onion soup.  I managed it.  But the old familiar pain was back!

This morning again, I couldn't get even half my baked oatmeal into me.

Here it is approaching 1:00pm as I write this, and I'm not the least bit hungry.

So I don't need to continue this experiment any longer.

Problem is, I have to go into Ottawa tomorrow and again on Wednesday.

Tomorrow, after my physio session, we're having lunch with my former boss-man and still very good friend.  Since John is coming with me, he'll be able to do the driving but I'm finding that it doesn't really matter much if I drive or I'm the passenger -- a car trip is a car trip is a car trip.  And if I'm in a vehicle for a time, be it driver or passenger, it takes a toll on me.

Then on Wednesday, I have to get up and leave here bright and early (I'm retired, so anything before noon qualifies as bright and early) to go back into Ottawa to see the neurologist whom I asked to see after my incident last October.

Back-to-back days of trips into Ottawa.  Major no-no for me.

So, there is no way I can drop back on the Cesamet before Thursday of this week because I can't risk, before then, the increase in hip pain that I think I can reasonably expect will occur.

However, (remember that silver lining?), I can't deny that I'm pleased with my new "svelte" body that came from the experience.  Too bad I don't enjoy shopping because I do have to subject myself to a clothes finding trip.

My little chickaee tells me that I'm now almost too thin.  She's concerned and I understand that.

I thought I could still use another ten pound drop; that anything more than that would be too much (I tease that a tummy tuck will take care of that final weight).

I thought the charts would have suggested perhaps another fifteen pound loss to reach my ideal weight.  But according to Dr. Oz, my current weight puts me to within five pounds of being "perfect" (his words) for my height.  So apparently, a tummy tuck might make me too thin?  Guess I shouldn't go that route!

Today, the TENs machine has been called into action because my hips are in their "burning pain" mode; my first waking realization this morning was the fire on either side of my body.

Obviously, Cesamet at 4mg per day is not giving me adequate hip pain relief.  But if I reduce the dosage, my hip pain will get worse because Cesamet is giving me some relief, just not enough relief. 

But as of Thursday, it is my intention to start getting off the Cesamet as quickly as I possibly can.

Which means I will decrease by faster than .5mg at a time (the doctor originally wanted me to go down at the rate of 1 mg per day per week).

And I will go back to the weekly decrease schedule that the doctor first suggested, rather than the bi-weekly schedule that I was using for this experiment.

Why the rush to get off it now?

Because now that I know absolutely that Cesamet is causing the turmoil with my gut, I can't be sure what all else it might be doing inside.

My doctor has already expressed how "especially well tuned" I am to my body. Perhaps this is another incidence of my body warning me of a danger before it's too late to turn back.

By the time I am off Cesamet entirely, I will have been on it at varying doses for a just less than a year.  Let's hope it hasn't wreaked too much havoc in that time.