Last Call, Mr. Greenspan…
For years there has been a squat brown building two blocks from my mother’s house, marked by a swinging sign that reads: “CPA’s”.
This superfluous apostrophe has provided me with hours of geekish pleasure. I always pictured the place as a specialty neighborhood tavern—accountants only—with abacuses (abaci?) hanging from the walls and bartenders wearing green light shades. Brass desk lamps line the bar, and tabs are tallied on an adding machine manned by a spectacled gentleman in shirtsleeves and armband. There are drinks, of course—the Standard Deduction (a martini sans vermouth) and the Tax Haven (w/umbrella). “The Taxman” plays on the jukebox, and a huge, gilt-framed picture of Alan Greenspan hangs upon the wall. Ah, CPA’s. Where everybody knows your Social Security Number.
Well, as of this morning, the sign has been corrected, and I feel oddly bereft. Now “CPAs” is just a small, slightly shabby accountant’s office. It feels like the end of an era, somehow.
In other news, I am not in liver failure! My liver function tests came back normal, which is excellent news, as I just opened a bottle of gin last night. I start Metformin Friday evening. I am having nightmares about the side effects already, and I have yet to swallow my first (huge!) pill. Also, can you really not drink alcohol whilst taking Metformin? Surely this is an urban legend or invention of reactionary pharmacists?
Which reminds me: I am going to set up a page in the sidebar with anecdotal information on Metformin. It seems to be a hot topic on PCOS bulletin boards, and wouldn’t it be nice if people Googling things like “Metformin nausea help someone help” and “Metformin diarrhea suicide” could have a sort of one-stop clearing house for suggestions on how to get though the early weeks, as well as personal experiences regarding effectiveness, how long side effects take to diminish, etc.?
Please, do email or comment with your experiences.
It is, as you are no doubt aware, International De-Lurking Week:
Now, I have not a thing against lurkers, really. But a girl gets curious,
So, leave a comment! Tell me something about yourself!
Or not!
No pressure, I promise. I am delighted you are here, comment or no.
23 Comments
Congrats on a healthy liver! I’m sure it was all that cheese.
CPA’s. Ha! Now whenever I see some asinine sign that says “DVD’s,” I will picture a bar, packed entirely with shiny digital disks, trying their best to drink with their mouthless surfaces.
Good luck on the Met. Let the fun begin!
Glad to hear your tests came back normal! Good luck with the horse pills - I hate taking huge-ass pills. They always get stuck and I inevitably end up choking and regurgitating said pill.
You know I’m not a lurker. Hope they come out in full force!!
The whole thing was funny, I’ll admit. But TomKat cooking up a batch of homemade ultrasound jelly. Priceless.
I hope the big pills aren’t too hard on you.
And I’m glad the liver function tests are normal.
Well I’m not a lurker now but this time last year I was. I’d forgotten but I think it was this delurking day that drove me to one of my first comments. Aaah, happy memories.
So happy to hear that you are not liver deficient. Now let’s hope that metformin is the answer.
I need to start taking notes about where I’ve delurked yet, and where not.
I’m totally obsessed with the IF blogosphere, because, well, I’m IF. Reading blogs has helped me stay sane, kind of.
I have my own blog to let of steam. If you ever decide to drop by, you may point out grammer and spelling errors. English is my second language, so that’s my excuse.
So glad the liver test results came back normal. Must be a bit of relief. I do hope the metformin/alcohol thing is an urban legend because that’s just no fun.
Those drink names put a HUGE smile on my face… I’m the same way, I make up elaborate scenarios around typos and mangled punctuation, and keep myself entertained for hours. (Hey, it’s an inexpensive hobby, at least.)
But what made me lose it utterly was the “Metformin diarrhea suicide”. I’m still laughing. You rock, Alexa!
I’ll bite… I lurk. =) Good luck on the met- I’ve been bad about taking mine and am just starting up again, so I feel your pain. I will say that the first week I felt HORRIBLE- but it does get better!
GOOD LUCK!
Maybe the previous owner of CPA’s (Christian Pollock Adams) sold his bar to a group of accountants? But they still break out the disco ball and shots in the evenings?
Glad your liver is doing well and in fine spirits (ha ha.) Enjoy your gin tonight, tomorrow, and Friday… and beyond that if possible.
I’m a lurker, but no longer!
I have been taking Metformin for a year now. I was able to avoid most of the side effects by slowing ramping up the dose. Start with half a pill with breakfast, half a pill with dinner - then work up slowly. Take maybe 3 weeks to work up the full dose.
Good luck!
I’m not a lurker, but I’ve been on metformin for years and years now and always happy to share. Ramping up the dose is definitely helpful, though if you have the XR version you really can’t cut it. But you can still start with one pill a day for a week, then two, and so on. Also, the XR version has this funny habit of showing up, looking fairly intact, in the toilet. Gross, I know. But it’s really freaky if you’re not expecting it, so I’m putting it out there. Apparently, it’s just the casing and all of the actual medication has been absorbed en route. But it really doesn’t look like it. Also, taking it in the middle of a meal can help some. And I’ve heard that taking it with protein/fat is easier on the tummy than taking it with carbs.
Damn it, CPA’s is great bar. I can’t stand to see it closed. At least, not without some nostalgic cigar-smoking after hours…
Standard deduction. You kill me.
Go liver. -from your nonlurking blabbermouth blogfriend Mary Scarlet (ultrasound gel recipe!??)
Delurking. I do click on yoru site everyday to see if you have updated anything. Go liver. Glad to see that your test results came back normal.
Congrats on the healthy liver, Drink up!. I’ve nothing to share on the PCOS front, as it’s one of the few diagnoses I’ve not yet given myself.
Are you still going to see the hematologist about your clotting times? Glad to hear your liver is okay! Bummer about having to give up gin.
As far as grammar goes, I have a few irritants too, such as the use of “impact” as a verb, or “nauseous” for “nauseated.” Even Webster’s has yielded to these. Yikes! Defenders of standard English, unite! (but we won’t win)
Um, yeah. I don’t really lurk, but nonetheless am going to pop in and say hi.
And you made me laugh horribly. Giant guffaws that could be heard throughout the entire hallway.
Hi! Not a lurker, just an internet stranger here to congratulate you on your liver, which may be weirder than being a lurker. It’s your call.
Hi! Just posting because you asked. I’m not sure how I found your site — I think another blog linked to it. But I really like your writing, so I’ve been reading for the past few months. Thanks for sharing.
Guilty as charged. Both a lurker and a Met-er.
I have been on met for nearly a year and I haven’t had any issues with mixing alcohol and met. Come to think of it, hangovers have been a thing of the past since met… So, based on a sample size of one, I think the “no mix” rule is just another slice of urban myth wheeled out to drive a pcos woman from happiness into the arms of guilt and self doubt.
Agree with previous comments about easing into your dose.
Love CPA’s.
I’ve been on Met for seven months now to “fix” my PCOS, although who the hell knows what’s really wrong with me (I don’t have cysts, the free T4 is fine, but I’m all hormonally wonky and insulin resistant). Only last week did I finally ramp up to the full 2,000 mg dose my obgyn has in store for me. On my smaller met doses, I only had “met gut” (i.e., “diarrhea suicide”) but lately I’ve also been privy to a nice case of near constant nausea. I am confident that this, too, will go away in time. The good thing is that I’ve managed to lose 20 pounds with not a whole lot of effort and it’s got me ovulating again, since I actually got pregnant in November. The not-so-good thing is that it hasn’t helped me regulate my hormones or whatever to the point where I could avoid the miscarriage that happened on Thanksgiving Day, at my in laws’ house. *gurgle* Upon the miscarriage, my doctor cheerily tells me, “Hey, at least we know you can get pregnant now. I didn’t think this would happen so soon! Yippee! Let increase the dose!” whilst I am sitting there sobbing my brains out. In short, the met’s definitely doing something to the ol’ body. As far as drinking goes, I think the whole “no drinking” thing has something to with the spike in blood sugar caused by alcohol consumption, which is of greater concern in diabetics than in hormonally challenged PCOSers. However, I also read where it could increase the risk of lactic acidosis, but since I don’t imbibe, I’ve never really paid attention.
I think I’ve commented before, but if not, consider this a coming out.
The apostophe thing makes me crazy crazy. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who takes grammar seriously…
Now where will all those accountants go for a stiff drink post-tax season? So sad, so sad…
I took Metformin just for giggles for and unfortunately had an AWFUL reaction to it that left me pretty much incapacitated for weeks and weeks. My OB/GYN told me to take 500mg for one week, gradually moving up to 1000mg the second week and then up to 1500mg by the third week. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get past 500mg without puking my guts out. I’ve heard the XR version doesn’t cause as many GI problems, but I was too freaked out from the experience and no longer use it since I don’t appear to have insulin resistance or any prediabetic symptoms and my RE said it’s not worth the grief (and I wholeheartedly agreed).
My apologies if this post freaks you out in any way, but please be reassured of the fact that I no of no other person who has had such a bad reaction to Metformin for such a long period of time. Oh, and the one bright note was that I lost some weight…but, interestingly enough, it all came back and then some when my puking stopped.