WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 -- Every winning streak has to come to an end, even when winning means losing. And that's what happened to my eight-month weight-loss streak.
I've been to my clinic site twice since the last report on my progress in a Phase III, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of an experimental weight loss pill -- and the September visit was not good news.
I had just returned from a trip to Munich, Germany, for the European Society of Cardiology meeting, and, despite having walked all over Munich, the food I ate there outdid any exercise I was getting.
I had gained 4 pounds -- up to 238 pounds from the 234.6 pounds that I weighed in with in August. That's still a far cry from the 283 pounds I weighed at the start of the yearlong trial in January, though.
"So," the nutrition advisor at the site said, "what are you going to do now to get back on track?"
The obvious answer would have been to finally add the exercise component to the trial -- something I have been unable to accomplish so far.
I have started packing sneakers and exercise clothes into my suitcase. I even purchased a bathing suit. I am fully prepared to exercise.
But, I haven't gotten beyond the preparation -- the shoes, shorts, and swimsuit are still neatly packed.
However, I have been watching my food intake more closely and that paid off.
At my October weigh-in, I was at 233.8 pounds. So I lost all the weight I had gained and a tiny bit more.
I'm back on the right track. Now, I have to stay on that track and somehow get more exercise.
My goal is to get my weight down to 220 pounds by the end of the trial. I still feel that that's within range.
I hope also to be able to eliminate another of the diabetes drugs I am taking.
I started on four, but now I'm down to high-dose metformin, low-dose glimepiride and high-dose pioglitazone (Actos).
I also am taking high-dose valsartan (Diovan) for high blood pressure and simvastatin/ezetimibe (Vytorin) for high cholesterol. My blood pressure and cholesterol levels are well within what would be considered normal.
Aside from the blip in my weight loss, I feel well.
I am not daunted by steps and I am not having any psychological adverse effects that have dogged other weight loss drugs, including the experimental taranabant that was recently abandoned.
The experimental drug being tested in this study is supposed to be similar to "fen-phen" -- without the heart valve complications that combination had.
But to be on the safe side, the trial protocol includes serial echocardiography to monitor heart valve function. So far, no signals of danger have appeared.
So my next move is to literally get moving.
I've scheduled racquetball this week with my daughter. That's a start.