...Because as of this morning, I was down 40 pounds from my peak a few weeks ago, and as near as I can tell, I'm only halfway done losing the excess water. I figure I've still got at least 40 more pounds to go.
Strangely though, losing 40 pounds thus far hasn't really made me feel much better, excepting to relieve SOME of the edema.
Yes, that's right, SOME. I'm down 5 gallons of water, and I've still got pitting edema, every single day.
And losing the weight has actually made me look worse, because I've got skin hanging in loose folds right now. Not comfy.
Also, if I don't take the Furosemide at least twice a day, every day, I gain at least 10 lbs that day; with normal food and water intake (i.e. enough to keep normally hydrated). Furosemide only has a half life of 100 minutes, so after three hours it's lost all effect.
Woese, the Furosemide has become less effective. The day I started, 60mg had me losing. Now I'm up to 160mg twice per day. Any less, or less frequently, and I gain not lose.
I need to follow up with the doc and maybe switch to Bumetanide (more bioavailable), something longer lasting than Furosemide (maybe Torasemide). Or maybe just have him up my dose even more or change it to 4 times a day (the max dosage is 1mg/kg every 4 hours. ). Maybe supplement it with something other than a loop diuretic.
