I am on 1000 mg of metformin daily and my doctor now wants me to go onto byretta. I don't want to go on this because of the side effects. I drive for my living and I can't have nausea and sickness when I am working and maybe hypos. I gave been reading some of the other blogs and some people have been taking hypos after their evening meal. I start work at 5pm and I definately can't have hypos then. My question is should my doctor not just increase my metformin and see how I do before taking which I think quite a drastic move as to put me on byretta. I would appreciate some feed back on this. Thanks.
Byetta has anyone had problems with this
- Thread starter Eileen58
- Start Date
Can I ask why you came off byetta. I do know that you can loose weight on it and that is obviously a plus point.
Hi. Byetta is normally prescribed if you have excess weight. Are you low-carbing? If you reduce the carbs enough you should lose weight and have lower blood sugar. You may be able to avoid byetta entirely if you can reduce weight thru diet.
I am 5ft 2 and weigh 11st 6 lbs. I have been loosing weight and I am trying the lchf diet. I think that my doctor is just going too far to fast. I am not on anything else but the 1000 mg metformin. I understand that my diabetes isn't very well controlled but I am trying. I write everything down what I eat and I take my blood sugar every day. I have had a very stressful last 12 months but I am getting there.
Hi. If you are losing weight even if slowly I would stick with the Metformin and low carb diet and delay having the byetta?
That's what I think. Going onto byetta is a big step because after that the only thing left is insulin and that would affect my job. I don't want to stop work because of this.
Hi @Eileen58,
I wonder if you need to review your diet and see what is causing higher readings?
@daisy1 has some useful advice for beginners which may help you.
Tell us a bit more about a typical day's menu including drinks and snacks, whether you take medications for other health problems, (there are many that can raise blood sugars) do you have any weight to lose and what was your last HBA1c. Sorry if this sounds nosey but it could help towards you get lower blood sugars.
I wonder if you need to review your diet and see what is causing higher readings?
@daisy1 has some useful advice for beginners which may help you.
Tell us a bit more about a typical day's menu including drinks and snacks, whether you take medications for other health problems, (there are many that can raise blood sugars) do you have any weight to lose and what was your last HBA1c. Sorry if this sounds nosey but it could help towards you get lower blood sugars.
daisy1
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@Eileen58
Hello and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful, in addition to the good advice you have already received from other members. Ask all the questions you need to and someone will be able to help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 140,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Hello and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful, in addition to the good advice you have already received from other members. Ask all the questions you need to and someone will be able to help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 140,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake
- Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
- structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
- self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Hi sorry for the late reply but I have been working a lot. Hi catherinecherub my typical days menu is :- normally no breakfast but I usually eat about 11.-11.30 so I have brunch I usually have either poached egg on toast ( small wholemeal loaf) porridge, scrambled egg, bacon omelette or bacon and eggs. For dinner which I have about 4.15 I try and have chicken, fish or pork with veg. Either cabbage, turnip, sprouts or cauliflower cheese. I do drink lots of tea either ordinary tea or green tea. When I go to work I take out water with me. I work from 5pm to 5am that is why I don't have breakfast. When I do the 12 hours I sometimes take a salad with me which is either chicken, eggs or prawns in full fat mayo. (Can't stand the low fat option). Sometimes I have a cheeseburger if I am feeling very tired to get me through the night. My downfall is chocolate and cakes. It is to easy at 2 o clock in the morning to nip into the shop for chocolate to get me past that flagging time. I also have high blood pressure and arthritis throughout my body. Iam on losartan 100mg per day fir my high blood pressure and also leflunomide 20 mg daily.
I have also been on simvastatin which I am refusing to take because I think that is what as increased my blood pressure. I have had a very stressful 2 years because of family problems and deaths in the family also my job is very stressful. I have started to buy my own strips so that I can keep an eye on my blood sugar but the doctor shot me down about that. Said that my yearly blood sugar reading is all that matters. I don't agree with that at all. I just don't fancy byetta. After byetta what next insulin? I drive for my living and if that happens I will have to have medicals every year. I don't want to go down that route. Sorry for the long reply.
