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Byetta .... weight loss

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xxxleonadxxx

Well-Known Member
Messages
71
Location
North Ayrshire, Scotland
Hi all,

I am new to the forum and found it 'by chance' one day and as a newbie to Byetta was pleased to see so many other 'users'.

I have been reading a few of the posts and also through reading all the bumph I have on Byetta have noticed that the weight loss seems to be the biggest thing, although many people say that they have 'suffered' (prob not the right word lol) this symptom but not many people state what they mean by weight loss .............. by that I mean, is it significant weight that people are losing? I understand it happens in bursts but reading between the lines, as I say no-one really states what their weightloss is/was, I assume that it is and wonder is it the same for everyone?

As I say I am new to Byetta, only been on it for a few weeks but have yet to experience ANY weight loss, which I myself find surprising as I have bad side effects which have almost completely stopped me eating, I have smaller portions than my kids now lol ........ is this something I should be worried about?

I think what I really wanted to know is the weight loss, large drops or minimal?

Thanks for reading the rant xxxx

Leona.
 
leon hi the weightloss will most certainly happen !! Byetta works partly by blocking the hungry messages so you eat less. It seems to work in fits n starts ie you lose some for a while then it plateaus then starts again. If you add into the mix a change of diet and an increase in exercise the results could be quite dramatic. For me i lost a stone without much effort at all then it stopped for about 4 weeks and has just started again , Ive been on it for about 3months I have altered my food intake and cut down the carbs as well as taking the time to go for a brisk walk most days. Best bet concentrate on keeping the BS levels ok and let the weight take care of its self.

Look on the BYETTA thread you will find people at all stages of the treatment

Good luck
Dave P
 
Hi Leona,
Weight loss is not the main purpose of byetta, but it is the most common side effect. The way it does this is to suppress your appetite and to slow down the rate at which food passes through your digestive system, so you feel fuller for longer. I know that you are having problems with the other (nasty) side effect of byetta, and until that problem stabilises I suspect that you will not have any consistently measurable weight loss.

I have been on byetta for 10 months now and have lost 3 stone in that time (from 17st down to 14st). During this time I have also modified my diet by reducing the carb intake, so I can't say that all the weight loss is all down to byetta. However, in the US byetta is so highly regarded at a weight-loss tool that it is often prescribed to obese non-diabetics simply as a weight reducer. No doctor in the UK would be allowed to prescribe in that way because the use of byetta is very strictly controlled.

So the answer to your question is, yes it is clinically proven to be very effective in helping patients to lose large amounts of weight. But I think a big danger is to think "I don't need to do anything to help because the medicine will do it all for me". I have even come across people who have thought "well, if it will make me lose weight then I can eat more". Doh!! :roll:
 
Well I am on my 3rd 10mg pen and still getting nausea and sickness...not all the time and always after my evening meal, never during the day. It hasnt stopped me from eating during the day and I feel just as hungry as always. In the evenings I dread eating as I worry as to what will happen. I don't want to eat certain things as just thinking about them makes me nauseous. I can see that my weight loss is because of Byetta but not because it makes me eat less but because it makes me vomit and the nausea stops me from eating. I have tried injecting and eating at all times within the hour but nothing makes a difference. I have to say I am wondering whether to just give it all up...can only take so much sickness....the only thing that keeps me going is knowing that it has helped me to lower my HBa1C. However being nauseous so often becomes very wearing after a while.
 
Hi Silvercat,
Its only a shot in the dark, but what is the time interval between your am and pm shots? The minimum is 6 hours but many have found that 10 to 12 hours between doses is better.

Its unusual that your nausea is now restricted to the evening dose, but I have come across it before on a US byetta site. Her doctor got round the problem by prescribing the 10mg dose to be used in the morning and the 5mg dose for the evening shot. After a couple of months she then went back up to the 10mg dose in the evening and with much reduced nausea which quickly wore off.

As I have mentioned several times before, this is a very powerful drug and although the exenatide from which it is made mimics the human body's own incretins, it is nonetheless alien to our bodies and they naturally react by trying to get rid of it as they would with anything alien to us. This is why it can take some time for the body to become accustomed to it and to "accept" it rather than trying to reject it. Perhaps having 2 x 10mg doses per day is just more than your body is prepared to accept?
 
Thanks for the reply Dennis. My interval between injections is usually about 11-12 hours.
Your suggestion of 5mg at night sounds a good one...I will see my diabetic nurse and see what she has to say.
 
Silvercat / Dennis , silver cat said the she was still hungry whilst on "spit" well its sort of happened to me lately.When i first started, the stop eating signal was very definite and unmistakeable, however i have noticed over about the last week or so it seems a lot less so much so that on a couple of meals i snacked on some nuts. Normal is have the meal and thats it. Dont know what to make of it

Dave P
 
Hi Dave,
Sounds familiar. Some days I don't have a lot of appetite, others I can be ravenous 2 hours after a meal. It seems to vary from day to day. I think it has to do with how much sugar there is in your system, how much exercise you have had, whether you are under any stress (e.g. at work), what phase the moon is in, whether your favourite team has just got stuffed . . . .

I just make sure I am never very far away from a handful of nuts (generally my favourite - almonds) and/or a plum or apricot (both low GI and about the lowest carb fruits you can get - fortunately I love both).
 
Well its some 3 weeks since they halved my Gliclazide and what was a first thing reading of 5+ is now floating 6. So a slight rise but am still refininig the menu and as said previously the sporadic hunger pangs might be having an effect.

Dave P
 
Dave,
If you can maintain a pre-breakfast reading of below 7 that is pretty good control. If it fluctuates between the 5s and 6s I wouldn't worry at all.
 
HI all,

Thanks for the replies ......... I had been reading through many of the threads and just as most seem to have mentioned weight loss but not exactly how much I just thought i'd be nosey ;).

My sickness has eased off a bit, tbh I have started reading the posts and trying a few things ... like injecting just before food rather than the 30 mins plus previous and find that this has helped. I was also encouraged reading about the carb side of everything, i'm not a carb fan, never have been and when I was diagnosed with diabetes I was urged to eat more and felt bleurgh to say the least, I eat about 50g minus a day and feel ok on that, although admit to having developed a new love for yogurts .... these seems to be my brekkie lunch and dinner lately lol

Hopefully onwards and upwards but I will soon have my glucophage increased again and NOT looking forward to that. I still have high bloods, although a **** site better than what they used to be, I used to be in the high to mid 20s every day, i'm now sitting at the 13-15 mark, so its a definate improvement, i'm hoping to get them down to around the 10 mark soon, and hoping byetta is just what was needed to take me there :).

Thanks guys xx
 
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