Re: Anyone use Byetta?
Pumpkin said:
1. I usually wait 5-10 mins after injecting before eating - what are the views on injecting and eating eating within a couple of minutes? (eg. when wife says 'dinner is ready NOW and on the table!) Is there an optimum time to wait?
Hi Pumpkin
I generally try to inject around 20 mins before I eat, but quite often that doesn't work out and I eat within a couple of minutes of the jab (especially if I have done the cooking because I tend to forget to take it when I should). In the early months, the shorter the time between the injection and eating then the less likely you are to experience nausea. Once you are fully accustomed to it, nausea ceases to be a problem.
2. For how long does the affect of an injection last... ? I take mine before breakfast (which is only a bowl of oat flakes). Does the injection remain effective over and beyond lunch until the pe-dinner jab?
Byetta remains active for between 6 and 8 hours, which is why they say you must have a gap of at least 6 hours between the two daily injections.
3. Is the drug cumulative? Does its effect mount up with use?
Byetta has multiple functions and it would appear that some are cumulative but some are not. For example the triggering of the correct amount of insulin production start immediately from the first treatment and seems to stop very quickly if you stop taking it. Similarly it suppresses unnecessary glucose production by the liver, again from day 1. What has often been noted is that the weight reduction starts straight away on the 5mcg pen and, although it continues at the 10mcg level, it doesn't get more pronounced. Whereas reduction in BS seems to be much greater on 10mcg than on 5mcg.
4. For how long, roughly, does one remain on the 5 strength before proceeding onto the 10?
The absolute minimum at 5mcg before increasing to 10mcg is 30 days. Some people who suffer badly from nausea need more than 30 days to acclimatise to 5mcg before they can be upped to 10. Some people manage to achieve perfectly good results in terms of weight loss and BS reduction on the 5mcg dose and never increase to 10mcg.
5. Typically - and I realise this will be a tricky generalisation to make - for how long can a person expect to be on Byetta before insulin is recommended? (I am on 2000 mg Metformin, 4mg amaryl - about 15 years - with an Hbac of 8.9 and climbing)
Your HBA1C is very high, in fact dangerously so. But if you are able to bring your BS level under control then you may never need insulin injections. It depends on two things:
- whether your pancreas is damaged and therefore simply unable to produce all the insulin your diet requires of it
- whether you are able to reduce the amount of carbohydrate in your diet to a level that your pancreas (with help from the Byetta) is able to deal with.
I my own case, a combination Byetta medication together with an understanding of which food types send my blood sugars soaring and which ones don't, have brought my BS levels down to non-diabetic levels. I am finding that maintaining that level is quite easy so, unless my pancreas decides to throw in the towel, I don't anticipate ever needing insulin.
I don't think I have ever read about Byetta in Balance magazine - have I missed it?
If I remember correctly there was a small feature about 6-9 months ago, but it hasn't received very much coverage.
You may need to watch out for hypos because the action of Byetta is to make your pancreas produce the
appropriate amount of insulin for the food you have eaten. Amaryl is a sulphonylurea drug and the action is to simply force your pancreas to produce more insulin, regardless of whether or not it's needed. The larger the dose of Amaryl then the more insulin gets produced, and 4mg of Amaryl is the maximum dose so it will be forcing a large amount of insulin to be produced. So a combination of Byetta and 4mg Amaryl will be producing double the insulin that you need, and with a very high risk of hypos. Did your GP discuss with you a reduction in your Amaryl dose?