BYETTA

great to find this forum with so much info and advice. Was diagnosed type 2 four years ago and have struggled with lowering glucose levels & weight since then. Metformin in both regular and slow release just didnt suit me (side effects became known as doing the metformin mambo as id dash to the bathroom...) Was taking rosiglitazone and gliclazide but had been warned by my DN that id probably have to go onto insulin in the 'near future' so was a little worried when i received a phone call from my GP two weeks ago asking me to go see her to discuss changing my meds. But she went on to say she wanted to discuss this new treatment called Byetta with me and would it be ok if there was a nurse from the hospital diabetic clinic there with her. she asked me to record my glucose readings 3 times a day till the appointment to give her an idea of my levels since my last HbA1C.

At the appointment last week my GP & the nurse explained what Byetta was, what the benefits and side effects were and asked if id like to try it. They demonstrated priming the pen for use, how to inject etc and gave me the chance to try (injecting into a latex-type penguin...i felt sooo cruel) The appointment lasted a good 50 minutes and i really felt informed and supported by the end of it, and was urged to ring her if i had any questions or worries at any time. She withdrew the Rosiglitazone (which she said she would have done even if i had declined the Byetta) and halved my gliclazide dosage and iv been amazed at how my glucose readings have dropped and stabalised, even yesterday. iv also noticed a huge drop in appetite and cut out lunch altogether as breakfast just seems to fill me till late afternoon. I have suffered quite badly with nausea tho, with a few occasions of quite violent vomiting, but having read the advice from other posters here im gonna try injecting immediately before eating, and having some ginger cordial to hand. The first time i injected i was quite nervous but actually have never felt a thing, only by seeing have i known iv stuck a needle in myself.

Having read thro every single posting here ( do i get a gold star?? ) i have to say its such a shame that some people have really struggled to get this drug and have had to do so much research themselves. i guess im lucky to have a proactive and supportive GP! Persevering thro the nausea will be a struggle but the positive comments on here have given me the hope that it wont last forever! thanks everyone on here for sharing your experiences


A Gold Star for you
cugila
Moderator.

Hi Moju.
Welcome to the forum. Glad you found us and that you appear to be doing well on the Byetta.

As you have read ALL the posts and obviously taken everything on board, here is your Gold Star....

Re: BYETTA and insulin

Anyone here on Byetta and insulin? I am, and on metphormin. I think the idea was to eventually get rid of the insulin all together. I've lost over 3 stone and blood sugars did drop a bit but now they've gone up again and the doc wants to increase the insulin but I know the weight will pile on again. It's all a bit depressing.

Re: BYETTA and insulin

eken95 said:

Anyone here on Byetta and insulin? I am, and on metphormin. I think the idea was to eventually get rid of the insulin all together. I've lost over 3 stone and blood sugars did drop a bit but now they've gone up again and the doc wants to increase the insulin but I know the weight will pile on again. It's all a bit depressing.

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Hi.
A couple of questions first:
What dose of Metformin are you on ?
Has anything changed, perhaps dietary intake recently ? Any other medications which may be affecting your Bg numbers.

Speaking from my own experience I know that Byetta can decrease it's effect if you don't adjust the dietary intake at times. My carb intake has varied considerably as I lost weight, and in fact I can now eat slightly more. However I still have to be very careful.

There are other oral drugs which could supplement the Byetta without adding more Insulin.

Hi

I have quite a large air bubble in my pen which has about 4 days left in it. Does anybody have any suggestions how to get rid of it or should I discard of it.

Just not sure what to do.

Many thanks.

RWJ said:

Hi

I have quite a large air bubble in my pen which has about 4 days left in it. Does anybody have any suggestions how to get rid of it or should I discard of it.

Just not sure what to do.

Many thanks.

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Hi RWJ.

There is no problem with a single air bubble in the pen. It will not affect your doseage. It is only when there are lots of bubbles that you need to worry and discard your pen. You do not have to try to expel it or dispose of it until you have finished the thirty day use period.

vivkaroo here sorry i have not been on had few family probs but hopefully will be back on in new year first of all a specail happy new year wish to jude sorry i didnt reply to your email things were bit up in the air well happy new year to you jude and all your family lets hope we all get healthier in 2010

for any one who doesnt know me i have been on and off this site for 18 months in case you dont know i started byetta last year very ill after 9 months of it which would take to long to explain came off byetta 3 months break put stone and half back on that i had lost had horrendous sickness then 2 months later my specialist let me bac on it been back on 8 months ok ish bouts occasionally of sickness depends what i eat took the stone and half back off now seems to go small sickness spasms then passes doing ok but seemed to have slowed down a bit seeing my specialist jan was mentioned to me.

I might like to try the new injection once a day not sure what its called has anyone been on it might be interested to hear from them bloods are between 7 -9 which is not bad for me sometimes 5 -7 find i struggle with meats eat eggs great salad vedge that sort thing ok had a bit choc over xmas but not much and i only have one glucoghage 500 a day now after evening meals as they are difficult for me to take hopefully i will be back on here to talk now and have better luck for 2010

anyway love to you jude honey all the best hope things good for you all the best luv for 2010


and especially all you moderators for all your brilliant help through2009 could not have done without your help vivkaroo

Hi Viv.
Welcome back to the fold..... Hope you had a good Christmas and that you will have a Happy and Healthy New Year in 2010.

So, you are interested in the once a day injection ? That is called Victoza (Liraglutide). We have a growing thread on here in Diabetes Discussions. There is lot's of information from users there and it is regularly updated when we get new information. Seems to work well for those lucky enough to be on it.

Speaking on behalf of the Moderator's here, thank you for your kind words. We appreciate them.

Ken.

Just said i would post on this as i was diagnosed christmas 2007 so i have just passed two years on byetta and everything is still good with the help of the other medication which is 1000mg of glucophage three times a day,30mg zoton once a day and 10mg of crestor once a day,what i have found especially in the last year that the suppressing of my appetite has stopped and i have put on about ten pounds in weight but this is from going to the gym and fat being turned into muscle so although my weight has gone up a bit my body fat % has gone down.

Byetta, hypo's and exercise

Hi, my mums a type 2 diabetic (diagnosed 10 years ago), medication was no longer getting her sugar levels down so she started on Byetta yesterday alongside gliclazide. Yesterday her sugar levels dropped to 6 (they had been around 17/18/19) and today she reduced her breakfast down (from 2 slices of toast to one as they said to do this to try and loose weight), she went out and had a hypo.

She was with my dad who brought her home feeling very rough and not overly with it. Her sugar levels were 4.8 though, she seems to have a hypo as soon as she drops below 5 but the nurse said anything above 3.1 is good and she wanted mum to aim to have her sugar levels under 5.

I had also read that you don't get hypo's on byetta. My Mum got trapped in a bit of a cycle before that when she excersied she had a hypo so had to have some dextrose and carbs which no doubt consisted of more calories than she managed to burn etc.

Does anyone else have hypo's just below 5? And does your body get used to lower sugar levels and stop having hypo's on byetta?

Re: Byetta, hypo's and exercise

viks said:

Hi, my mums a type 2 diabetic (diagnosed 10 years ago), medication was no longer getting her sugar levels down so she started on Byetta yesterday alongside gliclazide. Yesterday her sugar levels dropped to 6 (they had been around 17/18/19) and today she reduced her breakfast down (from 2 slices of toast to one as they said to do this to try and loose weight), she went out and had a hypo.

Welcome to the forum. First of all what doseage of Gliclazide is your Mother on at the moment. Was she started on the 5ug Byetta pen ? Sounds a bit like she may be over medicated or had too little food.

She was with my dad who brought her home feeling very rough and not overly with it. Her sugar levels were 4.8 though, she seems to have a hypo as soon as she drops below 5 but the nurse said anything above 3.1 is good and she wanted mum to aim to have her sugar levels under 5.

What would have happened is that your Mother was starting to suffer from the warning signs of a hypo, a natural reaction to blood sugars dropping low. Mine seems to kick in around 4.5 mmol/l. As for the Nurse stating 3.1 was good...that is slap bang in hypo land ! .....what sort of Nurse was this ? Anything below 4 mmol/l is considered to be a hypo, 3.1 for me would mean I would be feeling very rough, cr*p in fact until I had done something about the hypo, taken some fast acting carbs such as Glucotabs or Lucozade. Only when the levels were near normal again would I have a small carby snack to stabilise the levels.

I had also read that you don't get hypo's on byetta. My Mum got trapped in a bit of a cycle before that when she excersied she had a hypo so had to have some dextrose and carbs which no doubt consisted of more calories than she managed to burn etc.

I don't know where you read that but it is totally false. Byetta is a hypo inducing drug. If it is coupled with Gliclazide, which is also a hypo inducing drug, then you can see that you can hypo quite easily if not careful with food intake and or medication. When exercising you need to test before, during and after exercise. That way you can ensure you ar at the right level before the exercise and that you monitor levels during and after. You then take Glucotabs or liquids such as water after seeing the results. Exercise is something that you need to be aware can raise AND also lower your BG levels. Hence the testing.

Does anyone else have hypo's just below 5? And does your body get used to lower sugar levels and stop having hypo's on byetta?

As stated, anything below 4 mmol/l is considered a Hypo. So what you get at 5 mmol/l is just the warning signs NOT an actual hypo. Not very pleasant though as I know from my own experience. Balancing the two things food and medication can sometimes be difficult but it does get easier with time and more experience.

Hope that helps.

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Hi Viks


Just wanted to say Hi - I have been diagnosed about the same time as your Mum and have been put on Byetta recently as I was failing to maintain the lower sugar levels I had achieved when first diagnosed (from 19 to around 6). I was previously just on Metformin and my team would not prescribe any other med as this would put on weight and I am already far too heavy.

I can only speak from y own experience but like Cugila, it does sound as if your mum may have been mislead about the usage of Byetta which is clearly documented to react with Gliclazide to induce hypos. I am also concerned that she has been told to eat just one slice of toast for breakfast at this early stage in her treatment. My team encouraged a conservative approach to using Byetta as the first few months can throw up all sorts of reactions and you need time to settle into and find your own way of coping with it.

Most of us have found that initial sickness and lessening of appetite is enough to reduce food intake throughout the day - if she can tolerate it, I feel she should eat a bit more at breakfast and give the meds something to work on - it is a bot soon to tell yet but I think she will find a she will lsoe some weight quite quickly which will give her the encouragement she needs to persevere- at this stage, inducing an hypo will only put her off! Do give her my best wishes and encourage her to read the posts on here to help her get a better understanding of the experience.

Re: Anyone use Byetta

hi i have been using byetta for 2 months have lost 4lb in 4 weeks did feel a bit sickat firsy now i am on 10 and feel ok blood sugars are comming down there are 4 of us in north birmingham trying it. jenny

Dennis said:

Hi all, This is my first post on this blog - type 2 for 5 years and about to start using a combination of Glucophage and Byetta. I know that Byetta is only recently licenced for use in the UK so wondered if any of you have any experience of it?

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while using byetta in my leg i get very bad brusing is this normal when using in stomach sometimes have a small bruise jenny

Re: Anyone use Byetta

JENNY52 said:

hi i have been using byetta for 2 months have lost 4lb in 4 weeks did feel a bit sickat firsy now i am on 10 and feel ok blood sugars are comming down there are 4 of us in north birmingham trying it. jenny

Dennis said:

Hi all, This is my first post on this blog - type 2 for 5 years and about to start using a combination of Glucophage and Byetta. I know that Byetta is only recently licenced for use in the UK so wondered if any of you have any experience of it?

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Hi Jenny.
Welcome to the forum. Have a good look around all areas of the forum and if you have any further questions please ask.

North Birmingham....I can assure you there are far more than 4 using this drug, I know of many in that area and the surrounding areas. As regards one of my colleagues Dennis, he started this thread back in 2007. It is probably the longest running and most informative thread anywhere on the net dealing specifically with Byetta matters.

As regards your other post......
Most Consultant's recommend that you inject Byetta in the abdomen area as there is usually more subcutaneous fat to inject into there. The reason you get bruising is probably because you hit a minor blood vessel when you injected. Do you pinch a small amount of fat when you inject ? This minimises the amount of blood vesssel involment.

hi, I think the bruising comes from when you apply pressure to the plunger of the pen, I think you automaticaly squeeze harder on your pinch of fat. many thanks to the mods for the most informative site on the net.

Im new to this and have some questions about Byetta which i have been on since Jan1. I am T2 and was on Insulin which i stopped DEcember 31.
My question is what is the significance of taking Bytetta before breakfast and Dinner? I have no hunger pangs at all and frankly force myself to eat in support of the Byetta injection.
Some mild nausia but manageable.
Second question is that since dropping Insulin by blood sugars average 13 up from 5ish when on insulin. Weght gain was my problem.

Partridge said:

Im new to this and have some questions about Byetta which i have been on since Jan1. I am T2 and was on Insulin which i stopped DEcember 31.
My question is what is the significance of taking Bytetta before breakfast and Dinner? I have no hunger pangs at all and frankly force myself to eat in support of the Byetta injection.
Some mild nausia but manageable.
Second question is that since dropping Insulin by blood sugars average 13 up from 5ish when on insulin. Weght gain was my problem.

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BYETTA can be administered at any time within the 60-minute period before the morning and evening meal (or two main meals of the day, approximately 6 hours or more apart). BYETTA should not be administered after a meal.

BYETTA improves glycaemic control through the immediate and sustained effects of lowering both postprandial and fasting glucose concentrations in patients with Type 2 diabetes. Therefore the significance is that if you inject Byetta and eat nothing or very little then it will not stimulate the Pancreas to produce Insulin and lower the Bg levels. It requires food as in a meal, not a snack, to make it work.

Byetta is also an appetite suppressant and I too have to sometimes just do it ! I have to eat to make the Byetta work. If not you soon find the Bg levels shooting up up.

I presume that you are still on the 5ug pen. This is a low dose to allow your body to aclimatise to, what is a very powerful drug. Those levels you quote (13) need to be controlled by perhaps adjusting your diet a little. I found that reducung carbohydrates by a half and reducing the portion sizes worked very well for me in lowering blood sugars AND achieving weight loss, 5 stone in 12 months with no real effort at all.

HI, I'm using Byetta alongside Lantus and Glucophage, have only been using it for about 4 weeks (not licenced to use along with insulin yet in uk so i had to sign a consent form); Only on the lowest dose and the worst side effect i'm having trouble with is the nausea........at least it stops you eating . I have only recently changed medication from Mixtard insulin and Metformin, to Lantus and glucophage so am still monitoring my bloods regularly . My blood glucose is absolutely all over the place at the moment. Not sure if this is due to medication changeover though so I will keep you informed, Dorne x

I am just about to start this drug, I have an appointment with a specialist nurse on Tuesday, I will let you know how I get on.