BYETTA

[susiewoosie]

Thanks Ken I don't drive so its just me I'm a danger to lol.

Jayne my dn halved my glicazide as well. I've been onb byetta since March and this is the first time I've had any problems. I think I was over stressed so I don't know if that was the cause. I'm a very emotional eater so my sugars tend to be more on the high scale of normal lol

My BG this morning was 5.9 so I'm happy with that.

 

[cugila]

Hi Susie.
Glad to hear things seem to have settled down. Just make sure you keep the levels away from the hypo zone (<4 mmol/l). Keep us posted if you have any more problems.
As for Daisy last night....what a girl !!

Jane.

Can I assume as we lose weight we are likely to need less of these drugs? One good thing I have noticed is that as I have lost weight my blood pressure has come down quite a bit almost always being about 120/80 now so I'm hoping that as time goes on I'll be able to reduce those meds too.

You sure can.......your Insulin resistance will reduce and whatever you produce naturally will then also work more efficiently. My weight loss of over 5 1/2 stone certainly helped as well as my reduced carbs, low GI/GL diet regime. That has shown in the fact that now my Byetta has even had to be reduced back down to a 5ug pen because I like, Susie was getting hypos all the time. I was plain and simple overmedicated.

One last question is, does anyone on Byetta take any supplements? I have never taken them as I feel I eat most things i need or at least I used to but now I eat such tiny amounts of food. I have also been reading that metformin users can be short of B12. I'm going to ask for a blood test in September when I have my hba1c to check but I do feel very tired much of the time not just a bit tired but very exhausted so I am considering a multivitamin. What do others think?

My feelings about supplements and Vitamin's are ......make sure you need them before you either go wasting your money or worrying about whether to take them or not. There have been many discussions on the Forum about various supplements if you do a search with the 'keyword' you should find them.

As for Vitamin B12.....I was shown to be deficient in this and also Potassium after recent anti-Cancer treatment. I was prescribed a Banana and plenty of Coffee each day for the Potassium as they are both high in this and then a prescribed supplement for the B12 'Cyanocobalamin' tablets each day. You can have injections for this but I have had my fill of 'jabs' so opted for the tabs.

I don't like taking anything unless I HAVE to, so that is my view........my personal opinion.

Ken

 

[jane22]

Thanks Ken, I feel the same as you about suppplements. I was low in potassium a few years ago and told to eat bananas which I did and still do - one a day and they don't send my Bg's up too much. I'm just a bit bothered by this exhaustion which has crept up on me. Of course it could be the Byetta or the small amounts of food or any other number of reasons I know. I'm off on my hols for a month on Tuesday so I can't get to the doc about it until September. Maybe I'm extra worried because I'm away for so long and don't want to spend my holiday feeling grotty.
Glad your BG was good this am SW and hope it all settles down for you now. I am a bit of an emotional eater too although I am finding it hard to eat like that now. I still kind of yearn for it but then when its in front of me I can't eat it so thats one good thing. I have come to love ginger tea and it's refreshing and I don't seem to want to eat with it like I would with coffee - you know the half a packet of biscuits lol.
Well I'll be over the moon if I can ditch some of these drugs in September when I return to the hospital. The DSN said I could experiment with the glic if I wanted but I'm a bit loath to do that until after I have my next hba1c but it is tempting. How long before it's out of your system? Maybe I could try a few days without it. As long as I don't overdo the carbs I seem to stay under 8 for 1,2 and 3 hours after eating and before meals between 4-6 ish.
Hope things get better for you SW, I felt so sad for you when you said you were crying after your drs visit, it shouldn't be like that.

 

[cugila]

I'm just a bit bothered by this exhaustion which has crept up on me. Of course it could be the Byetta or the small amounts of food or any other number of reasons I know. I'm off on my hols for a month on Tuesday so I can't get to the doc about it until September. Maybe I'm extra worried because I'm away for so long and don't want to spend my holiday feeling grotty.

I just had a 5 week holiday and feel so refreshed now, maybe that's what you need as well. Just enjoy the break and don't worry too much.

Well I'll be over the moon if I can ditch some of these drugs in September when I return to the hospital. The DSN said I could experiment with the glic if I wanted but I'm a bit loath to do that until after I have my next hba1c but it is tempting. How long before it's out of your system? Maybe I could try a few days without it.

As your DSN has given you the OK to adjust I would try just halving the dose again. Glic has a half life of around 10-12 hrs so an 80mg dose should in theory be out of your system in about 72 hrs which is roughly 3 days. It's a complicated calculation so isn't exact. You need to closely monitor your bloods while you are doing that. Careful control of carb intake will help a lot as well. Let us know how you get on if you do.

Ken

 

[jane22]

My glic is modified release 30g and I take 1 each morning. I wonder if it's ok to break it in half then? Before Byetta I took 2 of these a day.

As regards to carbs as far as the breads etc go I really don't fancy them. I really fancy fruit though and apart from my 1 banana I try to keep to berries. I did have an orange and my BG shot up so keep off those now. I think I read somewhere you need about 30g of carbs per meal with the Byetta and I tend to stick to that pretty much although I find it difficult to have that much at breakfast. I was getting a lot of nausea then and did wonder if it was because I wasn't eating enough. That has mostly passed now. I could reducethe carbs further because I am never really hungry but not sure if that would be sensible.

 

[cugila]

My glic is modified release 30g and I take 1 each morning. I wonder if it's ok to break it in half then? Before Byetta I took 2 of these a day.

Ah.....that must be Diamicron then. Not really unless you have been told to by the DSN/GP to do that.
I posted elsewhere about the detrimental effects of splitting tabs. You can never be sure that you get the right dose and particularly SR/MR types of tabs the active ingredients will degrade and may give unintended side effects.

You could try alternating them each day or maybe cut it out for one or two day's and see what happens to your Bg levels. If they are too high then go back to taking them as before and discuss after your holiday.

As for the carbs....yes Byetta needs something to get it's teeth into so to speak. I used to have about 25-30g per main meals (2) now it is more like 20-25g. I can have a very filling meal without too much hassle and the post meal levels are usually around 6's now. Suits me fine. Be careful with the fruit, berries etc. Some people seem to ignore the total carbs of these and have masses of them because they are 'healthy'. That may be true.....but the carbs do stack up ! Moderation as we say....... :wink:

Ken

Ken

 

[susiewoosie]

Hope things get better for you SW, I felt so sad for you when you said you were crying after your drs visit, it shouldn't be like that.

Thanks Jane, what makes it worse is that he's the diabetic dr for the surgery. I'm supposed to speak to him to get my results but I think I might just see if the receptionist can give them. My normal dr is nice, she will listen to you and explain things with out making you feel stupid.

I do think this might have been the reason for my low BG (fingers crossed)

 

[jane22]

yes I'm as careful as can be with the fruit and have been testing like mad to see which ones are best/worst. Oranges are really bad but strawberries and raspberries seem ok. I have them with a plain yogurt and that for breakfast seems the best bet if i feel sick. It's literally 6 raspberries and 2 strawberries as I can only manage small portions of anything. I don't have all that many if any for the rest of the day and rely on cauliflower, broccoli and other green veg for my 5 a day or salad but many salad things are actually fruits too. I'm off to Turkey for the next month and so no strawbs or rasps available now, you only get stuff in season. So I'll have to experiment with peaches. I think melons and grapes could be a problem.
I thought splitting that glic could be problematic and as its not much more than 5 weeks until I see the doc again I might leave it for now. Apart from the tiredness its all going pretty well so I don't want to mess with it. Maybe if my hba1c is as good as I'm hoping she'll agree to cut it out. I should be a bit lighter by then too.

 

[jpg]

The Byetta PIL states that the two daily Byetta doses should be taken with 60 minutes before the two main meals of the day and at least 6 hours apart. I have recently been getting what can only be called morning sickness. I feel slightly queasy when I wake up and don’t feel much like breakfast. I made the mistake of eating the wrong things on a couple of occasions and was actually sick a few hours later. This tendency to feel sick has increased somewhat over the last few weeks (I started Byetta in April).

This is all a bit strange that I feel sick when the Byetta level in my body is at its lowest, but I feel fine in the evening when the level is presumably at its highest.

My weight has dropped from 104.4Kg at the start down to about 90.4Kg now, and I was wondering if this had anything to do with it.

Has anyone else experienced this?

jpg

 

[susiewoosie]

Just had my blood results and my H1 thingy is 6.1 now. Back in January it was 10 so I'm more than happy with that. Only started Byetta on March 8th and I have also lost 22lb. Not a great amount compared to some but as I'm an emotional eater I sometimes eat more that I should.

 

[daisy1]

Hi Susiewoosie,

Great HbA1c results and weight loss - well done.
How have you been feeling? Not too much trouble with the hypos I hope.

 

[susiewoosie]

I can never remember what its called lol. The hypos seem to be under control for now so that great. I think the problems is that at the moment most food smell is making me feel sick so I wasn't eating enough.

 

[purplecrystal]

hi everyone
just thought I would give an update on things.its been a month now on the byetta 5 pen had no problems and I went to see my DSN y/day and good news my A1C is down from 8.6 to 8.3 in a month.

now the confusing bit is the weight loss they said i lost over a stone now i was weighed sitting on a chair and not the usual standing scales which i feel may not be accurate as my own scales at home say i haven't lost a lb. and they have given my husband his proper weight.
Im due to go back in afew weeks to the clinic so i will ask them to weigh me again on the standing scales.lol

anyway Ive been put on the 10 pen now started it today and i seem ok up to now.lost more appetite now than i did before. so hoping this will improve the weight issue over time.
one thing ive noticed is im getting more blurred vision i was told this could be due to the fluctuation in the sugar levels.?has anyone else had this with there eyes?

 

[cugila]

Just had my blood results and my H1 thingy is 6.1 now. Back in January it was 10 so I'm more than happy with that. Only started Byetta on March 8th and I have also lost 22lb. Not a great amount compared to some but as I'm an emotional eater I sometimes eat more that I should.

Susie.
Well done on a great achievement> You are doing great and an example to show other's what can be done with willpower and determination not to let Diabetes take over. Pleased for you ........

Ken

 

[susiewoosie]

I actually smiled when I got the results and the great thing is that I have lapsed sometimes and eaten the wrong things. I guess I am human after all lol

 

[cugila]

one thing ive noticed is im getting more blurred vision i was told this could be due to the fluctuation in the sugar levels.?has anyone else had this with there eyes?

Yes.......when I first started to take control of my diabetes my Bg levels were all over the shop for a while. During that time eyesight also went haywire. Once your Bg levels settle down and remain fairly constant the sight should improve. Whatever you do....don't get any glasses or contacts while this is going on. You will be wasting your money as you would need another prescription later on !!

Good progress so far BTW,.

Ken

 

[jane22]

Well done SW and PC fabby news about your Hba1c's. JPG I agree the sickness is just awful and I had it for 2 weeks. It started at 9am every mnorning and lasted 2 hours. It started as soon as I had the 10 dose. I couldn't work at all as all I could do was lie or sit quietly. I also had bad headaches at the same tome. I did a few things - reduced the time between injecting and eating to 15 mins, changed my breakfast from an egg on toast to plain yogurt with berries, drank ginger and lemon tea. After 2 weeks it went and I'm fine now.
I'm on holiday at the moment but as soon as I get back in Septemebr I'll have my hba1c done so I'm really looking forward to it. My blood is rarely over 7 when ever I test and mostly around the 5-6 at the moment sometimes dipping down to 4 -5 during the aftermnoons so I really hope I'll get a good result this time. I jumped on the scales this am (yes I brought them with me lol) and I have lost 10.5 kg now so I'm really pleased. Another 10 - 15 or so should see me at an ok weight. I do feel a lot more sprightly now though

 

[susiewoosie]

Jane thats great news about your weight. I hope you have a great holiday and that your hba1c is good

 

[jane22]

Thanks Susie, it's very lovely with the sun shining and I've been swimming and walking every day. Got a problem yesterday which is such a pain. My BG has been fantastic for weeks so I'm really surprised that I've got a really nasty boil and my glands are swollen and I feel grotty. I am very prone to these nasty ones and so luckily I have flucloxacillin with me and started taking them and ibuprofen. Hopefully it will all clear up very soon. I really don't want to have to find a Turkish doctor. BG this am was good 6.1 so I really hope this doesn't send it rocketing this week.

 

[jane22]

Sorry for back to back post but have had a crisis this morning. I am in Turkey so impossible to buy Byetta here they do not use it. I injected this morning and it hurt and bled more than usual. Then I noticed blood had got into the chamber. Does anyone know if this means I cannot continue to use it? My son is flying out to join me tomorrow and I have asked him to bring me my new one which is waiting in the fridge at home. I just hope he wont have any problem bringing it through security.