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BYETTA

Hi Vintagemalt

The following may help ease the nausea (unfortunately I suffered very long term with the nausea when I was on Byetta) - ginger biscuits, ginger or mint tea, ginger capsules. If it is really bad your gp may prescribe something to help you until it settles down.

Good Luck :) Jude
 
Thank you Jude,
So you think it will pass then.
At the moment (after only 10 days of the 10µg twice a day) I feel quite ill after eating, which I do within an hour of the injections.
Stephen
 
Vintagemalt said:
Thank you Jude,
So you think it will pass then.
At the moment (after only 10 days of the 10µg twice a day) I feel quite ill after eating, which I do within an hour of the injections.
Stephen
Click to expand...


You had some good info from Jude, another thing that some members have suggested in this thread was to sip soda water or weak squash. There are many posts about the subject try a search of this particular thread with the keyword, nausea.

When I first started I found if my carb count was too high that provoked some nausea.......you might look at the total carbs you are eating and try to keep them below about 30g....worked for me. No nausea.

I am in the postion now because of weight loss and reduced ~Insulin resistance that I have had to go back to the 5ug pen......I was getting hypos every day especially with my evening meal.

Persevere......it should settle down. :)

Ken
 
I too had awful nausea for the first 2 weeks of the 10 pen. It was always from 9am - 11am and then suddenly I was ok again for the rest of the day. I used ginger tea which helped a bit and tinkered with my breakfast. I ditched the egg and toat and had plain yog and berries. I still get it now and again but not every day. Another thing I did was decrease the time between injecting and eating to about 15 minutes.
 
well.... started the Byetta on Thursday didnt feel too bad, really has decreased my appetite, nausea really kicked in this morning, went back to bed for an hour that did the trick!, but then people who work don't have the luxury of doing that. Has anyone had a really weird taste in their mouth or is it just me? Determined to keep on going,Have managed to knock 10 units of my insulin out twice a day so seem to be doing well, If i keep on like this will lose a good portion of weight too hopefully as well as having better control of my BG. Its good to have a support system on here where we can gain and offer tips to help, I really find the ginger helps.
 
I don't have any odd tastes but there are foods which I don't fancy any more such as red meat and stuff like bacon and sausages and anything a bit fatty or rich. I tend to keep to very plain foods and enjoy fish much more than I used to. I have gone off ordinary tea and coffee too and just love the ginger and lemon tea. I'm finding the nausea comes and goes a bit. I only get it for 2 hours a day in the morning. At the moment I'm fine.
 
Nearly 5 months on Byetta now and I still have the slight underlying nausea, mainly in the morning. It's not that bad that it affects me too much and I have only actually thrown up twice. My tastes have changed,; food I used to love such as eggs, bacon, Marmite I just can't face in the morning. A couple of Ryvita and fruit followed by Twiglets is all I can usually stand for lunch, although I do sometimes indulge in some nuts or even pork crackling. My evening meal is much the same in content as I have always had but reduced in quantity. Even though I eat more in the evening I do not suffer from nausea then - strange.

Good news is that my weight is now down to 87Kg, from starting point of 104.4 Kg - about 2 stone 10lb loss.

JPG
 
That all sounds good then jpg. I have now been on it 3 months. Nausea has mostly gone but if I do get a little it's like you during the morning. Weight loss is 14kg and still losing but around .5 kg or so a week now. I'm happy with that. Hba1c has just come in at 6 which I'm delighted with, finger prick tests are always within NICE guidelines. Previous one in January was 10.5. I'm back to the consultant next week so I think they'll all be happy with my progress. My docs nurse was thrilled to bits with the Hba1c. So for me Byetta has been a life changer. I certainly feel better now.
 
Hi everyone. I posted about Byetta in the Type 1 blog but got no answers so will try here in the hope someone responds.
Am Type 1, been so all my life ie the last 48 years, since I was 15 months old. Have been using pumps for the last 10 years which makes life easier ie not sticking needles in myself all the time. Over the last few years the weight has started to creep on. My last H1AC1 was 7.5 despite low carbing and generally, I thought, having OK BS readings.
It's of concern to me obviously. My Endo. after discussion with other Endos, is happy to put me on Byetta. I'm wondering are there any other T1s out there using this medication ie to help with weight and BS readings? Or, are there any other sites I could go on to find more info.on this? Not having much luck at the moment.
Must point out I'm living in NZ where there is no subsidy for exenatide or, for that matter, insulin pumps and consumables. We just have to find the money. Anyway that's another story.
 
I wasn't aware it could be used by T1's. All the people on the trial I'm on are T2's although all but me are on insulin.
I have had 2 major benefits from this drug. My BG had come down dramatically from 10.5 to 6 and I have lost 14kg and still losing over a 3 month period. Because i usually feel full and am rarely hungry with it I have been able to change my diet big time and find it very easy to eat far fewer carbs. I suppose this also must have had an influence on BG. Other benefits are my BP has come down with the weight loss.
I am told this drug makes the pancreas of T2's produce insulin only when it is needed and not all the time like some of the other drugs I have taken so I assume this wouldn't happen with you. It also prevents the stomach emptying for about 4 hours (twice as long as normal) and sends messages to the brain that you are full so I assume this is the benefit your doctor is thinking of for you.
I feel so fortunate in the UK that I do not have to pay for this drug but quite honestly if I had to I would find the money from somewhere as it has transformed my life.
 
I am about to change from Byetta ( 9 months) to Victoza at the end of the month. Does anyone know if i should stop taking Byetta well before the chnage date? I have lost 11 kg on Bytetta but have not enjoyed the experience. Im hoping that Victoza is easier to handle, particularly with my travelling lifestyle and different time zones.
 
Hello

I changed from byetta to victoza at the beginning of August, one day on byetta next day on Victoza (lowest dose of course). I am feeling much better in myself but bg are still not low enough and I have to wait to see consultant on 13th Oct to see if I can go up to the highest dose. Persodnally I have tolerated this drug much better than the byetta and I was on the byetta for 15months.

All the best, Jude :wink:
 
samsam55 said:
I have just started using Byetta and wonder if anyone can tell me where I can get a carry case to take the pen and needles with me?
Click to expand...


Try phoning the UK helpline number for Eli Lilly and Company Limited as below. I phoned them some while ago and they sent me a pouch for free which takes two pens and a number of needles. They may still do it. Otherwise there are many cases available if you do a search on the net, the ones suitable for Insulin users work fine.

Eli Lilly and Company Limited
Lilly House, Priestley Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG24 9NL

Telephone: 01256 315 000
 
Thanks for the contact details. I have been using a small black cosmetic bag which is fine but a 'proper' one would be nice. I also want to talk to them about 2 of my pens getting contaminated with blood to see if they can offer advice. The first time was a nightmare as I was in Turkey for a month and it happened right at the start. You can't buy it there. Samsam55 you may wish to consider getting a frio bag for when temperatures rise above 25C. I have been very pleased with mine. I haven't needed it so much in UK but it's very handy if you travel.
 
Jane.
I seem to recall answering the post you made about blood in your pen a while back ? ?

The usual cause of this is that when you inject you need to keep the pressure on the button the whole time that you inject and also when removing the pen/needle from your injection site. If you relax that pressure even for an instant then some blood or body tissue can be drawn back into the pen. It is not usually a fault, it is usually a user error with the injection technique..

Hope that helps
 
yes I did mention it before but I wanted to ask the makers about it. Others have mentioned keeping finger on button which I do while I count 6 seconds and until I have taken the needle out. However none of the pens I have had have buttons which come back up straight away. They come up again when I dial the next dose which I don't do until I am going to use it again so even if I did take my finger off, which I don't it doesn't come up any way. When I was taught to inject I was told then that the button will not come up again until preparing the next dose and not to do that until just before injecting. After it happened the first time I was ultra careful but it happened again. It has only happened when I have used my thigh and have caught a capillary which has bled a lot so I steer clear of that area now. Wrecking 2 pens in 3 months seems a bit too frequent to me and if this happens while I am abroad which is often it causes a bit of a problem getting replacements. Up until now the only phone numbers I could find were American ones so I will call this UK number on Monday and see if they have any advice. I will also ask my DSN at the hospital when I see her next week.
 
Not quite sure what you mean about the button not coming back up after you inject ? Once you have injected the button remains in the same place until you use it the next time when you twist, pull out and then twist again. It is then ready for your injection. Once injected the button remains depressed. That's the way it is designed to work.
 
Yes well that's what I meant so the people who said I took my finger off the button too soon confused me as even if you do take your finger off it doesn't come back up does it. So that argument doesn't stand up. However I keep the pressure on it just in case, especially after the first time it happened. I think the blood went in regardless when I caught a capillary and I was bleeding more than usual when I took the needle out. I have met a few others who have experienced the same thing so I think the makers do need to know about it.The first time it happened with a pen in its first few days of use and the next time it was in its third week but as this drug is expensive when these accidents occur it's costing the NHS more.
 
The only way blood or tissue can enter the chamber of the pan is because the button is not held firmly down when withdrawing the needle from the injection site. It has happened to a few people and is solely caused by that.

When pressure is applied to the button it means that the Byetta is also under pressure and will only go one way - out of the needle attached to the pen. You only have to relax that pressure for an instant and that allows a small amount of tissue or blood to be drawn back into the chamber. It is a well documented fact. Another reason why you should always use a new needle every time.

When you speak to the manufacturers I am sure you will be given the same explanation. It was also given here in this thread some time ago.

There isn't really much more I can say on the subject.
 
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