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BYETTA

After 1 week I am now on 10 Byetta Up from 5 No problems so far.
My Sugar levels are down from 33.3 and above to 12 to 20 and falling
 
MOT with the nurse last night expecting to go on to insulin after putting it off for a year. In a state of stress and anxiety thinking "This is it, change for life, etc" and she says "I have changed my mind, you should try byetta"
So after much discussion tomorrow i pick up my byetta pens.
I am sceptical that lizard spit will make me lose weight by making me feel full and giving me diarrhoea. She also said i was the first patient she was giving it to, and she covers quite a large area of Sussex. Is it still that new? Anyone else using it? How is it going? Is it working?
Have to try it if it means that insulin can be avoided, but i'm just not sure....
Help!
Dean
 
Hi there.
There is a very long thread on Byetta and it might help you to read that. There are several of us here using it with good results. I went into it with an optimistic attitude and was determined it would work for me which it has. I have used it for 5 months, lost 16 kg, Hba1c is down from 10.5 to 6 and I feel much better. In my area there are hundreds using it and although newish, it has been used in USA for around 5 years and 2 or 3 in UK.
It has helped me most by reducing my appetite considerably and therefor allowing me to eat reduced portions and food which my meter proves to be the best for me. I now enjoy little bits of nutritious food rather than filling myself with junk. Hope it works well for you.
 
Hi all,
I'm currently on Victoza, been on it since June and have lost a total of 21lb, have reduced my Lantus from 80-100 units down to 34, and my blood sugar levels have remained good.
When I last saw my diabetic nurse for my monthly weigh in last month, she said she might concider trying me on Byetta, beings my weight has remained about the same for the last 2 months even though I'm trying my best. I'm trying hard still with cutting down and my meal portions are smaller. This now needs more effort from me because I think my appetite seems to have almost returned.
I'm willing to give Byetta a try if need be, as I'm hoping it might give me a kick start again with losing some weight.
I've been reading through alot of the posts on here about it and have found them all very interesting.
My question is, how important is it to keep to the recommended 6 hours inbeteen injecting Byetta please?
I've read that it needs to be taken on an empty tum for it to work properly.
So, due to the odd hours I keep, I've decided I'd take my first injection before I have my first meal of the day usually between 1pm and 2pm, and then again before my tea time meal later on, around 5pm and 6pm.
At the moment, my day time meal is usually just a bowl of cornflakes, about 30g, with skimmed milk or a sandwich, and I eat nothing again till my tea time meal, when I'm hungry and ready to eat again.
So my concern is the 6 hour gap inbetween injecting. how important is this please?
Would injecting after 4 or 5 hours be wrong/harmful?
Thanks for reading, and thank you for any help/advice you might be able to offer me,
Kind Regards
Jackie
 
Jackie.

It is extremely important to keep that minimum 6 hr gap between injections.........unless you want to be violently ill !! 6 hrs is the MINIMUM gap you should leave.
A friend of mine did just what you are considering by accident and she ended up projectile vomiting :shock:

Either have one injection before your breakfast and then the other with your evening meal......Never try and cut the gap down, in fact it is better to leave it longer as cutting the time between injections will overdose you, not a good idea.

You do not need to have an empty stomach prior to the injection, you just need to make sure any snack in between is NOT a high carb one and preferably in the middle of the day.

Hope that helps.
 
Ooooh right Ken, thanks for that. Hmmmmm its very important then, thanks for clearing that one up for me!!
Well, the cornflakes or sandwich that I have mid day (1pm-2pm ish) IS my breakfast.
Then tea time (5pm-6pm ish) is my 2nd meal of the day, which is my main meal, and then later on, depending on what I've had for tea and how hungry I am, I will usually have a sandwich or snack which is my 3rd meal (around 9pm or 10pm ish) which takes me into the early hours before I go to sleep/bed (3am or 4am ish)
I have the normal 8/9 hours sleep, It's just I go to sleep late and I wake late. It's just me. I have no set routine. And my meal/food times are hardly ever 6 hours apart.
Oh blimey, this is going to be tricky for me if I do go onto Byetta..
Crikey.... I'm struggling here as to how I could work it.....?!
helpp!!!
Regards
Jackie
 
Jackie.
It's acase of fitting your 2 main meals around the Byetta.....you will find that your appetite should decrease and if you eat too many carbs at a meal then you will probably end up nauseous.....
One or other of those meal times has to be adjusted.

I sometimes have breakfast around 10am when I am out, then a very small snack around 2pm. My second main meal is about 7.30pm most days with a little flexibility. Soem days I have a small breakdast without Byetta and main meal at 1 or 2 pm........just means the other main meal has to be at 8 or 8.30pm.

Tyhere si no other way around it, cutting the gap is definitely out !

Hope you will work out something that fits in with your lifestyle. It is worth it.......I lost over 5 1/2 stone and BG levels are all back on target again. Good luck.
 
Thanks for replying again Ken, youv'e been most helpful in what you've told me tonight.
You're right, my appetite will decrease wont it, so it will hopefully make it easier for me to work around it.
Hmmm, I will just have to get my thinking cap on..
I now appreciate how convenient Victoza is, just one injection a day at any regular time, and that's it.
On a moderate carb diet, what would you say the average amount of carbs I should be having per day is please?
And, with the odd hours I keep, how would you suggest I split them between each meal?
You say if I over do it with the carbs I'd experience nauseous. How many carbs is 'over doing it' in a meal?
I'm very much still on a learning curve here with regards to carbs etc, and I'm trying to read up on this site as much as I can about them, and I've bought myself the Collins gem carb counter book too.
So I'm sorry for all the questions!
Thanks again
Jackie
 
Jackie.
No problem. Glad to help .....
I can really only tell you what I do.....everybody is different as we frequently say.

Typical day for me......
Up about 7 - 8am. Bg reading.
Shower etc
Inject and Breakfast about 8 - 9am. Total carbs at the minute.....20 - 30g
1 or 2pm. Lunch. About 10g carbs.
Inject and Dinner at 7.30 - 8pm. Total carbs.........20 - 30g
Bed around 2am most nights........I get about 5 - 6 hrs sleep as opposed to the 10 hrs prior to changing to a Low GI/GL diet coupled with 'reduced' carbs. I am not a low carber as I do not use high fat, I eat fats sparingly. It works very well for me.

Maximum 50g carbs per day at present as I am shifting a few pounds I put on in a recent 2 month holiday ! When back down to 'fighting weight' again........I eat around 60 - 80g carbs.

You need about 20g carbs for Byetta to most effective in my experience. If I eat anything over 30g I start to feel sick.....so I don't go there. Try to work out how many carbs you are consuming now and then try to get down to the sort of levels I was doing. I do not snack between meals very often, never feel hungry and often leave some food on my plate, which by the way is a side plate, not a dinner plate. That ensures portion sizes are correct as it is very easy to eat way too much .....that is when you may get nausea.

It may seem like hard work but once you have been on it for a while you get used to it. The appetite suppressant effect of Byetta will help you I hope.

I hope that has been some help, others may do things differently.......hopefully they might chip in with their own experiences too ?

Off now as I have a Film to Watch........ Night night....
 
That's great Ken, thank you! You've been most helpful.
Yes I too now use a smaller plate for my meals.

Yeah, It'd be good if anyone else could pop along and add their two penneth aswell,
I'd be interested to hear how you're all doing and what a typical day consists of, just so I can get an idea of how you're all working with it, and maybe I can pick up a few hints and tips along the way.

Night night,
Enjoy your film Ken,
And thanks again for your time and advice, very much appreciated,
Jackie
 
hi its vivkaroo here can anyone tell me if you can take antibiotics with victoza please tried othe victoza site but no one replied so just thought i would try the byetta site in case ken was on thanks vivkaroo xx
 
Hi Viv.
Long time no see........

I'm out at the minute so haven't seen your post, sorry. I have just checked out VIctoza and Erithromycin and as far as I can see neither the BNF nor any other lists it as being contraindicated. If you are at all concerned you could double check with your Pharmacist tomorrow.

Sorry this is brief.....answering by phone !

Ken xx
 
thanks ken to give time to will write tommorow let you know how i am getting on i am pretty sur e they are ok just wanted to make double sure speak soon thanks vivkaroo xxx night darling x
 
Hello Viv

Been wondering where you have been?? I have just finished a course of flucloxacillin and I am on Victoza. Unfortunately it has not helped me so am probably having to go on insulin - diabetes nurse coming back to see me on Tuesday. I have seen so much on these boards about insulin not being the answer that I am really frightened, I also do not want to put the weight back on. Still, I have no choice. How are you getting on ?

love Jude
 
Hey All,

Hope you are ok.

Well I started my Byetta on 16th and my bg level went from 11 to 9 withing two day. Now i have been at a steady 9.1 - 9.8 until now this moring i was 9.3 and now I have just taken it before i do my injection and its 5.2. Does it so easily go down like that?

Thanks for reading Leanne x
 


Hey Jude..... <groan>
If you are still having problems then maybe Insulin is going to be the way forwards for you......we have many T2's who use Insulin to good effect. It isn't a given that you will automatically put weight on providing you balance the carbs v Insulin. Too much Insulin is what can put the weight on, so can too many carbs so it is important to limit the carbs and that will keep the Insulin requirement low as well.
 


Leanne.
All sounds good so far but can I ask a couple of questions please.......

1. How often and when do you test your Bg levels ?
2. Morning level was when and what food have you had in the meantime ?

The information might help me to give a better answer.
 
Once again my bs are all over the place.

The Dr. stopped my HRT tablets last month and within 1 week my hot flushes, day and night have returned. This causes my bs' to go up and up and my Consultant has told me I am intolerant to heat, instead of being in the low 6's as I have been for years since starting Byetta, over the weekend I was up to the 13's. This is not too much of a worry, just wondered if anyone else has any symptons like this. I am nearly 65.

Pauline
 
I wonder if anybody can help me. I have developed a hacking cough. It has been coming on since I started my byetta - but I also started on blood pressure tablets at the same time. I am coughing so hard now that I am almost passing out. My doc has prescribed antibiotics 'just in case' and a prescription linctus 'just in case' I have now been told to stop my bp tablets. The next step will be to stop my metformin and then to see a specialist. I stopped my bp tablets over a week ago and I am still coughing day and night. I have realised within the last 3 days that I have an over production of mucus and I believe that this is causing the coughing. Has anybody else had this experience.. I have to go and see my diabetic consultant again on 8th December and would like to know if this is a common thing amongst byetta users before I see him. It is so bad that I will have to consider coming off byetta if this is a side effect.
many thanks
 
As far as I am aware a persistent hacking cough is not a known side effect of Byetta. However that is not to say that it can't be ?? Everybody can react differently to various drugs.

I think your GP is taking the correct route in taking you off Meds one by one to see what is causing you a problem. If no improvement then see a Specialist for further investigation.

There may also be an underlying condition which could cause a cough. This may be totally unrelated to medications. (Over 2000) Certain BP tablets can also have that effect ? The effects may linger until the particular drug has left your system totally.

Are you a smoker at all ?
 
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