GP has prescribed me Lixisenatide

Hi all, I've just been prescribed Lixisenatide by my doctor as I am now over 25 stone and has said that the next treatment afterwards would be gastric band or bypass if i don't lose any weight and I haven't had any luck finding the side of effects of the injection. But my hba1c has dropped down quite a bit from being in the teens to below 8 and i've been using the uni gym for an hour every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

I've been at the gym now for a month and ive not lost any weight, instead i've put on weight.

pavlosn said:

What kind of exercise do you do at the gym, mainly cardiovascular such as treadmill or rowing or mainly strength such as weight training. Muscle is much heavier than fat so it is possible that you may not be losing weight as such but seeing benefit through swapping muscle for fat. Do your clothes feel any different?

Pavlos

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What I do is: 5 min warm up on cross trainer at effort 2 followed by another 5 on cross trainer at effort 4, then I do chest press 3 x 12 30kg, vertical traction 3 x 12 40kg, shoulder press 3 x 8-10 10kg, tricep pushdown 2 x 12 3kg, bicep curls 2 x 12 6kg, arm bike 5 min effort 3, upright bike 5 min effort 4 and recline bike 5 min effort 5.

I clothes feel looser, especially my jeans.

dawnmc said:

Most people (experts) believe that diet is 80% and exercise 20%. What are you eating? Are you testing before and 2 hours after eating?

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I'm eating eggs, bacon, tomato, peppers, chicken, granola, go ahead bars, breaded chicken with different fillings such as broccoli and chesse, ham and chesse and chorizo and cheese. but lately i've just been binging on everything that i should not have and yesterday was the worst day for me as I had 2 bowls of porridge, 2 hours later had a pot of granola with yoghurt and then a mini sushi ready meal, followed by at 1 with 2 go ahead bars and a mars bar. When I got back from uni I was still starving and ordered a pizza with nachos, 2 cans of diet coke and a cheescake slice.

I have not been testing since June thanks to my GP at home, but today I got 300 testing strips for when I start lixisenatide tomorrow.

I have had a massive carb overload. I just tested my blood sugars this morning and they were 23,6 this morning which I knew it would be. I have only had 2 tomato's today and my blood sugar has dropped to 20.2 at 11am and 16.5 at 1:20pm after taking my meds apart from the lyxumia as my gp forgot to prescribe me with the disposable needles. As for my cravings, I have tried numerous times to stop craving carbs but have failed each time which is due to snacking whilst i am out as I always carry my debit card and has become a bad habit for me.

I am not proud to admit this but I am going to. I am addicted to carbs, diet pop drinks, spending on snacks.

mrs gimli said:

Would it help to meal plan for a week and only buy that food . Put plan on fridge but also put some treats on there for snacking. I've found if I have somthing when I'm hungry I don't get hungry so much

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I have done weekly meal plans before and failed. What I've been thinking of trying is snacking on lettuce and houmous when I'm hungry as today I've been hit hard by carb withdrawal symptoms

zand said:

akindrat18 I think maybe you are not having enough fat, maybe not enough protein either? That could be why you get hungry and need to snack and then the more carbs you have, the more you want (I do this from time to time too, so I'm not judging you). Carbs are very addictive, so conversely, the less you have the less you want them.

I was wondering if you have ever had counselling to help you find out why it is difficult to stick to an eating plan? I'm not sure, but maybe your uni could help with this? I am having counselling myself and it is helping me but isn't a quick fix by any means, it is good to get some answers though and now I know what has caused me to develop this habit it is easier to try to stop it.

It's good to hear from you again anyway. I was wondering how you were getting on.

The thing with the gastric band is that you still have to eat sensibly afterwards and the diet is even more restrictive than the one you are trying to do now. So it's not an easy option.

I wish you well, keep in touch.

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Zand, I tend to snack alot and that is my downfall unfortunately . I have had counselling from the uni for bereavement as I recently went to my aunts funeral earlier this month and the counsellor was really supportive, he suggested that I should try meditation (medit-ate diet as he calls it) for 10-15 minutes before every meal and said that I should eat my meal in a dark, silent room to savour the taste of my meal. Also as part of my degree at uni, I am taking a module which is called addictive behaviours and the assessment for it is that I have to choose one behaviour and evaluate theories that explain why some people develop an addiction to the behaviour and discuss implications that the theories have for reducing the harm
associated with the behaviour.

On a positive note, I went to my regular appointment with the dietitian yesterday and got told that I lost 3kg (6 pounds) since the end of September. She is also fully on board that I should follow a LCHF diet and even gave me a LIST!!! of carb free snacks and snacks that contain 15g or less of carbs which I was surprised and has made an appointment to see the doctor at the hospital next month. Also this morning I have had my first injection of the lixisenatide which was not painful as i expected it to be and feeling amazing right now