Medication how long ?

[KurvZ]

Hiya,
Was just wondering how long I would expect to be on my Type II medication , at present I'm on Byetta 5mg twice a day , and Metformin 500 4 times a day .. This is only my second week and I was supposed to she the Doctor tomorrow but the re-scheduled me for next Tuesday

Is Metformin now for life ? and the same Question of Byetta .. ??

Since Ive been watching my Diet and taking my Meds , Ive been feeling great more alive and alert than I have for many years , side Effects are minimal ...

I have also lost 1.5 stones in this period mind you I was a lumpy 20 and a bit stone ..

Its a bit strange getting used to taking all these meds , I have only every had antibiotics before all this ...

Thanks for any advice Dave

 

[cugila]

As it is a combination of drugs, exercise and diet that is helping you get your Bg levels down it MAY be that you have to stay on them for life........nobody can tell you, circumstances will dictate what happens.

As an example : I was once on 320mg Gliclazide, 2g Metformin and then went onto 10ug of Byetta.

After 2 yrs of Byetta I am now on a 5ug dose of Byetta rather than 10ug, 1g Metformin and NO Gliclazide. I MAY be able to come off Metformin later. I came off it for a while but due to side effects from anti-Cancer treatment giving me high Bg levels had to go back on it. I am working at getting rid again.

Because I lost over 5 1/2 stone and my Insulin Resistance was reduced the drugs were not needed in the same quantity. However, it is up to me if I will ever get off the drugs......how good I am at controlling my Diabetes by other means. Personally I think that I will at least be on the Byetta for life, a necessary evil so to speak. If it keeps my Diabetes under control.......I can live with that.

 

[jane22]

How long have you been diagnosed? I too take Metformin and Byetta and also Gliclazide. I'm hoping that before long I can come right off the gliclazide, it has been reduced by half and I do get hypos fairly often. However doc wants me to stay on it until I have lost another couple of stone. One thing the doc did say to me was that byetta is often not for life and will only work as long as the pancreas is still capable of producing insulin. If or when it packs up it will have to be insulin at that point and she has found a large percentage of her patients do get to that point. I see cuigla has been taking it for sometime and it still works for him maybe his great weight loss is the key to it. The doc explained to me that if I didn't lose more weight it was more likely that my pancreas would stop producing. She said weight loss was the key and VERY important. She also said it is likely that metformin will be for life.

 

[anniep]

My brother got to grips with his diet and has come off metfomin and is now purely diet controlled.

For myself, my metformin has been halved - and the doctor has taked about reducing it further. But to be honest having read of all the potential good effects of metformin over the year or two I have been taking it, I think that might be reluctant to give it up completely. Even if I could reduce my Hba1c into the magic 5's

 

[KurvZ]

Hi thanks for all the replies , just off to bed will have to read , in the morning I was Diagnosed 2 weeks ago Tomorrow

As for the weight loss Im expected to get down to around 14 stone , I did lose weight some years ago managed to get down to 15.3 stone with diet and I took up Mountain biking ... But when I did that I was still eating well ..

I then undid it all after I lost both Parent within 9 months of each other , I lost the plot , but now I'm going to keep the good living up for life ..

Thanks again looks like , I have a lot to ask my GP this time round , When I was Diagnosed I was 15.0 , and I think I had been high for quite some time ..

Im going out Tomorrow to buy some new clothes as I've dropped two waist sizes , that will teach me to have given away 95% of my smaller clothes ..

isnt funny how you think of all the questions after you've seen the Doctor lol

Night Dave

 

[anniep]

Sue a cugila have put together a list of questions to ask at the clinic - do a search for it it might help you think of the questions yo want answering.

 

[anniep]

and her is the thread

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17091

 

[jane22]

Hi Kurvez I hope you do well on your medication. I am stunned that you were given Byetta so soon after diagnosis. I use it but from the time that the surgery nurse suggested it might be a good idea until I actually got it was about 7 months. I had to see a consultant and then wait for a training course. In the area I live we only get it if we have progressed to the maximum dose of other drugs such as metformin, gliclazide etc. So I think you were very lucky.

 

[KurvZ]

and her is the thread

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17091

Thanks have printed it up

Hi Kurvez I hope you do well on your medication. I am stunned that you were given Byetta so soon after diagnosis. I use it but from the time that the surgery nurse suggested it might be a good idea until I actually got it was about 7 months. I had to see a consultant and then wait for a training course. In the area I live we only get it if we have progressed to the maximum dose of other drugs such as metformin, gliclazide etc. So I think you were very lucky.

Originally when I saw the Doctor she wanted to put me on Insulin injection , but told me I could take Tablets but she offered me the choice as I do a lot of driving and she said that I would have to notify DVLA ..
She said that I would have to inject myself , and then had to leave the room , being as I know very little about anything medical I assumed Hypodermic Needles and would fancy doing that ..

#As she left the Room I saw a poster with A pen Injection , and then realized it would be that rather than the Hypodermic jobs ..

When she return I said I would be ok with injections if the need was there and was it the pen injector that was on the poster , to which she replied yes, I then said I would have been ok with the Pen but would prefer tablets .

The Doctor then said dont worry you will be injecting with one anyway and told me about Byetta ..
So Had it from day one with the Metformin and Savastatin ..

Now on the day my BG was 8.5 compared to my 15.4 from the hospital blood sample , maybe being obese played its part in getting me the byetta ..

Everything is moving fast for me , have my eyes scan 15th April , the only thing that's slow is my dietician appointment 16th June..

Thanks all for the advice , and how are you doing with your Meds ?