VICTOZA users

I am on my second week of using Victoza and on the 1.2 dose. Have had a few side effects, nausea, slight headache, upset stomach and tiredness but these have now subsided. I lost 5lbs in weight almost straight away but the weight loss now seems to have come to a standstill
How has the weight loss been with other users? Has it been a steady loss or stop/start?
My blood sugar levels have come down dramatically - so pleased
Injections are painless and have just become a way of life.
So far really pleased with the results but would like some other views on the weight loss :thumbup:

I have been on Victoza 1.2 for a year now and lost weight in the first few months but no loss for the last 6 months. I think the first loss is due to the side effects that tend to change your eating habits but once they go your back to normal so I don't think Victoza should be looked at as a weight loss drug more of a Glucose control with the side effect of weight loss at the start.

Edwin

Hi everyone. I'm type1 and I've been on victoza for nearly 4weeks now. I am on slow-release metformin for insulin resistance and PCOS and my doctor felt victoza might help bring down my very high levels of Lantus insulin and help me to lose some weight.


I started out ok-ish on the 0.6 dose, with some nausea and a dramatically reduced appetite but about a week in the nausea got worse and I started vomiting. That slowly got better and I managed to increase to the 1.2 dose as advised. Since then I have hardly been able to eat a thing. I get nausea frequently and can maybe manage a dozen small bites of something incredibly plain and tasteless and then I can eat no more. Coupled with this I have been having diarrhea a few times a day if I do manage to eat anything, and sometimes I have to get up in the night to visit the toilet urgently too.


I am so exhausted, I'm guessing from not having any nutrition for weeks on end. Any car journey requires that I take a plastic bowl with me in case I vomit as the movement is just too much to cope with sometimes. In the first few days of taking Victoza I had a few hypos as I was adjusting my insulin levels down andit was incredibly scary to know how quickly my sugar levels were dropping whilst I felt completely unable to take in any glucose to counteract it.


I'm now having to stay at my mother's house 24/7 just in case there's an emergency. I am so tired and so fed up. I have lost about half a stone but that's no surprise since I haven't been eating anything. My insulin levels are about half of what they were before taking Victoza and that is definitely a good thing but I'm wondering how long these side effects are going to last... I'm not sure how much more I can take! I feel like crying!

Obviously your side effect are bad but they should start to ease soon, I have no experience of using Victoza with Insulin but I can imagine hypos being a problem with a greatly reduced food intake. I wish you luck and hope things improve soon, they will then you can look forward to more weight loss over the next few months.

thank you so much edshazell! It's nice to have your kind words and encouragement!

I am going to speak to the specialist nurse tomorrow just to have an update with her. I'm also worried that my various tablet medications aren't staying in my system long enough to be effective - I'm on an antidepressant and a whole host of pills for my heart condition and they seem to be 'coming straight out' for want of a better phrase! haha!

Anyway, thank you for your support.

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UPDATE: 17 august 2012


I just thought I'd write a quick update in case it might help someone else..

I spoke to my specialist nurse and she recommended that I go back down to the 0.6 dose. The nausea is now much better and I'm able to eat a little bit more. So that's a lot better than having a hypo every 5mins (or it seemed like it) and not being able to eat anything. I think the shock to my system of being on the 1.2 dose made my body be thankful for only being on the 0.6 dose again, haha. The nurse said I might be able to try again on the higher dose after i've stabalised for a while on the lower one... yay!

I started on Victoza on Monday and have been a bit disappointed today to be so tired. I have suffered from chronic fatigue which I have recently managed to get under control and after reducing my BG's from high 20's to 5 - 6 I was feeling fantastic with bags of energy and feel a bit back to square one at the moment

Has anybody suffered from feeling dog tired and if so did it go? Have had no other side effects at all.

Tiredness and diabetes seem to go hand in hand, must admit that generally I have felt less tired while on Victoza but some days tiredness just kicks in for no reason. Stick with it (no pun intended) hopefully its just a passing phase and you will feel better soon.

I went for the results of my HbA1c yesterday after being on Victoza for 3 months and my levels are down to around 6% which according to the doc is in the normal range. I've also lost a stone in weight but that isn't purely down to the meds as I have been eating healthier too....trying to cut out bread and eating more fruit and veg.
I was so pleased when I saw the results of the HbA1c on his computer screen as last time it was checked it was up around 10.5% so the graph looked a bit like a mountain range with me now down the other side in the valleys.

Lemonie I've suffered with severe tiredness for a number of years now...whether in CFS or not I don't know....The Victoza hasn't made it worse or any better. Some days are worse than others....I've been to the doctors about it and they take blood samples and then come back and say everthing is normal...the doctor did possibly hint at CFS but never said it with any real conviction.

Thanks Colin.

Just to update the tiredness only lasted for a few days and after a week on Victoza has now gone. Am going to ring the DN today to see if I can up the dose.

A little update from me...


Two months (yes, TWO MONTHS!) on victoza and the almost constant nausea has finally started to subside! I am no longer running to the toilet every half an hour and I am managing to eat more than just a couple of mouthfuls of something completely bland.

I am so glad I have managed to stick it out, because believe me, I was ready to give up so many times! But I have lost over 10kg in weight and I hope to continue to lose more slowly and steadily as I get more confident and my energy levels improve because I am now, for the first time, motivated to get fit and healthy! YAY!

My insulin levels have dropped as well. Due to insulin resistance and excess weight I had been taking 80units of lantus a day (I know - I still can't quite believe I needed that much!)... and that's reduced to 54 now, plus my bolus dose ratio is half what it was . DOUBLE YAY!!


I am assured that it is not common to experience such bad side effects - I'm just happy they're starting to fade at last! Hopefully I won't pile the weight back on now! :roll:

I have been on it over a year now, the weight loss seems to slowdown as you get over the side effects so try to modify your eating and not to drop back into bad habits if you had any. The glucose control seems to last and my levels are fine and even read today that its shown to help Alzheimers sufferers.

Update

Blood pressure is now down to 126/80 lost another 12lbs and mmol is coming down beautifully. DSN is very pleased
Me I am over the moon. Hurrah for Victoza

hugs said:

Update

Blood pressure is now down to 126/80 lost another 12lbs and mmol is coming down beautifully. DSN is very pleased
Me I am over the moon. Hurrah for Victoza

Click to expand...

I am very pleased to learn another Victoza user is reaping the reward from the daily injections.

For me another huge plus is the other drugs I no longer need to take :angel: ... from 2 of my heart heart tablets to some lung treatments now reduced by half. The beneficial side effects of Victoza have not really impressed me but also my HCT and also other patients now injecting :thumbup: :clap:

Since collapsing during the Newcastle diet in April I fell into a bit of a funk; blood glucose control, blood pressure and cholesterol all went through the ceiling. All the weight I had lost (and then some) piled right back on. my weight is now at 147kg and my waist has ballooned to just under 55 inches. Basically I was in a masochistic depression, which has taken months to try and fight my way pout of. My meds have increased to Metformin, Pioglitazone, Ramipril, Amlodopine and Simvastatin. I am swapping the Pioglitazone for Victoza tomorrow, hopefully things will start to improve now. I have been reading through this thread and would like to thank everyone for sharing their experiences!

Good luck I hope it works for you, try not to let the side effects at the start get to you just think of the end result which should be weight loss and better control.

Ed

I shoot Nikon's said:

Since collapsing during the Newcastle diet in April I fell into a bit of a funk; blood glucose control, blood pressure and cholesterol all went through the ceiling. All the weight I had lost (and then some) piled right back on. my weight is now at 147kg and my waist has ballooned to just under 55 inches. Basically I was in a masochistic depression, which has taken months to try and fight my way pout of. My meds have increased to Metformin, Pioglitazone, Ramipril, Amlodipine and Simvastatin. I am swapping the Pioglitazone for Victoza tomorrow, hopefully things will start to improve now. I have been reading through this thread and would like to thank everyone for sharing their experiences!

Click to expand...

OK Niko, good luck with the Victoza. Yes you will probably experience some daunting side effects for a while, but stick with the daily injections and eventually you will come out the other side feeling much better with not only less of an appetite, but a feeling of less space inside to fit the food into.
You might also experience some beneficial side effects as I did .. no more headaches so I dumped the headache prevention pills, my blood pressure fell so my main pill went down for 32 to 16mg, my breathing improved so 1/2 the inhalers AND my complete mood and outlook on life changed turning me into my old self again
It didn't happen over night but I suppose by 6 months changes were notice by me and my doc

Thank you, guys. I had some pretty awful side effects when I started Metformin (which have never fully eased)so I'm braced for the worst again. If it can eventually aid me in cutting down on other medications so much the better, however I'll happily settle for controlled bloods.

I had my first shot at lunch time, it wasn't half as bad as expected. I was just wondering if anyone can recommend a decent pouch for storing the active pen, needles and sundry?

I just use the box they come in, I get two pens each proscription so put one in the fridge in the plastic bag that comes from the chemist then put 15 needles inside the box ( I am on 1.2 per day ) so that as I use them I know how many days I have left in the pen. I don't use anything else like wipes etc, had no problems for a year now. The injection is very easy with no pain at all, I find that once I have decided where to inject I just touch the needle on the skin if I can feel it I move it slightly away to another bit and it just goes in without any feeling, don't know if its a mind thing or some bits are more sensitive than others.

Hi Ed, thanks for the hint on finding a suitable injection point. Hopefully it will save me from giving myself a nippy one. The wallet/case is more for travel (I camp a lot when working), but the box will do proudly when I'm at home.