Byetta 18: Discussion Forum for the week of April 9
This is the 10th in a series of weekly Byetta Discussion Forums, and 44th Discussion Forum at Diabetes.Blog.com. It is now closed to new comments. There is a listing of other Byetta Discussion Forums at a separate webpage: List of Byetta Forums.
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MARK:RE;POST MEAL SPIT:
I have found that the higher the BG at injecting the greater the chance of it plunging, usually within a half hour or so.
Byetta and Lows
I just got a new pen and was once again reading the package inserts. I hadn’t noticed before, but about 5% of the clinical trial people had lows with byetta and meteformin and with placebo’s and metformin. (It did go up substantially with the sulph’s.) I think that the occasional lows that are reported with byetta alone or byetta/metformin might fall in this 5% category. They didn’t offer any explanation for why of course, but it is reassuring to know that it is known to happen. Since getting off insulin, I have only had one time that was close to a low. In the late afternoon, I tested at 90 and went for a 2.5 mile walk. By the time I got home, I was at 61, not clinicall a low but pretty close. Happy Easter/Passover to all from me too. Pat in ID
RON RE:BLOOD PRESSURE MEDS
Dittos on that Ron. I was on a blood pressure med (although low dose). Within a few weeks of starting Byetta and loosing a few pounds I was getting light headed if I would squat down and then stand back up. My doc mentioned that as a possible thing to watch for when I started Byetta. He told me that from the dose I was on I could just stop if that happened. I did stop when that started happening. On my next visit almost two months later I had one of the lowest blood pressures (but well within normal range) that I have ever had. With my 27 pound weight loss I’m very close to being at my normal weight. i would guess maybe another 5 pounds or so is about all I could loose and at this point the blood pressure meds appear to be history for me.
Caution to other though, depending on the dose you are taking sometimes you have to bring the dose down in stages instead of just stopping completely. If you think you need to do this consult with your doc and FOLLOW HIS/HER INSTRUCTIONS for the particular med you are on.
Pat,
I’ve seen the same thing…low numbers upon returning from a walk.
I find it interesting to read the results in the clinical trial notes, about the reactions of people on the placebo..
John
Today was my sixth week (4 on little brother/2 on big brother). I have lost 15 pounds, which I hope I can maintain through the weekend. One thing I want to mention is I found I felt the worse when I didn’t eat enough carbs. I was trying to stick with more protein and vegetables and the lizard really didn’t care for that. Someone posted several times about eating enough carbs. after taking the shot and it really helped me. Thank you for the advice! And a big THANKS to everyone who contributes to this blog. I don’t know what I would have done without it.
Annie
MARK:
You probably didn’t have a problem because your BG was only 89. A few of us that injected with a much higher number did experience a sudden extreme low. It seems to be fine to eat a snack, or in your case a meal, and wait a couple of hours for the BG to come down before injecting, if the plan is to eat again.
Pat: RE; Lows
It really doesn’t seem to matter if you are on just the spit.. or whatever in combination with it, if you do the spit on a high BG you will experience a sudden low. There are several of us who have experienced that. The thing that seems to vary is what particular number in each individual case will make it happen. I believe you won’t find that in the “clinical trial notes,” because they apparently didn’t test for that.
I have been reading archives and recent posting and it has been so helpful. I have been on Byetta for 2 months-3 wks on 5mcg and then bumped to 10. Did not experience much of anything until 2 weeks ago when I notice the fullness feeling and loss of cravings which is great.
ALICE: this week I have had lots of belching and nausea and sometimes very tired. After reading past entries…I saw one where she injected into the thigh..next day no nausea and for some reason the belching has subsided also.
Thank you everyone for your wonderful dialogs. It helps so much to gain a better understanding of this medication.
Never in my life have I experienced this fantastic ability to eat so little and be satisfied!
ELLEN FROM ND: RE:SATISFIED WITH LITTLE FOOD:
Hello Ellen! Sounds like you are getting along great with the lizard! So good to hear it! I know EXACTLY what you mean about it being the first time in your life you have experienced being so satisfied by eating so little! I used to be hungry ALL THE TIME! Sometimes I would feel hungry not long after I ate. I never lacked an appetite. This is all so surreal. I used to be eating one meal and thinking about what I was going to have at the next one! Always thinking about food. This suppression is just so amazing to me. I really have to force myself to eat sometimes and am satisfied with so little it is amazing. I still love food and thankfully haven’t lost my taste for foods I love, but I just only need a fraction of what I needed before. So great feeling good with numbers in perfect range and having so much energy. I don’t know how many years it has been since I felt so good. Glad you are reading the archives too. There are some really fascinating discussions on Odds and Ends too starting at the beginning and on through. Hope you continue to do so well! GO GILLY!
Sharicatmom Re:lows I wonder if cases like the ones reported here were what made up that 5%. There are sure lots of individual differences with this stuff. Pat in ID
Ron, Thank you for your advice and encouragement. When I told my doctor that my goal was to get off some of my meds, esp. the Actos, he told me that he thought that maybe the best we could do was lower it to 15mg. Since this was my first visit with him I decided not to tell him of all the information I had learned from all of you and that I know some of you were able to get off the Actos. My A1C’s have been between 5.8-6.3 for many years. He definitely wants me to get off the Glyburide (lowered it by half the day I saw him). I believe in being a very active participant with my doctor in my treatment and will advocate for what I believe will be in my best interest. I also won’t go against sound medical advice though. I see him again on Monday for my lab results. He is being supportive in providing me with the spit until I change Ins. (effective 7/06 – Humana won’t pay for my RX because I am not “out of control” A1C’s 7 or over). I will take your advice and ask about the pm metformin. I have always seen my doc every 3 months (except when Katrina blew through here) and my labs have been within a normal range – kidney, liver function ok. I am curious to see what these new labs reveal since he also told me that it would be nearly absolutely imposible for someone with T2 to not have a cholesteral problem and according to my other docs it’s always been ok.
Thanks
Judy in LA
Sorry, my signature line is too long – I’ll try to shorten it to only 2 lines.
Judy in LA
If my signature line is too long again, would someone please help me
Thanks
Judy
Judy, Perhaps instead of putting all of your information in your signature line you could just paste it at the bottom of your post? Then it could be as long as you need it to be.
Good evening if you miss your shot do you notice much of a problem other than higher bs. thanks trish
I am wondering what you recommend if you are eating
out at someone’s place where it is not practical
to take Byetta along and inject oneself.
I am thinking of taking my shot say at 5 and eating
a light snack within 15 minutes and then go to the dinner. That way, even if the dinner is served at 8 or 9
I will have taken the evening shot and would have eaten
something (though not a full dinner) after the shot.
Is this a bad idea ? Has anyone tried this ?
Thanks for all your help.
Dave,
I’m missing the point of taking the shot and then eating the snack.
The idea of taking Byetta in the evening is to allow it to deal with your evening meal.
I would suggest either skipping the shot that evening entirely..or, find a way to take the shot even though it’s inconvenient.. It’s the meals you eat at someone else’s house that you have the least control over the content. That may be where you need the Byetta the most.
I’ve been in a similar situation twice and I’ve just taken my pen with me and found a restroom to give myself the shot.
John
Thanks, john. How did you carry the pen with you ?
I did not think it is very concealable – especially
with the requirement that it be kept cool.
It does not fit into a pocket easily, in any case.
I do not want my hosts to begin asking me questions.
Thanks for everyone’s comments re: a missed shot and what the impacts could be.
Sherricatmom – I think you are correct, by waiting until my BG was lower and then eating a snack I did not have the issue of crashing my BG.
Interesting observation – even though I ate a regular dinner when I missed my shot, my BG was down to the low end of the desired range in less than 3 hours. In the past (pre-Byetta) that would never happen. Is there a carry-over effect that helps the Byetta work even when you miss a shot? Or maybe the Byetta has stimulated enough Beta cells that I am producing more insulin. I don’t know, but will chalk it up to another benefit of Byetta.
Today I followed up on my plan and I dropped the Amaryl completely. When I went out and played 18 holes of golf I had no hypo problems at all. The only thing I ate was a single oatmeal/raisin granola bar halfway through the round of golf. I will continue to skip taking the Amaryl, and will, of course, continue to test frequently. If my BGs holds steady, I will inform my endo that I am done with the Amaryl permanently.
Mark
Dave
There is a blog here on travel that mentions many alternatives for carrying it. You can take shot in car. Or you can just miss shot.
Now I have yet to get a low of any kind. But I have read all the past posts for the months this has been open. Some said they got low after they took a shot in the midst of meal. Then some have said when their sugar was high(over 200) that they got a low when they didn’t eat a meal.
The company says to not take a shot after you have started or finished a meal just skip it. A couple of weeks ago I had a procedurce that would not allow me to take shot for three times. Last week I had 6 teeth pulled, I didn’t take shots all day. Skip it is my suggestion, but start working a way to prevent this in future.
First time since starting the byetta, I had to take Humalog. 3 hours after dinner, bg of 355. I really can’t understand why, though it was a higher carb meal. Wondering if it was possible I did not get the 5 dose when I took the shot? I know I felt no queesiness during my hour wait, and thought that was a good sign, but now I wonder. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. Big cooking day for me, family coming. I wasn’t worried, I have really been in control of my appetite, but that reading sure surprised me! Constant battle isn’t it?
Hi Gloria in Indiana. Thanks for your thoughtful response. I’ve been analyzing (my profession) all the
“angles” of my depression/anger, and I’m really stumped.
I think it is more a case of a number of chronic illnesses hitting me in a short time, and now, adding Byetta….here we go again……another drug. I keep reminding myself of how very grateful I am to be doing as well as I am. And of course, all these medications have to be fighting each other somewhere along the line. I guess if I can recognize that I’m depressed I’m not TOO bad, yet. The anger is what really bothers me…I’ve never felt this much anger.
I think I’m going to contact my old counselor (I’ve moved since seeing her a number of years ago), and see if I can’t set up a phone appointment to talk some of this out.
I really do think, though, that the Byetta is in some way amplifying my emotions; it seems too coincidental that this all started with the increase to 10 mcg, and feeling “jittery”. I’ll work with it. Pray a lot. And get through this, too. Thank God that I am as well as I
am. Thanks again, Gloria, it’s nice to know others care.
Hope you are doing well.
Marian
Good morning friends. Hello to alllong term contributors and Newbies. Happy Holiday to all
MARK– Congratulations and keep up the great progress.
CHERYLOU IN PA– You stated in your post that you “waited an hour” I am not certain what you meant by that so I wll remind you that there is no need to wait an hour. You should eat your meal within the one hour window following your injection. Good Luck.
Hi,
I have been on Byetta for several months. Interesting thing happened recently. I went to my doc with complaint of fatigue with some chest discomfort for about two weeks.After the work up we found my fasting CBG went to 293, I was spilling ketones and glucose in my urine. After discussing the findings with my Doc I realized that I had not had the nausea I usually felt 2 1/2 hours after my shot of lizard juice. Same time frame as my fatigue. I also noted that the pen seemed to be 3/4 full still after 30 days. I missed only a couple of doses. Not enought o make a big difference. When I injected the pen clicked, held it for several seconds after injecting.
I have switched to a new pen and my numbers are returning and the nausea is back. Not to mention I feel better.Did my substance become inactive? Did my pen fail to deliver the dosage? It has remained at proper temp as far as I know.
My question is has anyone experienced a pen failure or delivery failure?
This is pretty scary to me. Almost got an expense paid trip to the local hospital. Now I have a lessened trust for the device and the substance. How do I know the stuff is bad?
Well any comments are appreciated. especially if they are related!
Thanks, found a great many tips here.
Dan
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