Byetta 13: Discussion Forum for the week of March 5
This is the fifth in a new series of weekly Byetta Discussion Forums, and 38th Discussion Forum at Diabetes.Blog.com. It is now closed to additional comments. There is a listing of other Byetta Discussion Forums at a separate webpage: List of Byetta Forums. By the way, you'll also find some information about Byetta at two other Discussion Forums: odds'n'ends, and research about meds.
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Bill the diabetesdoc
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I ate a small snack pudding last nite and 126 this morning.Its been 7 months byetta[gilly] and I have been going steady and we are still trying to figure our relationship out. Think my personal best bet is to ignore the morning one and get on with my day.Have a great day my gilly pals (Comment this)
That's a pretty good number....About what time did you have the snack?
John (Comment this)
I know I can not believe it myself. I had the pudding snacl about 10:30 and went to bed at 11:00. I will repeat it tonight to see if it works again. (Comment this)
this is #5 for us to..
And congrats to all you other new grand parents as well!
I need some help/advise...
I talked to my dr on friday afternoon and told him what all was going on with my husband and that I was starting to have high bg in the mornings and LOW BG in the evenings about 1 hour after I eat..
It dropped down to 69 last night..
I started shaking really bad..
And had to eat a piece of toast just to get my level back up to 90!
Pre-Byetta I was injecting 50 units of Novolog 70/30 before breakfast and 60 units before Dinner..
You haveto take these shots within 15 minutes of your meal because it is fast acting...
The Dr cut me down to 15 units in the morning, and 15 units in the evening..
And I am still getting the LOW BG after dinner...
Then this morning I got up at 3:00 AM to see what my BG was doing and it was 217!
I was so out done..
LOL
the weird part is that it goes back down on it's own without taking the insulin shot around 9:00 AM..
When I was taking 60 units of insulin I was still seeing high numbers of like 148/175 range.. But that is better than what I am seeing now.. 200's fasting..
If I take even less insulin at night then I am never going to get my bg under control...
My Husband had a pretty good day without being sick...
Then, about 1 hour after Dinner last night he lost his meal.. He got on the scale at the hopital and he's lost like 7 pounds!
He can't afford to lose any weight!
And he wont get off of the byetta because his numbers are coming down now.
So I just don't know what to do..
I am so stressed out over his health that I am wondering if that is what is making my NUMBERS go up....
Thanks For Listening!
Sharon
(Comment this)
I just finished my #4 Byetta pen and must agree with others--the pen does not have the same effect at the end. I've been sort of happy because the past few days I haven't felt as sick after Gillie joins me for the day. It has been a pretty rough month generally since starting this pen for about 6 hours each day (three hours after each bite). But who knows what awaits me with the next pen--will it be a mean Gillie or a nice one? I decided before I start the new pen, I should count my Byetta blessings. There are so many, you will probably get bored and skip on!!
First and foremost, my bs numbers improve week by week. I thought right from the beginning that my numbers were great because I immediately lost the high post-prandial numbers of up to 300. This was not only with the meals I ate after my shot but my in-between meal also. In reviewing my log, I can see that all numbers continue to improve. The past two weeks I have not had a morning number of 120 or over and only found one random number of 160. Everything else 136 or lower and I look for higher numbers. I have my next A1c done this week and know it will be better (6.9 in December).
Secondly, I continue to lose weight. I lost 15 pounds the first month (Nov) and have continued to lose about a pound a week. I will weigh in at the doctor's office on March 20 and know it will be less than 200. She hasn't written those kind of numbers on my chart before. I know weight loss shouldn't be our primary concern but also attribute this to helping with the numbers. As we lose weight, we should decrease insulin resistance.
Third, though related, I have continued to have good appetite suppression since Day 1 of the spit. If I go past 12 hours between doses, I will start to get hungry but as soon as I take my shot, that hunger is gone. I used to feel starved and ate desparately trying to find something to fill the hole.
I have many more things to be thankful for due to this wonderful drug but see I have snow to shovel and a car to clean off before going to church so must get busy. I do want to add that I can't remember when I've enjoyed food so much. Even a simple piece of fruit or a slice of Brownberry Health Nut bread tastes wonderful. I have been very fortunate in that my diet is mainly carbohydrates and such good tasting food in that category.
I hope all the spitkins have blessings to count this week and that Gillie treats everyone kindly. (Comment this)
I know first hand what stress can do to our body and bgs. Without boring the oldies with the list lets just say I have had my share of stress in the last 7 months. It does make your # go up and nothing seems to bring them down until the stress lessons. Sorry about your husband. If Hes in a hospital setting won'nt the Dr take byetta away if its causing nausea and unwanted weight loss?? My prayers and thought are with you and yours.God Bless (Comment this)
What a uplifting report! We are thrilled for you. You and Gilly seem like best of friends!!!Keep up keeping up. Where do you live that you have snow to remove? Jersey is dry this day. (Comment this)
The comments of Maryls and Sharon seem to remind me that both little and big bro can be like a double-edged sword. We all want to reap the benefits of getting our blood glucose levels in the "acceptable" range. Many of us are also happy to have pounds and appetite melt away. But for those who do not need to lose and in fact, could find it detrimental, I am wondering if the drug is not in that person's best interest since there are other drugs that can control bs without having weight loss. I guess this is all judged by the individual and his/her doctor. I also wonder what we should do once we do reach that weight that we are hoping for. We don't want to dwindle away so does that mean we wean ourselves of the brother? Any comments in this area would be welcome. Toodle ooo (Comment this)
If Jim in DC would jump a line it would really help. As He had stated He was leaving the blog to start maintance since He reached His goal!! He is the only one besides Tim Slim that I think have done that. Or tho John dodson also seems close to that point. How about it MIA gillies???Drop a line and let us know how the end of the rainbow plays out! (Comment this)
You're describing one of the more common side effects of Metformin.. Since you're taking ER you may want to try spreading them out across the day. Meformin can actually be prescribed to be taken 4 tomes a day. Maybe this would ease the hit on your digestive system.
Might be worth an experiment.
John (Comment this)
I started metformin last month and ever since my morning have been similar to yours. I'm not complaining tho I prefer it this way...better out than in... (Comment this)
I can see stopping if you are ill and the medication is making it worse. That makes a lot of sense.
I see Byetta, or something like it, as a permanant part of my life from now on. My "goal" is to live a long time without the nasty complications of being diabetic. I'll have achieved my goal when I die at age 101 in a sports accident. :)
(Comment this)
Just curious??? How many "regulars" or "oldies" are on this blog?
[NOTE: This comment is off-topic, and should have been posted elsewhere. I will let it stay, but ask that if you want to reply, post your response at Odds'n'Ends. Thanks!
(Comment this)Bill the diabetes doc.]
Ron in Brooklyn Great response to Kathy with the insulin problems. I couldn't figure out how to express it the way you did. Pat in Idaho (Comment this)
I don't expect it for myself. I've been down to my "ideal weight" while a diabetic, and still had the high bg levels. Only medication stops my liver from over-acting. We don't know what's going on with the beta cell regeneration thing.
And I think it's pretty clear that byetta is providing a hormone, GLP-1, that my body isn't producing properly. That's not going to change, either. So I personally would resist being told to stop using Byetta. It's working really well for me, so far.
(Comment this)
Okay my travels into eating the pizza did not go too well. I didn't get sick or anything like that but boy where my numbers through the roof. Two hours after eating the pizza my reading was 245 and five hours after eating they were still high at 185. This morning it was 136. I just can't figure this out because sometimes foods effect me and other times it doesn't, same food, same amount and eaten at the same time. Usually during the week I have the same breakfast, same lunch and basically the same type of foods for dinner. Although yesterday I did, for the first time since using byetta, feel a little sick after I ate the pizza, not enough to be a bother but enough to let me know that I should not have tried it. I can eat home made pizza with no problems but not the kind we had last night. Also when I got on the scale this morning I gained two pounds. I really feel I ate too much yesterday, I had a bagel with peanut butter for breakfast, a fried egg and cheese sandwich on rye bread for lunch and the pizza for dinner. Yesterday was my bad food day. I will try to be better today. Have a wonderful start to a new week. (Comment this)
I have also been curious about what we do when we get to our goal weight and blood sugars. I know Angela is off the Byetta for now but also remember she is a new diabetic. I can remember back in 1998 when I was diagnosed with the big D that I started what they call the honeymoon period--lost 40 pounds, exercised regularly and ate pretty good for many years. I didn't need any meds until 2003 (didn't start on any until 2004) but was not able to control either weight or sugars with diet and exercise after 2002. Byetta is the first med I've been on that worked and I also envision continuing with Gillie from now on. But I've wondered, like Danielle, if maybe we will need a lesser dose to maintain. I think our future does lie with the long-acting lizard. JIM IN DC--can you advise us?!! It will be quite some time before I have to worry about this but time does fly as I get older.
Danielle--I live in Northern Minnesota where winter is a full season!! Lorraine--we all have bad food days. Have a great week. (Comment this)
Kathy, I've tried to do the smaller and more frequent meals as much as possible since diagnosis in 1994. It was one of the first suggestions from my doc and it really helps. If you keep trying to eat 3 main meals and go without between you have this cycle of BIG carb loads (even if you eat sensibly you are getting them all at once) followed by a swing upward in numbers, followed by a drop in numbers as you try and wait for the next meal. Its those swings up and down and the difference in high and low that makes me feel the worst. It isn't always easy, sometimes you just have no choice in the timing of a meal but if the rest of the time you are taking in smaller amounts (causing smaller spikes) and by not waiting so long between you get a more stable line of numbers.
Now having said that during the previous years I would still have ups and downs at times and overall like everyone else on several orals its hard to control weight. But it was a natural fit to Byetta. Being used to eating when I felt hungry and eating smaller amounts it was almost no change at all for me when I started Byetta. I (without extra effort) was able to drop a couple of the smaller meals (didn't need them, not hungry) and the habit of eating when hungry and stopping with smaller amounts has translated into steady weight loss. I generally have a small breakfast (english muffin or yogurt and a banana). Sometimes if I start to feel a little hunger about 2 or 3 I have a banana or a low carb snack bar. Then about 5 or 6 a small meal and usually about 9 or 10 a SMALL bowl of cereal or a banana or a low carb snack bar. This keeps my at a more steady glucose level and is all that I need to feel satisfied. And with Byetta and Metformin my numbers are incredibly low and stable.
As I mentioned the best thing of all is that I was used to that routine so Byetta's appetite affects on me were not a big change of lifestyle. Simply a tool that allowed me to cut back on overall quantity. (Comment this)
Lorraine,
There really aren't any bad foods. It's usually the combinations and portions that do us in. When I was first diagnosed, back in 1999, I took a three-day intensive workshop on diabetes at Joslin. A large portion of the time was spent on nutrition, and one of the foods we were told to be careful about was the bagel. Because of its density, the typical bagel from the bakery dept. of the supermarket, or those bagel specialty stores, is worth about 60 grams of carbs, or 4 carb exchanges! I find that I can eat a half of one of those bagels just fine but not a whole one. Also, a whole Thomas English Muffin with peanut butter tastes even better than a bagel and doesn't cause the same raise in BG.
Another problem is combining carbs with high fat/cholesterol products. The high fat in the peanut butter slows down your body's ability to deal with the carbs in the bagel and keeps your blood sugars high for a longer period of time. The same is true with the fried egg and cheese, and the cheese on the pizza. And a typical slice of cheese pizza with fatty meats like sausage and/or pepperoni can be an evil mix. I find that when I do want to eat something high in fat, I need to really cut down on the carbs at that meal. I have also found that some of the speciality pizzas, like pizza margharita or some of the vegetable or chicken pizzas that cut down on the amount of cheese/fat and cause less rise in BG after eating them.
One of my big weaknesses is bread and those "diet" or "light" breads leave you hungry. I have had some good luck with some of the Alvarado Street Breads though. Several of them are low in carbs and still taste really good....even when I make french toast! (Comment this)
Your suggestion makes sense to me. I will try several smaller meals. I think I almost was since I had to hit the OJ and candy twice a day when I got real low :P Went out to dinner Fri. night and brought home more than 1/2 of my dinner for the next day. Now, I still need to loose some tonage... maybe that will help with that problem too. Thanks gilly gang... Have a beautiful week. It takes a few clouds to make a beautiful sunset :) (Comment this)
I did get a big drop last week, though, a week after I stopped taking Actos. But again, that's not the Byetta.
I believe, based on what I know are healthy eating habits for me, that once I reach my weight goal I'll be able to maintain it if I'm just on byetta and metformin. If I stopped the byetta and went back to Actos, I'm pretty sure I'd start putting weight on again. I honestly don't think that Byetta is "causing" weight loss. I think it's helping me react more normally to food -- feeling full when I've eaten enough, and not getting those uncontrollable urges to eat because of the unprocessed glucose in my bloodstream.
(Comment this)
Thank you all for your concern.
My schedule is....I have my morning spit, feed my cat, fix my breakfast.. egg sucstitute, toast,& diet jam, sometimes a banana. I have a spurt of energy and putter for about 2 hours, untill I get shaky and nauseous. Then I check my bg. It is usually 2-2 1/2 hours after eating, ranges form 70-65. If it is still in the 80-90 range I keep on puttering. then it is low...and I eat something. If I have to go somewhere after breakfast my bg drops further than if I stay home.
Late afternoon I jog on my tramp for about 1/2 hour. At night it is about the same, I kiss the lizard, fix dinner, eat then 2 hours later i do the same old thing. (Comment this)
(2) Also: if you haven't yet answered our polls to tell us more about yourself, we'd encourage you to please do so:
(Comment this)Tina (Comment this)
which occur about two hours after my injections. In the overall scheme of things they are minor and only listed here as an observation, not a complaint.
TO DANIELLE (and others) I agree that we really need to hear from Jim in DC. He has reached a point that the rest of us can only hope to attain. His weight and BS seem to be under control and he has stopped all Diabetes meds. His struggle now is to maintain his control through diet and exercise. Let's wish him well; his success is vital to all of us.
PERSONAL NOTE I will be away all this week and be without computer access until Friday. So until we speak again everyone stay well. (Comment this)
Personally, I think it's a good idea for diabetics to do a few test in the middle of the night, when they wake up.
I wake up with the sweats or chills and have checked.. Turns out not to be a bg issue...just what I can a broken thermostat.. It appears not to correlate to any temperature goings-on outside..
In 11 weeks on Spit I haven't noticed any change, better or worse.
Ron,
Take care, talk with you Friday.
Sharon, RE: Pizza,
I agree with your comments to Lorraine about pizza... Sometimes the numbers just are what they are and can't be explained.
John
(Comment this)
Your symptoms of "I wake up very cold and sweaty in the middle of the night" are typical of nocturnal hypoglycemia. (Others include restlessness, nightmares, kicking your bedpartner !, waking up with a headache and high blood sugar.)
Please check your blood sugar at about 3AM (as well as bedtime and wakeup) and see if you might be going low. If you are, your doc may advise cutting back on some of your other meds.
Hope this helps! (Comment this)
This is prompted by a message referring to someone getting under control and off their meds. When I was first diagnosed 20 years ago, this was the goal for Type 2s. things have changed. The latest thinking in the endocrinology world is to do whatever is possible to preserve beta cell function. Although I was maintaining an a1c of 6.2 without meds (during the last year), my new endo wanted me on medication. The reasoning is that medicine will make it much easier on my body to deal with glucose - will relieve the strain of dealing with surges and will keep the range of sugars narrower. I am 53 with 20 years of this behind me. Hopefully I'll be around another 20 or more. Whatever I can do to make those last years easier is good. I am currently on metformin and Byetta. I feel much better than when controlling by diet and exercise alone and my a1c is around 5 so that augers well for the future. Over the previous 20 years, I have been on medicine most of the time, but had gotten things under control without it. A current clinical trial is focusing on preserving any beta cell activity in type 1s if it is there. info@mabie-todd.com (Comment this)
I've been on Byetta 5mcg for 12 days now. Started with slight nausea and some welts at the injection sites. Now the welts have cleared up and the nausea has mostly cleared up. BS has dropped from morning readings in the 150-180 range to the 110-125 range and postprandal readings are in the 140 - 180 range. This stuff works!!!!
My only current side effect is the chills. I can't seem to get warm and being in Minnesota, that's a little bit of a problem. We have moths to go before we get into warm weather. Has anyone that has encountered the chills gotten better?
Also I have been getting some 2-3mm air bubbles in the pen. Is this anything I need to worry about. (Comment this)
you came to the right place to share your successes and your questions. So far it sounds like you are having a great beginning. Numbers have improved and you are reporting the side effects the some or all have experienced of us have experienced to different degrees, Chills, it's great to treat that with a nice cuddly blanket. Sounds like you have the welts and the nausea beat
and hopefully never to return. However, our gilly monster(Byetta) may make a few more visits and then again he may just leave you with the chills for a while. If the nausea returns there will be lots of helpful hints out there. if the welts return just visit the "skin Complications forum. There have been many Intelligent discussion about the injection welts there by Cindylou, Leah and others.
Best wishes to you Davidnewbiegillyspitkin
Sharicatmomgillyspitkin (Comment this)
The answer is yes, along with runny noses, stuffy sinuses
etc. Some of us have discussed the fact that it may be a side effect of one of the other ingredients in the 'juice"(Byetta.)Of course it's always wise to look out for other symtoms that might be indicative of an allergic reaction, but I don't think any one has associated the runny eyes with Byetta allergy here, that I'm aware of.
Best wishes to you too,
kathyfromGeorgianewbiegillyspitkin,
sharicatmomgillyspitkin
(Comment this)
Thanks, it is nice to know that others have experienced the same thing. So far very little nausea and pretty good BS. Last night I cut my Lantis in half and at bedtime my BS was 108. This morning at 7:00am it was 181. Maybe I need to do that 3:00 check that has been mentioned. (Comment this)
John, I read up on metformin and think I will be able to handle it with the byetta and it is something I need to talk to the endo about. I think if I could take it at night right before bedtime that would help with the AM number and I really don't have a problem with the daytime ones. You made me think that we have to research for ourselfs what is out there and I also found that great website on the byetta where it tells of the half life and all the other stuff you explained to me, so thanks for the nudge that got me thinking that I could research this stuff. It sure helps when you are armed with information to take to your doctor and be able to at least take part in deciding which medications you will take. The only contradictions I saw was the fact that I take lascik for BP and it cautions about taking metformin and a water pill. Not saying you can't but you need to be careful. Thanks again for all the good info. (Comment this)