Does anyone use Byetta?

[Holly In RI]

My doctor has recommended it to me, for me to do research and see if its something I would wanna do. It all looks kind of positive right now...I am just wondering if anyone has any pointers, experiences, etc. Is this something I would have to be on for life? My doctor told me they are working on having it as a 1 time a week injection--that it is in the works. Which is a positive to me, as injections freak me out--but he showed me the pen, and it looks harmless...

I need to drop some weight, and I am going to discipline myself to stick to it!

I hope I can, I think I can!:cool:

[princesslinda]

I've been on Byetta since August. It works very well with the post-meal numbers....so well in fact that I have to be disciplined not to eat more than usual because I can and still have good numbers.

The injections are twice daily...and are a non-issue...much less painful than the finger sticks we do so many of each day.

I had MAJOR nausea the first 7-10 days, but this disappeared after that. I'm still on the initial 5 mcg dose, because when I eat a good low-carb diet, i'm generally in the 70-80 range 2 hrs after eating.

Its not insulin, so you don't have to be on it for life.

[lewsterr]

I've been on Byetta for about a year now and, like princesslinda, I went through the nausea, but it lasted for several weeks, and then it subsided. I then went to the 10mcg pen, but found that I could manage quite well on the 5mcg pen. Unlike princesslinda, I am not disciplined, and I eat more than I should while still having readings in the good range. I lost quite a bit of weight on the 10mcg pen, and I believe going back to the lower dosage is making it easier to put the pounds back on.

If you can get past the nausea, you may do quite well on it.

[alicat61]

:) Hi Holly,
I started on Byetta on Febuary 1st this year and love it. I started on 5mg and now on 10. My BSL's are heaps better I have lost some weight and I'm not eating nearly as much as I did and not looking for food as I was before.(and to my husbands amusement I havent grown scales or started eating ant and insects:D )
I was lucky :) and didn't really have any side effects. I did a lot of web surfing (thats how I found this site)
Byetta is new over here so I have had to educate my doctors
It is also very expensive but worth every cent of it (So far)
As Linda said the injections are less painful then the finger pricks.

[Hammer]

I've been reading this thread and wondering if I should ask my doctor about going on Byetta. I don't think the Prandin is doing the job for me. He doubled my dose from 2 mg to 4 mg but my post meal numbers are still high. I do have a tendency to eat a large meal, but even so, to go from 100 before a meal, to 256 two hours after a meal is too much of a spike. The Prandin is supposed to prevent this.

I also don't like the way Prandin works. It's supposed to increase your insulin production to help with the spikes. From what I understand, if your pancreatic cells are forced to increase their insulin production, the cells get worn out and can stop producing insulin.

With Byetta, you absorb food more slowly so that it is slower to release the sugars into your blood. This doesn't affect your pancreatic cells at all, so you don't overwork them. Seems like a better way to go. I already take Lantus, and the needles are virtually painless, so I'd think the Byretta isn't any worse.

[pdxdennisj]

I have been on Byetta for a couple of years now and have never had any problems with it. I love it: it keeps my numbers under control, helps keep my weight stable at a lower lever and gives me a little extra "cheat" room on my carb intake at breakfast and dinner. I hated the idea of injections and that kept my off insulin longer than necessary. In fact, it turned out to be no big deal (no deal it all). You hardly feel injections into fatty areas. :D

[jerryn]

My doctor has recommended it to me, for me to do research and see if its something I would wanna do. It all looks kind of positive right now...I am just wondering if anyone has any pointers, experiences, etc. Is this something I would have to be on for life? My doctor told me they are working on having it as a 1 time a week injection--that it is in the works. Which is a positive to me, as injections freak me out--but he showed me the pen, and it looks harmless...

I need to drop some weight, and I am going to discipline myself to stick to it!

I hope I can, I think I can!:cool:
I've been on bayetta for just about a year now. The current one.. not the weekly injection. You need to inject 30 - 45 minutes before you eat the get the maximun effect. SOMETIMES I skip a morning injection because I'm running late and can't wait the 30 minutes, when this happens I tend to eat a hard boiled egg for breakfast or at least something like that. I think if you inject right before you eat the med has little effect, at least that's what my doc said. Injections are not so bad. I tend to ineject 3" to the left or right of my navel.

[sugardumplin]

I am on the byetta since March 20th 2008. I havent noticed any change in my weight. But I have noticed a change in my eating habits. I am not hungry all the time like I was. I do tend to run out of time to give my shot before i eat. So that would probably explain why I havent lost any weight. The goal is to take it an hour before you eat. I am taking it about 20-30minutes before eating. I have not experienced any nausea. I have been having some lows because I take the shot and then I eat half of what I used to eat. My lowest reading was 54 after a shot. The shot doesnt always hurt. Depends on where u stick it I guess. Just get the super short needles. Those are the ones I cant tell if I even injected myself.

[rreno]

I've been on Byetta for several months now and it's been life changing for me. I have dropped 50 lbs (278 to 228) since I started - and am trying to lose 29 more! I have lost 5 inches on my waist (size 40 pants to size 35) and my most recent A1C test was almost half my first one (9.6 to 4.9). My sugars are consitently between 85 and 120. I haven't gotten any "lows" since I went off Glucotrol - which I was taking with Byetta for a short time.

The biggest helper has been the fact that I don't have cravings in between meals. I also try to keep my meals to no more than 60 carbs per meal (although I do go over from time to time).

I also try to exercise at least 30 minutes per day (although this week was tough to find time). This was a big step for me becuase I was a "slug" all my life. I hate to exercise and still do.

I didn't have any side effects except for the fact that I feel "full" a lot quicker and it lasts longer. I went to mexican restart with my family a few weeks ago and over did it on the tortillas. When my salad came out, I could barely touch it. Before Byetta, I would have finished it and ordered desert.

I also believe that, as it has been several months now, I have developed a habit of not looking for food to eat between meals. This was always my weakness and the primary cause of my initial weight gain. I hope that, if and when I get off Byetta, that habit will remain.

[mike9876]

There has been cases of acute pancreatisis happening in a unlucky few.

[Hammer]

alicat61, I see you take Byetta and Lantus. That's something I was wondering about, since the Byetta website mentions that you take Byetta with other oral diabetes medications. It doesn't say anything about taking Byetta with Lantus or any other insulins, so I wasn't sure if you could combine the two.

I see some people mention that they take Byetta 30-60 minutes before meals, yet others say they take it twice a day. If you take it twice a day, how does that work? Do you take it every 12 hours?....like before breakfast, then 12 hours later, even if it's before or after dinner? Or is it just 30-60 minutes before breakfast, then 30-60 minutes before dinner, even if dinner isn't 12 hours after breakfast?

Thanks for your input.:)

[rreno]

Hammer, the manufacturers instructions state that you should take it 1 to 60 minutes before you eat. I take it 2x per day - once before breakfast and again before dinner. I usually take it anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes before I eat. The real effect from waiting 30 minutes is that you tend to feel full faster - hence you won't eat as much. For me, as long as I eat within 60 minutes of taking a shot, I'm ok. My guess is everyone reacts differently. You'll need to experiment to see what timing works best for you.

[Hammer]

Hi there rreno! Thanks for the info. I guess what I'm wondering about is the time between the two injections. Being home all the time, I sleep in really late, and stay up all night. If I get up at 1pm and eat breakfast at 2pm, then my next meal would technically be dinner at maybe 6pm. That's 4 hours after breakfast, so would taking the two shots 4 hours apart be a problem?

I may or may not eat another meal later that night, so I wouldn't know if I'd need to hold off and see if I have a third meal, or just take the second shot after the 6pm meal.

I'm not taking Byetta now, I'm taking Prandin, but it's starting to upset my stomach, just like the Metformin did, so I'm thinking of stopping the Prandin and I need to add something else, preferably not something oral, since all the oral garbage they've given me really upsets my stomach. I guess Byetta is the next choice for me. I know about the nausea that can occur with Byetta, did you have any diarrhea from taking it? It seems like everything seems to upset my stomach, so I'm leery about taking anything new.

[princesslinda]

Hammer I remember reading somewhere that you need at least 6 hrs between the shots.

I often take mine with lunch (noon) and dinner (7-8pm) rather than b/fast as I eat a very low carb b/fast and could go low.

My instructions say inject 15-30 minutes before morning and evening meal. I find 30 works best for me, as injecting right as I eat does nothing to minimize the AMOUNT of food I eat, but can make me overly full 1/2 hr later.

[TomB]

I know, that sounds kind of stupid even to me. My guess is you go hypo. The question comes from some interesting times I've had with other meds making me go hypo unexpectedly. Like at the moment, glyburide sends me way down unless I eat.

[princesslinda]

Tom, we went out to dinner one evening, I took my shot just as we sat down....we didn't get our food very timely, so I was very close to an hr before eating...I did get hypo...with that really jittery, coming out of your own skin feeling along with nausea...and it was very difficult for me to eat when I finally got my food, as I wasn't hungry. I made myself eat so I wouldn't be sicker, but it was not a "fun" experience.

I think it would be better to not take it and eat than to take it and NOT eat.

[stavs]

Hi. This is my first post here and I have a question regarding Byetta.

My doctor prescribed it for me yesterday and I have had three injections so far. I am on 5mg pen. Today and yesterday I have felt extremely run down. My other meds are Glipzide, Januvia, & Avandia.

My first shot was yesterday at 9am, and I had a soft pretzel for breakfast. I also snacked on some pretzel nuggets throughout the day. I didnt have my test kit, so I'm not sure what my levels were. Dinner was nothing special. beakfast after todays shot was the same as yesterday and I felt pretty lethargic all day and actually left work early. Not sure if it helps to know that, but figure it cant hurt.

Has anyone else felt like that after taking Byetta? WIll this go away after my body adjusts?

Thanks,

Stavs

[princesslinda]

Hi Staves, welcome. I didn't notice tiredness with the Byetta as much as I did nausea, but I guess it is possible. Hopefully this will be something you can adapt to.

I'd encourage you to test when you're feeling tired, as that's a sign for me that my blood sugar is higher than it should be.
Testing is critical for good control, as if you don't test, how will you know how foods affect you or how your blood sugar is doing throughout the day (you can't just rely on how you feel).

Also, have you checked and seen how pretzels affect your blood sugar? I loved pretzels, but find I have no tolerance for them blood-sugar wise anymore.

[stavs]

Hi Staves, welcome. I didn't notice tiredness with the Byetta as much as I did nausea, but I guess it is possible. Hopefully this will be something you can adapt to.

I'd encourage you to test when you're feeling tired, as that's a sign for me that my blood sugar is higher than it should be.
Testing is critical for good control, as if you don't test, how will you know how foods affect you or how your blood sugar is doing throughout the day (you can't just rely on how you feel).

Also, have you checked and seen how pretzels affect your blood sugar? I loved pretzels, but find I have no tolerance for them blood-sugar wise anymore.

I'll have to check the pretzels as I didnt even think of that.

I'm going to bring my kit with me tomorrow and see what happens.

I felt fine after tonights injection, so I'll have to investigate.

Stavs

[Hammer]

PrincessLinda...you said that you took your shot as you sat down to eat. Isn't the Byetta supposed to be refrigerated at all times? My doctor just gave me a few Byetta pens to use in place of the Prandin, and the instructions say to keep it refrigerated before you open a new pen, and after you've opened it, so I was wondering how you kept it refrigerated at the restaurant?

[lewsterr]

PrincessLinda...you said that you took your shot as you sat down to eat. Isn't the Byetta supposed to be refrigerated at all times? My doctor just gave me a few Byetta pens to use in place of the Prandin, and the instructions say to keep it refrigerated before you open a new pen, and after you've opened it, so I was wondering how you kept it refrigerated at the restaurant?

Hammer, the following storage information is from the Byetta website. You may want to visit there to get additional information regarding Byetta:

Store your new, unused BYETTA Pen in the original carton in a refrigerator at 36°F to 46°F (2°C to 8ºC) protected from light. Do not freeze. Throw away any BYETTA Pen that has been frozen.
• After first use, your BYETTA Pen can be kept at a temperature not to exceed 77°F (25°C). Do not freeze. Do not use BYETTA if it has been frozen. BYETTA should be protected from light.
• Use a BYETTA Pen for only 30 d

[Hammer]

Here are the storage instructions that came with the pens. I outlined in red the areas that I'm concerned about.

[princesslinda]

Hammer,originally the Byetta instructions did say to keep in fridge...but the recent studies have said that they can now be kept outside after first use. I keep mine in my purse, with the pen in the side of my meter case..and i've had no problems whatsoever.

[Hammer]

Hammer,originally the Byetta instructions did say to keep in fridge...but the recent studies have said that they can now be kept outside after first use. I keep mine in my purse, with the pen in the side of my meter case..and i've had no problems whatsoever.

That's good to know PrincessLinda. I was concerned about the times when I'd be out visiting and I'd need to inject before dinner. Seeing the instructions had me worried....especially since I had just left the doctor's office and the nurse there said you didn't have to refrigerate it after you used it. I called Byetta customer service which according to the instruction pamphlet, is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and it was closed.:confused: They did have a recording that instructed you how to store it and the recorded message said exactly what you said, which is the opposite of their included instructions.(you'd think they'd change the instructions to prevent confusion). I was getting two conflicting instructions, but as always, you guys here have real world experience and that's what I listen to.;)

[Hammer]

Having taken my first 5mcg shot of Byetta and feeling the nausea, I'd have to say that if this is as bad as the nausea gets, it's no worse than the oral meds I was taking and isn't that big of a problem for me. Of course, it might get worse after a few days, but I thought I'd mention my first experience with it for Holly.

It actually makes me feel a lot like the oral meds did, but I don't have that queasy, unsettled feeling I'd get with the oral meds. So far, a much better experience with the Byetta.:)

[alicat61]

Hammer, the following storage information is from the Byetta website. You may want to visit there to get additional information regarding Byetta:

Store your new, unused BYETTA Pen in the original carton in a refrigerator at 36°F to 46°F (2°C to 8ºC) protected from light. Do not freeze. Throw away any BYETTA Pen that has been frozen.
• After first use, your BYETTA Pen can be kept at a temperature not to exceed 77°F (25°C). Do not freeze. Do not use BYETTA if it has been frozen. BYETTA should be protected from light.
• Use a BYETTA Pen for only 30 d

:) Hi
THANKS for this info >I've been paranoid about keeping the Byetta cold and in the fridge. I have a wedding to go to at end of month and I was wondering how to manage giving my Byetta and thought I would have to miss a dose. Now I know it will be ok in my bag. Also when working nights I have been staying up an extra hour to have breakfast as didn't want to chance forgetting to put in work fridge etc.
As It is costly over here I didn't want to waste it:)

[Hammer]

Hmmm, as usual, I have another Byetta question. How long does the Byetta work? If I inject before breakfast at say 8am, then eat breakfast at 9am, does it still work when I eat lunch at say 1pm? Since I only take Byetta twice a day, before breakfast and before dinner, what happens at lunch?

[alicat61]

Hmmm, as usual, I have another Byetta question. How long does the Byetta work? If I inject before breakfast at say 8am, then eat breakfast at 9am, does it still work when I eat lunch at say 1pm? Since I only take Byetta twice a day, before breakfast and before dinner, what happens at lunch?

:) Hi,
I find I still feel full at lunch time as for effect on insulin I don't really know as I have humalog and metformin as well
From what I read you can only use it 2 times a day and at least 6 hours apart.

[Hammer]

:) Hi,
I find I still feel full at lunch time as for effect on insulin I don't really know as I have humalog and metformin as well
From what I read you can only use it 2 times a day and at least 6 hours apart.

Hi Alicat! Yes, I asked the nurse about the spacing between shots and she said six hours also. Plus, the instructions say the same thing, so I guess I can assume that's correct. I did read the info that was available on the Byetta site before I asked my doctor to see how I do on it, so unless something's changed (like the keep it refrigerated mis-information), I should have everything straight.

I would think that you can take it three times a day, since I'm on the 5mcg dosage and they also have a 10mcg dosage. People taking the 10mcg dosage are getting 20mcg's a day, and I'm getting 10mcg's a day, so if you took it three times a day, you'd only be getting 15mcg's a day....5mcg's less than those taking 10mcg per dose.(maybe someone else here would know if you can take it three times a day)

I was wondering about lunch since I eat at weird times. It's 4:18am here and I'm not tired, so I'll probably stay up until mid morning, then go to bed. Keeping hours like this makes it hard to know when to take the meds. I'll probably get up today at maybe 4pm, so that will be breakfast time. I'll eat my next meal at maybe 9pm, so I guess that's lunch. If I'm hungry later on, I'll probably have another meal at maybe 3am tomorrow, so I guess that would be dinner?

This first shot of Byetta hasn't affected my appetite (I took it 40 minutes before eating) and I just had another meal. Hmmm....I imagine my numbers will be high two hours from now since I took the Byetta before my last meal. Well, I guess I'll need to be on the Byetta for a while before I see what it's really doing to me, so I'll give it a few weeks to see how it affects me.:)

[princesslinda]

I notice lower #s 2 hrs after the meal that i'm injecting with....I don't see the same blood sugar results in the meal I don't inject for, though I do notice i'm not as hungry. Since it basically deals with the post meal #s, I wouldn't think you'd get hold-over results blood-sugar wise from meal to meal.

Though I don't know this for a fact, I'd say it has a relatively short "peak" time, or else it wouldn't matter when you took it in relation to your meal.

I've never taken it 3 times a day...I just make sure the meal I don't inject with is extra-low carb, and my blood sugars have done fine.

[pdxdennisj]

Byetta starts to peak about 30 minutes after injection, peaks at about an hour in and tapers off to its 30 min level at 4 hours.
I figure an effective life if about 2 and a half hours. My experience and my Endo's suggestion is to inject 45 to 60 minutes before eating for maximum appetite control.