sustained headaches after upping byetta to 10mg

[MattM]

Hi,

I had been on byetta twice/daily + metformin 1K mg once/day for a few months with bg somewhat higher than I would wish when doctors said I should move up to byetta 10mg twice/day. OK, I knew that was coming and I hadn't had any real nausea with 5mg, so I started it.....

I get aweful nausea for 15 minutes about 20 minutes after each injection but it goes away shortly after..no problem, lucky me, at least I thought.

But, after a few days, I start to have all day long headaches that just occur day after day..no relief, except for sleep.

So, just to be safe, I finally decided to take a test and completely discontinue the byetta to see if the headaches go away. Yep, the very next day...although bg started skyrocketing somewhat...

I've just sent a note to my doctor, but I'm not sure what the response should be...

try 10mg again and verify it wasn't coincidence(some other flue/sickness), stay on 5mg, switch to different med???

If I'm already on 5mg and 1K mg metformin and bg is still high, that isn't going to be an ideal place to be.

Anyone else experience similiar issues migrating to higher dosage of byetta?

Matt

[slwood321]

I just went to the 10 about 6 weeks ago and I've had a lot of headaches. Some of the headache won't go away even after multiple doses of my migraine medicine. But, there are slowing down in frequency somewhat. The nausea went away after 2-3 weeks, but still come occasionally when I eat wrong.

I have been referring people to the forum at diabetesmonitor.com which has a whole section on Byetta. Good Luck.

[dbmolder]

I was recently diagnosed type 2 with a mid afternoon GL reading of 464. My three month average was a 14! I was not a happy camper. My doctor put me on Metformin 500mg twice daily woth meals. The first two days I was blessed with Diarrea. Then the headaches startedon the 3rd day and got progressively worse 4th and 5th day. The 4th and 5th day headaches also included Ear Aches. Both ears. Not pulsing but painful. Also, to top it off, I felt like I had swollen glands and sore throat. A constant feeling of pressure in my head. After day 6 with this condition, I quit the Metformin. The headaches wouldn't go away.I still need to take asprin 3-4 times a day to try and ease the pain. My head feels like it's going to explode!I'm in fear I had an anurism in my head or something. The pressure feeling is sometimes that strong. Am I a freak? Or do other people have this kind of reaction?
Dave

[Moonglo]

I was recently diagnosed type 2 with a mid afternoon GL reading of 464. My three month average was a 14! I was not a happy camper. My doctor put me on Metformin 500mg twice daily woth meals. The first two days I was blessed with Diarrea. Then the headaches startedon the 3rd day and got progressively worse 4th and 5th day. The 4th and 5th day headaches also included Ear Aches. Both ears. Not pulsing but painful. Also, to top it off, I felt like I had swollen glands and sore throat. A constant feeling of pressure in my head. After day 6 with this condition, I quit the Metformin. The headaches wouldn't go away.I still need to take asprin 3-4 times a day to try and ease the pain. My head feels like it's going to explode!I'm in fear I had an anurism in my head or something. The pressure feeling is sometimes that strong. Am I a freak? Or do other people have this kind of reaction?
Dave

According to webmd, the headaches could be a sign of low blood sugar. I have had the same problem, though, and definitely have not had the low bg. I noticed on another thread in here that others were suggesting the headaches may be from our bodies adjusting to a lower bg, and this seems like the most likely cause to me. Mine have finally seemed to have gotten better today though... I hope yours do too! :)

[MattM]

Just an update, tried byetta 10mg again, and apparently the headaches are entirely triggered whenever byetta has to work hard (taking byetta right before any non low-carb meal and a major headache will occur).

Eating smaller meals while taking byetta 10mg gives the benefit of very good bg w/o headaches.