I’ve been on 10 mcg for a week
My doctor wanted me to try the 10 mcg dose even though I was happy
with my numbers at 5 mcg, which I was on for a month. He told me to
stop taking Starlix at each meal while on the larger dose of byetta.
Argh. My numbers are high again, in the 150s or so, instead of the
110s or 120s I was having taking the 5 mcg, 120 mg starlix at each
meal and 2500 mg of metformin a day. I called his office and told them
I wanted to take the Starlix again, and got a call telling me to take
it at lunch only. They’re afraid I’ll have a hypoglycemic episode. I
don’t think I will - I experimented on my own and took Starlix with my
breakfast last Wednesday and went to the pool for an hour. Two hours
pp, my blood sugar was at 107, which is fine for me. I test four times
a day and could test more often if necessary.
I told the doctor’s assistant (he’s a diabetologist) that I wanted her
to ask him to reconsider and let me take the Starlix at each meal, but
I would abide by his instructions - for now. I hope to hear back from
her on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.
This is a case of "do I follow what the doctor tells me or do I follow
my own instincts?" I trust him, and know that this is a new drug and
he’s being somewhat conservative about it. But I did say I liked what
was happening with the 5 mcg and he’s the one who upped the dose…
Just ranting here.
January 11th, 2003 at 10:43 pm
Hey! My other doctor that I went to the first time wrote me a presc. for
Byetta. I didn’t know anyting about it except it was brand new……I didn’t
care for him, hated the $50 copayment, so decided to hold off and change doctors
to an Emory doctor where my copayment is only $15, its farther to drive, but
I’ll live. So……..is it helping you lose weight? I am on Avandia which
causes weight gain, that is all I am on. He wanted to change me to Byetta and
Riomet. Then I found out Riomet is backordered for like 6 months…….so I
decided to flip it and go to a different doctor which I do the first part of
September. Thanks………Susan
Argh. My numbers are high again, in the 150s or so, instead of the
110s or 120s I was having taking the 5 mcg, 120 mg starlix at each
meal and 2500 mg of metformin a day. I called his office and told them
I wanted to take the Starlix again, and got a call telling me to take
it at lunch only. They’re afraid I’ll have a hypoglycemic episode. I
don’t think I will - I experimented on my own and took Starlix with my
breakfast last Wednesday and went to the pool for an hour. Two hours
pp, my blood sugar was at 107, which is fine for me. I test four times
a day and could test more often if necessary.
I told the doctor’s assistant (he’s a diabetologist) that I wanted her
to ask him to reconsider and let me take the Starlix at each meal, but
I would abide by his instructions - for now. I hope to hear back from
her on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.
This is a case of "do I follow what the doctor tells me or do I follow
my own instincts?" I trust him, and know that this is a new drug and
he’s being somewhat conservative about it. But I did say I liked what
was happening with the 5 mcg and he’s the one who upped the dose…
Just ranting here.
Anything posted in this group is the opinion of the person who posted it.
Visit your group "Diabetes_And_Byetta" on the web.
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
January 12th, 2003 at 1:36 am
snip
So……..is it helping you lose weight? I am on Avandia which causes
weight gain, that is all I am on.
snip
Susan,
Weight loss isn’t the reason I’m taking Byetta. I don’t obsess about
what I weigh and I don’t own a scale. I’ll find out if I’ve lost any
weight and how much if I have when I see my diabetologist in
September. I got on the scale at his office when I picked up my first
pen. There are several people on this list who don’t put a high
priority on losing weight, but we are all very intent on keeping our
blood sugar under tight control.
January 12th, 2003 at 7:02 am
This is my second day. So far, I’m impressed. Yesterday after the first
two shots, I had some tiredness and queasiness, but that’s all. I was
prepared for the worst-case scenario. LOL Off Lantus and Humalog and
blood sugars are holding in the normal range. I hope this keeps up.
January 13th, 2003 at 9:41 am
Well, you know what *I* would do… LOL I pretty much figure it out for
myself and then inform my doctor… She told me to inject no more than
10 units humalog for any meal, including lunch even though, of course,
I don’t inject byetta then. Well, I quickly found out that my BGs got
too high before dinner so I increased it to 20 units. I do quite well
now.
I would encourage you to test quite frequently for the time being so
you can give your doc some good data… It will also help keep you
informed as to whether or not you’re getting too low.
You know your body better than anyone… I suspect it may take your
body to get used to the higher dose. I had the same results, but now
I’m doing even better… I like that average BG of 123! LOL
Anne
January 13th, 2003 at 1:59 pm
I have lost about 10 lbs so far, but I try not to focus on weight
gain/loss, except to be concerned if it signifies a health issue. I’ve
never heard of Riomet… Is it a sulfonylurea (which stimulates the
pancreas to produce more insulin)?
There’s another alternative to Avandia that may not cause swelling. It
seems that one or the other may or may not cause swelling for a person.
There’s also Starlix that might work better for you to lower BGs for a
particular meal.
Starlix is nice because you can increase your dose if you should need
to for a meal and you don’t have to time your meals to the starlix.
I’ve never used Starlix or avandia because it came out after I started
on insulin. My docs felt that I wouldn’t get a good result from either
one.
Anne
January 13th, 2003 at 4:17 pm
Anne,
I have to disagree with you about Starlix. There are set amounts of
Starlix doses - 60 and 120mg. I don’t know of anyone taking more than
120 mg of Starlix before a meal. And it’s *very much* a matter of
timing with meal time. You cannot wait more than half an hour after
taking Starlix before you eat. You can eat immediately if you want,
like with Byetta, but not more than 30 minutes later.
I don’t know if you remember my story about waiting too long to eat
after taking 120 mg of Starlix one day. I had been exercising in the
pool for a good hour before going to a restaurant with my husband. We
ordered, I took a pill and waited. The waiter was very busy and we
didn’t get served for at least a half hour. By that time I was getting
hypoglycemic.
Roger started spooning jam into my mouth, but my forehead hit the
table and I was about to slide out of my chair. At that time, my food
arrived and I was able to avoid more serious symptoms. I did feel sick
the rest of the day, though - it’s hard on the body to go low and high
and average. Now I wait until my food arrives before I take a pill.
January 13th, 2003 at 8:50 pm
How did you manage to eat while you were that low? I’m always worried that
if I go too low I won’t be able to eat. Just from my experience when I’m low
enough to need to eat, its always the last thing I want to. I have never
gotten so low my head hit the table or I couldn’t sit up but I think someone
would have to call the paramedics if that had been me.
Debra
Roger started spooning jam into my mouth, but my forehead hit the
table and I was about to slide out of my chair. At that time, my food
arrived and I was able to avoid more serious symptoms. I did feel sick
the rest of the day, though - it’s hard on the body to go low and high
and average. Now I wait until my food arrives before I take a pill.
January 14th, 2003 at 2:52 am
Let me clarify… When I was taking sulf’s I only took them at set
times, twice a day, I think. I would have to time my meals to when they
peaked, etc., so my whole day was planned around my medications. The
same was true when I first went to insulin and was on NPH and Regular.
NPH has a rather high peak and if it occurred during a time I wasn’t
scheduled to eat, or if I ate at the wrong time and both the Regular
and NPH peaked at the same time, boy was I in trouble!
By increasing your dose, I didn’t mean you could take however much you
want. I just know of folks who took starlix and they would take a
little extra (by breaking a tab I think) if a meal was a little more
than they usually ate. I think one person took a half a tab if her
post-prandial BGs were too high, but not often.
I do recall your story about the restaurant. But I am curious… most
of the people I know who take starlix take it at the same time they
start their meals… In my limited experience that extremely
unfortunate event is fairly rare (and I would like to note officially
<grin> that I am NOT doctor or nurse or anyone with any kind of medical
degree!)… I do know, as well, how awful it feels to be sick the rest
of the day because of a serious low! NOT FUN!!! The worst thing for me
is that all I want to do is sleep and sleep and sleep. Of course, then
there is always the rebound BGs because I was so damn hungry I couldn’t
stop eating!!! argh!
No, I honestly meant that you could take it with a meal and not have to
plan the rest of the day around that g-d pill!
Your story is one of the reasons I love Humalog so much… It is so
much more flexible than any other regimen I have ever been on. My life
is so unpredictable that having to eat on a regular schedule drove me
nuts… It made me go back into ‘diet think’, meaning all day long I
thought about what I was going to eat and when I was going to eat it!
Now I can just be normal! ha! And don’t my docs hate it!!!
Hey, good news: my endo just sent me email and suggested that I
discontinue my mealtime insulin. Now, I know I won’t do that at lunch
because I know from experience that my BGs will soar by dinnertime if I
do, but I certainly will do that at the times I inject the byetta! (See
how bad I am??? LOL)
Look… it’s MY body and I know it better than anyone else. Plus I have
taken the time to read the research and and to educate myself. I don’t
have to depend on every word that falls like a pearl from my doctor’s
mouth. Ultimately I am responsible for my own health and I take that
very seriously. If I don’t like how I feel when I take a medicine, you
had better bet I am going to let my doc know. Of course, diplomacy is a
great tool! ha!
Anne
January 14th, 2003 at 5:11 am
It’s common for someone in a try hypoglycemic episode not want to eat.
I remember a story on another list where two female friends had to
physically overcome a male friend who wanted to drive, or was driving,
while very low. They forced him to drink some juice in order to save
his life (and the lives of others on the road).
I know that when my blood sugar is low, I HAVE to eat. I go for
straight sugary things then, no protein and no fat. Fifteen grams of
carbs, test fifteen minutes later, repeat as necessary. As my blood
sugar rises, I will eat a more balanced choice of foods and hope I
don’t overcompensate.
While I don’t get argumentative when low, I have had the experience of
being confused, and not being able to figure out how to open the tab
on a can of soda.
I test at least four times a day, and have figured out pretty well of
what will overtax my system to the point of hypoglycemia, and try to
avoid them by noticing the symptoms. When I sit in my recliner in the
living room, as I am now, I have a juice box within arm’s reach in
case I get so weak I can’t make it into the kitchen.
You gotta do what you gotta do. I recommend every diabetic having
something made of simple sugar at every place they spend time,
including your bed. Some people like glucose tablets or gel so they’re
not tempted to eat it at inappropriate times. I’ve heard that the gel
can be used on the gums of a person who’s passed out from
hypoglycemia. I prefer hard candies or juice and don’t feel compelled
to eat/drink them when I’m not low. Just another advantage of getting
off the dieting/binging cycle I guess.
January 14th, 2003 at 9:44 am
Oh I agree and when I’m just a little low I do everything I should. The
problem comes when I get truly low. Then I guess because I am too low to
think clearly I never seem to realize that’s whats going on. Even when my
husband amkes me test I understand he has trouble getting me to eat
anything. Apparently I tell him "I am not hungry" and to "stop bothering
me". Luckily this hardly ever happens anymore. I have learned to test a lot
more often at the times its most likely to happen - whenever I have a
medication adjustment, miss meals and when I’m out in the heat.
January 30th, 2003 at 1:29 am
I don’t know from medical knowledge that this is true (and I don’t play
a doctor on a major medical show on tv or in the movies either <grin>),
BUT I think this just might be true since if I test shortly after
eating frosting or something (shortly=1 minute) my BGs are
significantly higher.
I do know that all carbs are reduced to glucose at the same rate, but
that the amount of protein, fat, or fiber will determine how quickly
that glucose is absorbed into the blood as they slow down our food’s
movement through our gastro-intestinal system.
Is that techi enough? LOL
Anne