Great leaps being made in my home today….
I just had to share. My husband (the needle phobic one) and I
talked today. We got his new oral meds in the mail today (Amaryl
4mg x 2 a day, Metform 1000mg x 2 a day and Actos 45mg x 1 a day)…
and I was just going over possible side effects and such with him,
like stay out of the sun and watch for swelling of the legs, nausea
after being on the med awhile and such… and he said, "call the
doctor, and lets try the Byetta". I have been telling him of what I
have read here and the rave reviews it has had with most of you, so
I think he is ready. I knew making him change was going to be hard,
so I would just present the information I felt would apply to him.
Must have sunk in, as he said he will go in and talk to the diabetic
educator about this and see if he can get up the courage to try it.
I was thrilled. It was no baby step, this was a HUGE one for him.
I left a message with his Endo’s nurse, and she called back. I told
her that he was just listening to all the side effects of the meds,
and he got mad enough to want to try Byetta. She said that he will
basically only be able to cut out the Actos, and that he will still
need the Amaryl and the Metform twice a day with the Byetta. Now…
this scares me. He did take the Amaryl and Metform today with
supper, and 3 hours later he was @ 200, so no change there.
Question…. how long do those oral meds take to "kick in"? Because
I am thinking it should have brought his numbers down right away.
Am I wrong in thinking that? Does it need to build up in his system
before he will see a decrease in numbers? Or will this just mean
these meds won’t make a difference in his BG? And I am wondering,
all of this with the Byetta when he starts it…. does that seem
like a lot to take at once?
Did I get too confusing? lol. Sorry. I just have so many
questions. Tomorrow he will get his new morning dose of all those
meds and we will see what changes if any are seen.
I just wanted to share. I am so hopeful that Byetta will help him
control his numbers. Also, I realize he needs to watch his
eating… which I think in the long run, will be harder than getting
him to give himself a shot.
Thanks to all….. I love this group!
Andi
July 18th, 2003 at 1:18 am
Hey Andi, congrats on your husband taking a big step. The oral meds are
designed to do a slow release in
your body over a period of time so no your not going to see a huge drop
after taking the meds and I’m going
to assume the body needs to get a level of meds humming through it so
their always working. I think the
shot is what scares people and I have to say most the time because it’s
such a fine needle I don’t even feel
it, hurts way worse to prick my finger. It’s more an epi pen rather
than a syringe type needle. Once
he’s done it for a week or so he’ll know it isn’t so bad. As far
as the side effects, I wish you could see some of the comments all over
the internet that even though the
people who are having some side effects with nausea say they don’t care
they’d much rather take the byetta
and deal with the side effect than stop, I think that’s a pretty
powerful stance on how much they think Byetta
helps their diabetes. Byetta does not give you a free rein to eat what
ever you want. You still have to watch
your carb intake, you still have to be on a regular schedule on eating
times. But, it’s more like if your
husband meals were carb appropriate and you have that 200 after
a meal, it’s a bit discouraging, along with bad for your body to be that
high. Instead you do what your suppose
to and your in the normal range more often than not. Feels so much
better. The more your in the normal
range the better you feel. I often don’t know I feel bad until I feel
better!!! Good luck, to the hubby
Jeanna
I just had to share. My husband (the needle phobic one) and I
talked today. We got his new oral meds in the mail today (Amaryl
4mg x 2 a day, Metform 1000mg x 2 a day and Actos 45mg x 1 a day)…
and I was just going over possible side effects and such with him,
like stay out of the sun and watch for swelling of the legs, nausea
after being on the med awhile and such… and he said, "call the
doctor, and lets try the Byetta". I have been telling him of what I
have read here and the rave reviews it has had with most of you, so
I think he is ready. I knew making him change was going to be hard,
so I would just present the information I felt would apply to him.
Must have sunk in, as he said he will go in and talk to the diabetic
educator about this and see if he can get up the courage to try it.
I was thrilled. It was no baby step, this was a HUGE one for him.
I left a message with his Endo’s nurse, and she called back. I told
her that he was just listening to all the side effects of the meds,
and he got mad enough to want to try Byetta. She said that he will
basically only be able to cut out the Actos, and that he will still
need the Amaryl and the Metform twice a day with the Byetta. Now…
this scares me. He did take the Amaryl and Metform today with
supper, and 3 hours later he was @ 200, so no change there.
Question…. how long do those oral meds take to "kick in"? Because
I am thinking it should have brought his numbers down right away.
Am I wrong in thinking that? Does it need to build up in his system
before he will see a decrease in numbers? Or will this just mean
these meds won’t make a difference in his BG? And I am wondering,
all of this with the Byetta when he starts it…. does that seem
like a lot to take at once?
Did I get too confusing? lol. Sorry. I just have so many
questions. Tomorrow he will get his new morning dose of all those
meds and we will see what changes if any are seen.
I just wanted to share. I am so hopeful that Byetta will help him
control his numbers. Also, I realize he needs to watch his
eating… which I think in the long run, will be harder than getting
him to give himself a shot.
Thanks to all….. I love this group!
Andi
Anything posted in this group is the opinion of the person who posted
it.
_____
_____
July 18th, 2003 at 5:07 pm
good to hear!!
July 19th, 2003 at 12:02 am
Andi, it will take a while for metformin to build up and it is OK to use
with byetta. As to the amaryl, it should have worked right away. You
will need to watch and make sure he does not go too low. As the
metformin builds up in his system, and after he increases in byetta to
10mcg, he may be able to drop amaryl. Eating properly and exercising
will help.
Be aware you may have to support him thru a period of nausea. Do not go
to the 10mcg dose until he is no longer nauseous with byetta, even if it
takes more than 30 days.
Good luck,