weight gain on Byetta
I started Byetta at the end of January, and went up to the 10 pen exactly
one month ago. The Byetta is doing a spiffy job of lowering my appetite. I’m
only able to tolerate it by taking compazine with it for the nausea. I still
feel queasy a lot of the time. But I am seeing some improvement in my
post-prandial bg numbers, and I just had an a1c of 6.6. It was 6.7 before I
started Byetta.
Problem: I saw my endo today, and when I got on the scale, I had gained 6
pounds since I saw her a month ago. And at *that* time I’d gained 20 pounds
in just a few weeks from taking Actos. My endo had me stop the Actos a while
ago, but the weight hasn’t gone away.
My endo suggested that I stay on the 10 pen for 3 more months and if I don’t
see any weight loss by that time, we’ll stop the Byetta and try something
else.
I’m afraid I may be one of those few people who don’t get the weight-loss
benefit from Byetta. The weight I’ve gained is making life a lot more
uncomfortable. Does anybody have any reassuring words?
October 31st, 2003 at 9:05 am
Pam, I have a friend that has not been on byetta a real long time but,
she’s gained 10 lbs. Her sugars are great though!!!! Go figure. I
suspect for her that it’s more an emotional eating thing, and I don’t
think Byetta is going to fix that. Plus she was taking her meds for
thyroid too close to the byetta along with an anti depressant and was in
the pits of depression. She’s switched and is feeling better so maybe
weight loss will catch up to her.
Jeanna
I’m afraid I may be one of those few people who don’t get the
weight-loss
benefit from Byetta. The weight I’ve gained is making life a lot more
uncomfortable. Does anybody have any reassuring words?>>>>>
After one month on 5 mcg of Byetta, I gained 9 pounds…I was shocked.
Four
weeks later I dropped 7 of the nine and have not gained or loss since
then.
I started 10 mcg yesterday and was nauseous the entire day and had the
runs.
You probably are retaining some water and will be down at your next
visit.
Pam in NYC
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December 5th, 2003 at 11:00 pm
Dale Kreutzer wrote,
>I know how you feel. I gained weight on actos too.
Thanks for the fellow feelings.
Nope, I don’t drink sodas. In fact, I’m on two prescription diuretics for my
blood pressure. I can’t use caffeine, so I mostly drink water, and
occasionally some juice.
I just wish this Actos weight would go away… My doctor said it would take
awhile. I’m sticking with the Byetta for a while longer and hope that
*eventually* there will be some weight loss.
Thanks for your thoughts on this.
December 7th, 2003 at 8:22 pm
My diabetes specialist is harping on me about not losing weight on the 5 mcg
My doc NEVER says anything
dosage. I told her about this group, and that there were several who weren’t
losing weight, and she acted really surprised. <sigh> She’s pushed me to the 10
mcg, and hopes THAT will work - but I told her as long as it was controlling
my numbers, I was THRILLED. One thing at a time.
December 8th, 2003 at 5:08 am
I agree, it is scary how little doctors know about diabetes with the exception
of specialists in it - and even they can be a few bricks shy a load.
I had a doctor throw my BG levels done in glucolog style - very detailed, very
accurate - at me because he wanted my fasting BG’s only. I walked out of his
office after telling him his post traumatic stress disorder from Bosnia is not
supposed to affect his relationship with his patients and he needed help. He
apologized and I’ve never been back.
I went to a diabetic trainer with a prior doctor who was a physican’s assistant
and told me at my age (54) I didn’t need to worry about my BG because I could
live for 20 years with BG’s in the 200’s. I asked her if she was joking. Got
in an argument with her, called the doctor in and told him she was lethal to
patients and other living things and walked out. Went to Joslin and got
treatment and told them and the docs there were shocked.
Found my present doctor who doesn’t know everything but doesn’t pretend to,
either. He researches everything and treats me as an equal considering all the
research I have done. I gave him several books on diabetes which he has read
and keeps in his office for patients to read. I tried to get a closer doctor
twice and it has been a disaster both times so I am going to bite the bullet and
just drive there.
Doctors can be so clueless. Most of them depend upon diabetic trainers and
nutritionists to think for them. I realize that there is a lot to learn and
know to be a doctor, but if one is going to be a g.p. then one really should
keep up on at least the basics with things. They mostly seem to learn from drug
salesmen and drug company junkets instead of real continuing education.
The sad part is that there are problems like this where his mom could have died
from a hypo. Unfortunately, at 79 a lot of doctors consider the elderly
expendable. Plus doctors usually don’t know how to do self-testing - they rely
upon others to teach it so they can’t give any accurate information on it at
all.
My mom (age 79) was recently diagnosed with diabetes. Her doc put her on
1000mg metformin several months ago; her latest HA1c was 8.8, and until a week
ago had never told her to self-test!! He finally told her to test, without
giving her instructions on how, when,
etc.
Good fortune to you in helping her gain control over this problem. I hope you
get her in to see your endo soon.
Regards,
Marsha
December 8th, 2003 at 9:26 am
Hi Lori,
Not everyone is losing weight on 5mcg. Glad you told your doctor that!
You don’t need to feel guilty about the weight. In fact, a doctor at Joslin
told me that a few years ago - it is usually the action of the thrifty gene at
work and bad information about diet that drives the weight gain. Oh, lucky us,
most of us have the gene type that allows us to survive through bad famine years
- it is the fact we don’t have famine here that causes us problems.
Is is also true, though, that weight loss helps type II’s control the disorder,
which is why I work so hard at it. Pllus, to be truthful, I want to be in shape
to play with my grandkids. At my weight I’m swing destroying material. I want
to not only push them, but swing with them. Be able to slide down the big
slides without worring about them collapsing under my weight and ride scooters
with them. I have ulterior motives - like skipping rope without killng my
knees. I want to be active grammy, not sedentary grammy. But those desires
don’t have a thing to do with being guilty. I got enough of that "witch
message" from the Anchorage doc who was directly responsible for orchestrating
my weight gain.
Sounds as if you are on top of things as much as you can be and will figure out
what to do from a position of strength and not from being flogged into it - much
better.
By the way, I don’t find the 5 mcg of byetta able to control eating with me. I
don’t eat huge amounts, but except for one time (the first day, I think) I have
never had a stomach ache from eating. I am hoping the 10 mcg will do more, but
if not, then I need to evaluate what to do from there.
Cheers!
Marsha
December 8th, 2003 at 1:43 pm
Hi Stacey,
The Avandia weight gain is still with me off and on - I seem to get past it and
then there it is again. I have lost the same 4 pounds about 6 times.
I have heard that if Avandia affects me that way to stay away from Actos, so I
plan to do so.
Cheers!
Marsha
December 8th, 2003 at 5:51 pm
I also have PCOS, which is why I’m SO insulin-resistant. Also explains the
weight. The endo I used to see refused to bother me about my weight, either.
I’m eating sensibly, exercising more frequently, and trying to control my
glucose readings. For me, at THIS moment, I am satisfied that I am doing what I
can. Dieting has never worked for me, even under starvation levels. My goal is
to have controlled readings, and enjoy life - and be healthy.
December 9th, 2003 at 4:18 am
I was upset when I went to the doctor a week ago, because I thought I
should of lost weight on the 5 pen. He said I did not gain weight and
that is a plus. He also told me most people see the weight loss when
they are on the 10 pen. He also told me to wait 15 minutes and then
eat. Good luck.
Dale
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December 9th, 2003 at 11:13 am
Bernstein addresses PCOS and says that he doesn’t really try weight loss with it
because he’d have to starve the patient. Sorry that’s the problem with you as
your insulin resistance is really affected by that. Your plan is a wise one
based upon your diagnosis.
Cheers!
Marsha
I also have PCOS, which is why I’m SO insulin-resistant. Also explains the
weight. The endo I used to see refused to bother me about my weight, either.
I’m eating sensibly, exercising more frequently, and trying to control my
glucose readings. For me, at THIS moment, I am satisfied that I am doing what I
can. Dieting has never worked for me, even under starvation levels. My goal is
to have controlled readings, and enjoy life - and be healthy.
Lori
December 9th, 2003 at 7:49 pm
Hi all,
I’ve been on byetta for only a short while and have
had some BG lowering results, but not enough. I seem
to remember some were begun on 10 mcg and others were
raised before the 30 days recommended by the company.
Is that correct?
I’m considering asking my doctor to raise my dose to
10 mcg to see if that will take me to where I need to
go.
Do y’all think that is a realistic plan?
December 10th, 2003 at 1:33 pm
Marsha, I was on 5mcg for two weeks. As I didn’t have any adverse
effects from it, we raised it to 10mcg. The standard is to wait 30 days,
then raise it to the 10mcg. But then, we’re all individuals, so if
you’re not having any problems, ask your doctor. He may be OK with it.
December 10th, 2003 at 7:14 pm
Hi Marsha,
I believe that the reason for the 30 days on 5mcg is to let your body get
used to the side effects. I wasn’t having too violent a reaction so I
checked with the diabetic nurse and she said that it was fine for me to go
to 10mcg (at the time I had been on 5mcg for 3 weeks).
Roy
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Hi all,
I’ve been on byetta for only a short while and have
had some BG lowering results, but not enough. I seem
to remember some were begun on 10 mcg and others were
raised before the 30 days recommended by the company.
Is that correct?
I’m considering asking my doctor to raise my dose to
10 mcg to see if that will take me to where I need to
go.
Do y’all think that is a realistic plan?
Cheers!
Marsha
Anything posted in this group is the opinion of the person who posted it.
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December 11th, 2003 at 3:39 pm
yup i switched to an Endo because of my Dr doing that. its Bull.
Rebecca