I’m sorry — I probably didn’t write clearly enough — his goal for
diabetic patients is A1c at 6.0 or below, fasting glucose at below
120, and no spikes EVER above 180, and the ability to maintain that
with diet and exercise. He would like people to get there with as few
drugs as possible.

I should have also said that I will be his 4th or 5th patient on
Byetta. He’s an internist, not an endocrinologist, so perhaps he isn’t
as "forward thinking" (if that’s the term) as other people’s doctors.

Jessica

Carl E. Moore www.dcfx.com/cmoore

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I am probably strange or something but I had no nausea from Byetta for the
first 3 weeks on the 5 mcg pen and no other side effects either. Then the 4th
week, I had about 3 days of some off and on nausea which went away almost
immediately when I took a Phenergan tablet. After that I had no nausea, not
even when I moved up to the 10 mcg pen. The 10 pen gave me no side effects at
all but I could tell it was working by the drop in my blood glucose after
meals. I am so pleased to get good BG control with no side effects and with
shots that are easy and painless. The only drawback for me is having to keep
the pen cold. When I am away from home (in town) and plan to eat out, I usually
just dash home and do my shot and take my Metformin before I go to the
restaurant. That way I can leave the Byetta pen in the refrigerator and I

won’t
have to worry about it getting too warm or cold. Janet

One of the things I like about my doctor, and something I agree with
him wholeheartedly about, is the idea of being as least invasive as
possible. If it were possible to completely control diabetes without
drugs I would do so. I had a shot at that when I was first diagnosed,
and stuck religiously to the Zone diet using fish and low fat dairy as
my only proteins. Sadly, I gained a bunch of weight, and losing weight
is one of the things that can convert you back to non-diabetic.
(Another very successful thing is that roux-en-x massively invasive
surgery I can never remember the correct name of — instant
non-diabetic.)If you are a type 2 diabetic, initially your body’s
cells lose the ability to properly uptake insulin at the cellular
level. The body then starts putting out more and more insulin, and
your blood sugar levels rise. Eventually, many type 2 diabetics become

insulin dependent because their bodies can no longer produce insulin,
and they need insulin shots. HOWEVER, every last bit of holistic
literature indicates that getting very thin can, for the vast majority
of people, "switch" the cells back to be able to use the insulin
produced by their bodies without cuasing the continual flow from alpha
cells. (BTW this is not true of type 1’s, who are diabetic either
because of a congenital problem, or an autoimmune problem, or a virus.)

My belief is that it will hopefully be possible to drag this
40-something body back to a state of health — meaning a weight loss
of 50 - 80 pounds. I have been unsucessful at a bunch of diets since
January, generally due to getting hungry. That’s why **I** want Byetta
– general laziness and lack of discipline.

My doctor, who has been my doctor for 12 years, and before I was
diagnosed, would like to see me stick to Weight Watchers and exercise
an hour a day, a keep up a low drug regimin.

Byetta is designed (and it’s in their literature) for diabetics who
cannot control their diabetes with metformin and/or sulfonureas. It
ISN’T for preventing high glucose per se. The uses for pre-diabetics
are considered and off-label use, and it also isn’t for
diet-controlled diabetics.

I believe it is heaven sent for people who need large drug regimens
and already face secondary complications — I’m not there yet, but
fear that gaining another 20 pounds could send me there.

So that’s what I’ve got to say.

Jessica