Diabetes & Byetta

I had my three month follow-up today. After one month of the Byetta 5 pen,
I have been on Byetta 10 for almost three months. My A1C dropped from 6.8to
6.5. I was really hoping for a more significant drop but my doctor says
she thinks it will continue to drop. Can someone help me understand how
that will happen. If I do the exact same thing for the next three months,
what is it that will make it drop more?

My FBG in the morning is always 94 - 100. 2 hrs post-meals it is usually
120. I do not eat any white flour, white potatoes, or sugar. I do eat
complex carbs (100% stone ground whole wheat double fiber bread, fresh
fruit, veggies), nuts, lite cheese, and one serving of meat each day. I
exercise 4 days a week - either at Curves or mowing my grass. I walk up six
flights of stairs most days at work when I arrive. I really do not feel I
can do much different than I am doing.

Hi all.

I know I should check with my doctor, but frankly, this group seems to
be more well-informed about meds than my doctor is at times, so I’m
asking here for input.

I’m currently on 10mg of Byetta and 1000 mg of Metformin 2x a day
each. My A1C dropped quite a bit after being put on the 10 pen of
Byetta. The last few weeks I’ve been experiencing a lot of lows from
following a very low carb diet. The first time I’ve ever been
experiencing consistent lows. I called my doctor’s office and they
suggested I go back down to the Byetta 5 pen, but I’m thinking since
Byetta helps your cells more, shouldn’t I reduce the Metformin dose
first? I experimented the last two days with not taking my Metformin
in the morning and still had lows in the afternoon, although not as
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I’ve been hypertensive for years but found that my BP dropped
significantly when placed on metformin and glyburide. After doing
a month of 5mcg Byetta, my doc upped me to the 10 and cut my
glyburide by half last Friday. Starting Saturday, my BP numbers
have been higher than the recommended 130/80 and I’m wondering if
the glyburide had something to do with it. Anyone else have BP
issues or a similar experience?

–Michael

I went to my first diabetes class @ the nyc flagship duane reade. The only
thing they tried to sell was the omron blood pressure cuff. Obviously it is
over $69 . Why the nurse thought we need to check bp every day is beyond
me. From my experience of caring for both of my parents, I can tell you
that vital signs such as bp change all the time. My doctor didn’t tell me
to go out have myself check every day anyway. I already have too many other
expenses. What surprised me was the free sharps container(my city has
strict laws about disposal of blood and sharps.) and coupon for a free
upgrade for the contour, glucometer. AND because I complained about the
crummy duane reade sharps they told me to bring them in next week and they
will see if they can get me better ones. Those needles don’t always respond
and shoot into my skin, or I don’t get a big enough blood drop.

They gave away a free kit to the nine year old. They changed her other
glucometer and gave her one that she said didn’t hurt her so much. She also
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My sister is diabetic and refused to eat right, take her medication,
exercise or take care of herself. She has been in and out of the
hospital and her latest trip was two weeks ago. She has been in
intensive care for two weeks and this morning the doctors told the
family that her kidneys have failed and that the respirator is the
only reason she is still alive. A decision was made to remove the

my drs not happy at all with my numbers being so high. shes now increased my
byetta to 10mq twice a day and wants me to start lantus tomorrow. she wants
me to take 20 units about half an hour before i go to bed. this sounds like
alot of insulin before going to bed. im afraid ill crash. has anyone in the
group
been on byetta and lantus before and how did it work for you? thanks, jude

I to lost 30 Lbs in 3 months and also it slowed down after the 30 came
off but now i have another 5 off 35 off and another 60 to go i’m sure
it wiil take me a while to do this but i like what I’ve done so
far .Love that little lizzard.

I took Byetta 5 for 2 weeks and did not notice a change at all .My 10
came in the mail so I called my DR and switched to the 10. I instantly
got sick and started being less and less hungry . lost weight and B/S
went down
from 175 to 115 and now are 106 I feel great but still have to ware sea
bands to keep the nausia away .

i take my supps and glucophage at 7 am. at 8 am i take my insulin and
byetta. at night i take my glucophage at 5pm and also had been taking
my byetta then too. i take my night time dose of lantus at 10pm so
that’s not a concern.

i was wondering if i should be waiting at that 5 pm dose of orals till
like 6 pm to take byetta. dr put me on phentermine the other day and i
was suposed to take it one hour after breakfast. that made me have
trouble falling asleep at night so i took it with my byetta and insulin
at 8 am. but then it didn’t seem to work as well. i was thinking the
meds and absorbtion might be a problem.

any clues?

jodi

I was on metformin by my GI/Internal medicine doctor. Then I looked at the
diet he mailed me and hated it instantly. So I switched to a
Endocrinologist/Internal medicine doctor because he is more likely to know
what to prescribe. Also it was causing some gi distress every day. So he
put me on that other combo that includes generic drugs but again the
distress was every day, so he switched me to actos. However I was not
losing weight so he asked me to try our friend gilly. It seems to be
working.

Oh and now there is bad news reported by the drug co that makes actos, it
can weaken bones in upper body likes hands, arms. So it is good that I am
now off of it.

On Tuesday evening I start a class at duane reade on diabetes self help.