Byetta Not Working For Me

By Robin Wednesday, October 03, 2007

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Hi
I just started 5 byetta and my blood sugar is still high. They say it works the very first try, but hasn't for me. I been on Januvia 100mg and it hasn't helped either to lower my BG levels. I'm on Metformin and Glyburid also. I was on Avandia 5 years with good bg control until I started swelling and asked to be switched to Actos. Went on Actos and it too lowered my bg levels and kept me normal range, then came the swelling and chest pains. So I stopped the Actos and my doctor has been trying these new meds, Januvia and Byetta. I think doctors are putting people on Byetta and Januvia because they cause you to fill full and you eat less, which is a blessing. But I believe the Actos and Avandia your doctors are putting you on are the true lowering agents of your blood sugar. At least with my years of experience those worked well. Anyways, I hope my doctor finds a way for myself to lower my bg and not gain weight. I'm asking to be put on insulin.
Thanks
Robin

Comments (12) | Add comment

Wanda

10/ 5/07 12:30pm

Hi Robin,

I have been on Byetta for almost a year. It slowly started working for me, it took a month or so for the my bc to truely go down and stay that way, now it is consistantly 95 to 105 each morning. I also take Metformin.

Robin

10/ 6/07 12:39pm

Thats Wonderful, Glad it worked for you!
All Diabetics are not the same, we have different bodies so there will be different outcomes for all. Thank you for your reply!

Mike

10/ 5/07 1:55pm

Robin..

I'm acutally surprised that you are on Januvia and not on insulin. I thought that Januvia worked WITH insuln. I started taking Januvia a few months ago and my bg dropped within the first 48 hours from a morning bg of 250 to a morning bg of 150. I'm a type 2 who takes Lantus and Novalog.

I took Avandia for 5 years and think the only thing I got out of it was swollen ankles.

Robin

10/ 6/07 12:36pm

Thanks alot, yes I now am on Lantus and feeling better and blood sugar dropped considerably. I stopped the Actos and loss control of blood sugars but feel better now and blood sugar is looking way better!

Roslyn , Platte city ,MO

10/ 5/07 2:46pm

I was on BYetta from Nov 2005 to March 2007. i took myself off of it, becuase i was getting too low of blood sugar, i wasx getting down to 50's and 60's, i was cold, i felt terrible, i am not on any diabeties meds now , because i lost 154 pounds , i started to lose weight in March of 2006. I used to weight 470 pounds. i went all the way down to 316 pounds, but i gained 28 back, because i have now an overactive thyroid . i have lost a few pounds here and there. my blood sugar is awesome now, from all the weight loss i did , it ranges from 72 to 130 , one time last week it go up to 206, i wasn't worried at all, i knew it would go down, i still eat sweets , but i try to control how much i consume. there are days where i take in alot of sweets and other days i don't. my A1c is 5.9% . in Nov 2005 it was 9.7%. Byetta did help me, i lost alittle from it, but i was also on Avandia too. i took 4mgs each day.i took myself off Avandia too this past Spring. all that weight lost helped my Blood sugar and A1c .

Robin

10/ 6/07 12:46pm

Congrats on the weight loss, thats just outstanding, good job. I too lost over a hundred lbs and it didn't help my blood sugars and I was still a diabetic, and a little disappointed. My family has a history of diabetes. But I have kept it normal all these years with pills an just now 17 yrs later having to use the insulin. I will do what I must to keep healthy and I have asked several times to be put on insulin and finally my doctor agreed! You keep up the good work and fantastic job you did losing weight! Kudos to you!

Roslyn

10/ 6/07 2:19pm

Robin, thank you , i really tried hard on losing weight, even though i got my blood sugar under control, i am still a diabetic, my doctor says so. i will be for the rest of my life. i ask her with weight all the weight loss i did , does that get rid of my Diabeties , she said no. you will always have diabeties, that sucks , i was hoping it to be gone. i still wear my Alert Bracelet , and check my sugar every day, i only check once or twice a day now, if i am very cold , i will check, this past week , on it;s own , it was 67 by it self. my blood sugar goes down sometimes , to a low point . i still have reg soft drinks, but i only limit my self to one a day, or two sometimes. i still eat chocolate , i stopped eating icecream , i have no control over that. i still eat carbs , but i also eat healthy foods too, so i mix and match. Right now i have gained weight because of my thyroid(just found out in Aug it was Hyperthyroidism) , it is overactive .

but i have started a food diary, i WANT to see what i am putting into my mouth , i want to lose those 25 pounds i have gained . but i will lose them, it is a small set back but oh well. Robin, thank you for responding to my comment.

Laura Mushkat

10/ 5/07 6:09pm

I am trying to keep my carbs down without a glucometer's help because I had no more insurance. Got meds from the pharmacuitical companies. Had been doing fine when I had insurance and was just OK last visit. Soon will be have next visit and be on medicare + D so figure I will be testing soon again.

I am guessing you are Diabetic 2 like me. Are you very strict with counting carbs? You do not say. If you are and still high then you probubly need insulin. If you are not being strict give it a try.

Am also on Januvia and Actos and was on metformin but had to quit that since my last exam due to bodily problems. Just hopeful that I have been careful enough.

Meds, including insulin, do not give you carte blanche to regularly go over your allowable carbs. I have to force myself to remember that!

Good luck to both of us!

Laura

Robin

10/ 6/07 12:32pm

Yes Im Type 2 Diabetes been a diabetic for 17 years now. I'm on Glyburid, Metformin, Janavia and Lantus now! I have always kept my blood sugar at normal levels. This time it went up because I refused to stay on actos. Actos and Avandia both will keep your A1C normal but side effects got me so I stopped it. I didn't want to damage my heart or have a stroke. So that said the doctor is trying different ways for me to control my blood sugar levels. I was very frustrated when i blogged the first time because I wanted it to work for me the Byetta and it just didn't work out that way. I eat less carbs on the norm, for me and yes without insurance some of these medicines are priced high, I agree for those without insurance it can cost alot for these new meds.
Hope you are well and thanks for reply!

Laura Mushkat

10/ 6/07 1:07pm

I thought for awhile, after loosing the insurance and not being able to afford the stuff that goes with the glucometer that I would try and cut carbs way down. The latest findings seem to be that we need carbs for our brains and maybe other things. I got nervous about the Actos but my doctor says that it is bad for people who have, I think the intials are-COPD. These are people who have problems breathing because of their heart problems.

Avandia is another story and I never had that. Never heard of your first and last drugs so have no idea if they are somewhere in the equation of your problems. Maybe you and your doctor need to get you back on Actos in some form.

Why would anyone rather stick yourself with a needle as in Byenta is beyond me. It sounds like it does the same thing as Januvia anyway. Between you and me it is a new drug and you gotta wonder if the reps on pushing it to the doctors! I think the idea is that people who are getting D2 will not have the willpower to care for themselves. That of course is not true for those who try hard. If my doctor wants me to go on By. I will refuse till I see if monitoring myself with the glucometer after I get the stuff for the next 3 month period is not working. There are just so many needles I want to have to use.

As I said before good luck to us both.

Laura

Roslyn

10/ 6/07 10:36pm

Laura , i know what you mean by not having insurance, i have insurance, but it doesn't pay for my meds i am on. After i lost that weight , i got off three meds , my cholesterol was awesome, my diabeties was really good too, but i have Bipolar, and i am having samples given to me by my Psych doc, called Ablilfy , works wonders for me. but i asked pharmacy how much it will cost , like $433 just for 15mgs for 30 pills , for 1 month. i was like , i am not paying that until my husband goes from contractor to full-employee , where we can get insurance. so i see what you are saying.

Laura Mushkat

10/ 7/07 12:06am

contact each pharmacutical company for each med customer relations and see if you qualify for any free or partial payment deals for the med you take that is theirs. It may take a couple of months but their help is for 1 year and renewable.

You may be surprised. If they can not help contact the Partnership thing Montel Williams advertises and see if they can help get you cheaper ways to get the meds.

Good luck

Laura

Byetta Not Working For Me

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