Glycemic Variability

David Mendosa Living With It Medical Journalist Living with Diabetes and Author of Fitness and Photography for Fun, www.mendosa.com/fitnessblog After earning a B.A. with honors from the University of California,... Send Message Subscribe: David Mendosa

Sunday, July 22, 2007
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Now I know why so many diabetes specialists hold Irl Hirsch in such high esteem. Dr. Hirsch knows diabetes. He is an endocrinologist who has had diabetes since he was 6 years old. He is also a professor at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle and directs its Diabetes Care Center.I h...

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Byetta question
steve
Monday, July 23, 2007 at 12:50 PM

Dave:
I've been on Byeta for several years but haven't had thetype of weight loss you have. In fact, the effects wear off about 10 a.m. after taking the shot at 6 a.m. How soon before eating should I take in it? Should I be taking an extra dose? I take on in the AM and one before dinner. SHould I take anothe raround lunch to sustain the loos of appetite feeling?

Steve

re: Byetta question
David Mendosa
Monday, July 23, 2007 at 08:35 PM
Dear Steve,

To get the most hunger-suppressing effect it's best to take the Byetta shot 45 minutes to 1 hour before starting the meal. And taking an extra shot at lunch, as my friend John Dodson and many others do, does work better -- but your insurance probably wouldn't reimburse you for it.

Glycomark test
David Morris
Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 09:53 PM
The glycomark test www.glycomark.com is also premised on variability being more important than a1c and has a more biologically direct way of measuring variability.

re: Glycomark test
David Mendosa
Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 10:00 PM
Dear David,

Yes, I am quite impressed by what I have read about the Glycomark test so far. But I haven't used it myself. I wonder if any reader here has?

When will it be available for other meters?
Kenneth Harrigan
Friday, August 03, 2007 at 08:28 AM
Roche, it appears, has paid for the development of the new algorithm and want to use it in their software for their meters. Will it become available for downloaded datastreams from other meters, and if so, when?

re: When will it be available for other meters?
David Mendosa
Saturday, August 04, 2007 at 05:58 PM
Dear Kenneth,

That's not the sort of information that companies announce in advance. But I would expect that MiniMed will be adding it to their Guardian REAL-Time continous sensor. If and when, I intend to write about it here.

Roche Software
Sam Iannuzzi
Friday, August 24, 2007 at 07:15 PM
I have a Advantage and I bought software and the cables to download from my meter to my PC. About six months ago my pc died and I had to buy a new one. It came loaded with "Vista"; microsoft's new OS. The drivers don't exist for the new OS to interface my glucometer and my pc. In my conversations with the tech support people i got the impression that that too bad but nothing is going to be done about it. As I figure it, I threw 90 dollars out the window by buying Roche software. Since they don't seem to care, I am looking for another company and another type of glucometer. I I can't get my money back but I can stop spending 400 dollars a month on their test strips.