I am borderline insulin resistance. I got my first free sample of Byetta. wow I lost 10 pounds. I have been denied every since I went back for refil. My dr. increased 10mcg. and I receice a polite refusal letter.
I though insurances were about prentive care. obesity is widespread and deadly. Byetta is a lot less expensive than a gastric-bypass surgery. FDA and drug companies should look at this from all points
alice virginia
Dear Alice,
It is sad but true that the Food and Drug Administration approved Byetta only for people with diabetes. While doctors can prescribe it ("off-label") for anyone,I don't know of any insurance companies that will pay for it. Of course, you can pay for it yourself, but it's more than $200 a month!
Dear David,
try $285.00 in the state of Al. I can not buy it.
But I believe in God. I know he will make a way were there seems to be no way. He tells to watch our words. I will receive this medication somehow.
I have to stay upbeat and postive.
Look out FDA one mighter than we will
turn this situation around. I may sound crazy to you. I just have to stay postive
thanks DAVID
Dear Alice,
I understand and appreciate your situation. But, of course, drug prices vary depending on the vendor even more than what state you happen to be in. Fortunately, with the rise of the Internet we now have the beginning of nationwide price competition. And the best Byetta price that I have been able to find is much better than the $285 price you found. At drugstore.com you can buy 1 Byetta pen for $226 or 3 of them for $217 each.
Dear Tambry,
Thanks for your extensive -- and positive -- post about Byetta. I have also written about how the pancreatis scare was far overblown (http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/17/15142/byetta-perspective/)
If you send me your postal address, I will send you my Byetta carrying case, which I rarely use now that refrigeration is not required -- at least in Colorado, if not Texas.
Best regards,
David
thank you so kindly for the offer of the travel pack, it is greatly appreciated.
P.O. Box 532584
Grand Prairie, TX 75053
let me know how I can pay you for the shipping.
I am told that I did better than people on the original studies, guess I was also very determined (this was the last ditch effort before insulin).
Love me that Byetta!!!
All of the literature for Byetta says not for use with insulin, however, there are Docs who have prescribed it for those on insulin, have a friend who is one of those. Her success was ok, not quite a wonderful as mine. My doc says that there is a different weight loss drug for the non-diabetic.
Byetta works on liver function, not on "squeezing" the pancreas for more insulin.
Be sure you take it BEFORE you eat, and try not to wait as much as 20 minutes, lesser times help some with the initial nausea. Since it hits your system pretty quickly and food takes a little longer, I have even taken it pre-first bite. I have heard of confusion on the waiting times. The real reason it works for weight loss is that it DOES bring down your overall sugar levels (A1C), one does depend on the other. You will want to eat less, this also helps. Don't be discouraged with the nausea if you have it, believe me a little stomach upset is SO worth the changes the Byetta brings!
Frankly I compared it to having the surgery, I absolutely ate less and lost weight easily, but thankfully not too quickly. Once your Doc prescribes the med, you should get a starter kit the lesser dosage, and full instructions, this can also get you more time to determine if your company will pay.
The interesting thing I found was that with mine it went straight from non-existent to formulary, I always have paid a smaller copay from day one! And I started on Byetta the month after it hit the market!
Good luck!
My dawn effect is still my highest point, I work an odd schedule and don't get to eat at regular times. Doc says that the dawn effect is when the Byetta has "worn off" for me.
Looking forward to the once a week shot (about another year out), so that I can lose the peaks.
overall the numbers are lower so it is good news, just could be better.
Before starting Byetta, I did a lot of research. Reading other users comments, the general consensus was that the nausea wasn't as bad (or went away completely) if you watched the fat and sugar intake. Since starting Byetta, even though I usually only have mild nausea, it is much worse with a meal high in fats such as hamburger and fries. Could this be the reason why your PM meal doesn't make you as sick as your AM meal?
I just started the byetta a few days ago 5mg and have had alot of vomiting. Some doses were fine, did great, and some doses I end up projectile vomiting. Very painful and now I am afraid to continue with it. Can anyone tell me if there are any tricks as to how long before a meal or what you eat has to do with the vomiting?
I really love how it controls my blood glucose, but I cannot live with constant vomiting. I heard giving the shot in the leg instead of the stomach may help?
Hi, I have been on Byetta three months, all the time having some degree of nausea but not to many other symptoms. The first month, I had energy like I haven't had in years. My numbers immediately fell from 190s to 120s...within two days of starting. I had energy to stay up late, read, exercise and felt like a new life.
I am also on metformin. About 30 days into it, I was experiencing more and more nausea..The doc left me on 5mg. I made it to 60 days (just barely some days) but the great thing is I lost 17 pounds. The bad news is I was to sick to eat! Which I actually feel was worth it.
About 75 days into the program I developed diarrhea. I wasn't working, so at the time it was manageable. However I had to go back to work around the 90 day mark and it was so bad, along with the nausea being bad...that I lowered it to once a day..for five days and then I quit.
I am unhappy I quit because I want to continue to loose weight and I liked the extra energy. I am going to start it again...slowly..with one 5 mg dose daily.
I will also tell you that my body fat went from 60 percent (yes I know that is terrible) to 46% in those 75 days! My scale isn't wrong either, I had it checked. I lost three pant sizes and dropped two top sizes.
Byetta is great for lowering numbers. Try to hang in there with the side effects. I am going to try again.
My PCP has placed me on Byetta back in October, it was to be a one month trial which has turned into an ongoing thing.
Since October I have been experiencing abdominal pain on and off.
I called my PCP in December and was told that I should take some Gas-ex just after taking Byetta, it doesn't sound right to me.
In November when my PCP told me that I had a choice to either stay on Byetta or go on Insulin. I have been on Glyburide/Metformin for a couple of years now.
I told my PCP that I would rather not be on either Byetta or Insulin, I was advised that due to my other medical conditions I have no other choice than to be on either Byetta or Insulin.
I advised my PCP that I would like to have a second opinion.
I was later advised by my PCP's office that I would be referred to an Endocrinologist and that I would not be able to see that doctor until March of 2008, seems to me like a long period of time to get an appointment ot see a specialist.
Now today I mentioned to someone that I am to the point where I am want to refuse the Byetta and Insulin. I was told that I could not refuse to take both medications and that if I did, my PCP could have me committed. Can a Doctor really do this to me ?
Dear Boroguy,
I have never heard of a doctor committing a patient to a mental facility for refusing to take a medicine. But that's not the question. The question is what you are doing to control your diabetes. Can you actually control it without Byetta or insulin. Is your A1C down to a normal level yet?
David:
Right now my A1c is more than likely not where my PCP would like it.
I don't recall off hand what the reading was last time it was done on me in November 2007.
What have I been doing about the diabetes, well I have been taking my medicine.
I think what you really mean is what have I been doing to control this genetic mess.
Well I don't count calories or what ever else there is, yeah something called carbs.
Well I am a meat and potatoes person, always have been and always will be.
Have I lost weight since I was diagnosed over 13 years ago, yes. I believe that my total weight loss is in the range of 65-70 lbs.
Do I have a scale to weigh myself...no because over the years I have discovered that when I hit an area where the weight won't come off, I get very very frustrated.
I don't mind taking oral medications, it is the medications that are injectable that I totally detest and refuse to use. I have a number of black and blue marks on me from the injections of Byetta.
I was told in November, at my last PCP visit, that I have to take Glyburide/Metformin and Byetta or Insulin because of a second existing medical condition which ironically is partially caused by my having diabetes.
In 2003 I was diagnosed as having "Nash" which is Non-Alcoholic Steato-Hepatits. Which means that I have Non-Alcoholic Cirrossis of the Liver and Non-viral Hepatitis.
Because of the above mentioned disease(s) I am limited to the number of oral medications that I can take.
I have told my PCP that I am willing to take oral medications as long as they don't have any adverse affect on my already damaged liver.
When I was diagnosed, my then Doctor said the following statement to me "Why aren't you dead?" The reason for that question was that my blood sugar was at or above 500. As for me I felt fine. My Doctor at that time was relocated by the HMO and not allowed to notify his patients of his relocation and has since moved to the State of Washington.
Why don't I want to use insulin...well to me personally I feel that when I am injecting myself I feel that I am like a "junkie" who is shooting up and I am not going to become a "junkie". Over the decades I have seen to many people who have overdosed from injecting themselves and I am not going to do that to myself.
Sorry for the long winded response.
I have another question to ask. As I noted in my earlier comment, I have been on Byetta ever since October.
I am finding that I am having amounts of bruising on my stomach where I was told to inject myself.
Are these bruises normal ?
Also I continue to get nausea and abdominal pain, not on a regular basis but is seems to come and go. Is this normal ?
I asked my PCP for a second opinion regarding the use of Byetta and/or insulin.
Her offices reply was that I could not get an appointment with an Endocrinologist until March 2008 at the earliest.
Does it normally take that long to get to see an Endocrinologist ?
My first appointment following my PCP's prescribing of Byetta, I happened to show her a copy of the FDA Warning about Byetta and a possible link to Pancreatitis that I had received at work.
She took the warning notice from me but she seemed to be more than annoyed at the fact that I had a copy of the notice and that I had it with me.
Is this a possible "red flag" that maybe I should find another PCP ?
Dear Boroguy,
Bruises from injections are not normal from Byetta or anything, like insulin. Are you sure that you are using the best needles? Make sure that you get thinnest needles, which are 31 gauge. BD makes "Ultra-Fine III Mini Pen Needles," which I use myself.
Re nausea, please read:
http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/
c/17/2085/nausea-byetta/
Yes, I have also had to wait a long time to get an appointment with an endo. There just aren't enough of them to go around.
Too bad that your PCP is rude. All I can add is that if you really don't like and respect her, you might well consider going to a different one.
David:
I have the box of needles in front of me right now and it reads BD Ultra-Fine III
Short Pen Needles.
The label from the pharmacy reads as follows: B-D UF III Penndle Short.
These needles are 31G x 5/16's (8MM) Needles.
These are the needles that my PCP prescribed.
I guess the only other reason that I am bruising like I am is because my platelet count must be dropping again.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I do suffer from a number of other conditions.
One that I had not previously mentioned is that I have an enlarged spleen as a result of having had mono nearly 30 years ago.
The combination of having residuals of Mono and Diabetes Type II are the causes of my existing condition known as "NASH".
Or at least that is what my Gastroenterologist has told me.
I am in sort of a "Catch-22" medical situation as when my platelets drop, my PCP really wants me to see my Hematologist who in turn tells me that I really should see my PCP since she, my Hematologist, really has stabilized this condition.
Also I used to see an Endocrinologist, who has terminated me as a patient. There was a personality clash between us.
The Endocrinologist used to get mad when I would talk to the Gastroenterologist about the Diabetic Medicines that I was taking. I did that because I did not want any of those medicines to adversely effect my already damaged liver.
And since we all know that certain second generation oral diabetic medications can have an adverse effect on the liver.
I am facing the fact that I will eventually need to have a Liver Transplant. Knowing that I will need the transplant eventually, I would rather avoid taking any medication that can harm my liver so that this transplant might be 10-20 years down the road instead of 10-20 weeks down the road. I have already walked away from one PCP and been sent away from an Endocrinologist because they would not listen to what I had to say regarding the medications that might have an adverse effect on my Liver. Some Doctors only seem to want to look at one problem and not the entire picture. I am the patient and I have to live with that entire picture for the rest of my life. And the longer I can live without having to take anti-rejection medication, the happier I will be.
Hello,
I took Byetta for 6 months. Initially my blood sugar was great on it. I did not lose weight. After about 4 months I seemed to become immune to the Byetta and it did nothing for my glucose control. My blood sugar was going straight up. I started the Atkins diet and stopped taking all medications. I have lost weight and now my control is better than ever with diet and exercise.
I started taking Byetta 5 mcg two days ago. I have been extremely sick. I have thrown numerous times with each dose. I started out taking it the recommended 45 min before eating and got sick after I ate. The next dose I got sick 20 minutes after taking it, before I even ate. Please tell me this gets better. I am a teacher and can't be running out of my classroom to get sick at work. I noticed that many people take it in the morning and at night. My endo told me to take it before my two biggest meals, which are lunch and dinner. I have PCOS and insulin resistance/pre-diabetic. I gained 50 pounds in three months a few years ago and that is how they figured it out. I lost 25 pounds and maintained for awhile and have gained it all back. Nothing works--1000 mg metform 2xday, insulin resistant diet, exercise (i have always worked out regularly). Now my glucose levels, cholesterol level are high and I have an enlarged thryroid. This may be my last chance to lose weight so I don't want to give up! Please tell me it goes away! I am so sick I can't even function!
Thanks for your response David. I also have another question. Starting yesterday after I ate my blood sugar dropped fast. I started feeling shaky and took it about an hour after eating. It was 75. Is that too low so soon after eating? I'm worried its going to drop too low! It makes me feel horrible (because I am also dealing with the nausea). I can't really function at work (I'm a teacher). What should my target levels be after eating? What is too low? Should I only take the byetta once a day if they are dropping too low? I take it at lunch and at dinner. Is that too close together?
I guess i had more than one question. lol. Thanks for all your helP!
Also.....
The doctor called me in a prescription for premethazine for the nausea. I took half a pill today and it made me VERY out of it. I didn't actually get sick today, though I definitely felt like I could. I don't know if its better to just get sick and get on with the day or not get sick but feel like I need to and be totally zoned out...
A BG of 75 is low, but not too low as to be a real problem. However, when I first started taking Byetta, my level dropped to 80. That was because of the other medications I was taking for diabetes. My doctor had me stop them right away, and my level didn't drop quite that low again. Byetta will absolutely not cause you to go too low -- but in combination with other drugs it can. So that's my guess about your problem. Please discuss it with your doctor.
Best regards,
David
My endocrinologist put me on the 5mcg dose back in December, for the weight loss, and he considers me to be pre-diabetic with PCOS. I experienced some nausea on the 5 (I spent the entire day of Dec 28th in bed from it), and vomiting when I began the pen, and when I waited too long to eat. But what I noticed is that I cannot eat foods such as untoasted bagels, pasta, without vomiting/nausea, and it happens no matter how little I eat. I began eating toasted bagels, which made the nausea stop. But I went onto the 10mcg dose the other day, and I've experienced almost constant nausea and vomiting since. I throw up at least once a day, even foods that I ate when I was on the 5, such as pizza and a doughnut! I cannot understand this, I'm starting to be afraid to eat anything. Also, the 10 is making me so full (I've been taking it around 9/10am at work this week), that I do not eat lunch, but by 5/6pm I'm absolutely starving. But I have absolutely no desire to eat any food between doses.
I'm currently taking it with Glucophage (for the PCOS), Synthroid, Yaz (take that late at night), and a painkiller and muscle relaxer for my back. But the only medicine I take in the morning is the Synthroid and painkiller (have to take that with a carby meal), the rest I take when I go to bed, so they shouldn't be affecting my injections.
Dear Shannon,
The first thing that I would suggest that you do (in consultation with your doctor) is to go back to the 5mcg dose and/or a once a day dose as long as is necessary.
Please also check our my nausea guide at:
http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/17/2085/nausea-byetta
Best regards,
David
So glad to hear Byetta is working for everyone, but thought it was important to add a comment from one that it didn't work for. It seems that my system is ultra sensitive to meds as often times I am in the 5% group of patients who experience a reaction to many medicines. My doctor prescribed Byetta to me with high hopes. Started me out on 5 mg with little or no effects. Moved me up to 10 mg after a few months. I didn't lose a single pound and after nearly 8 months developed rashes, that lasted for days, at the injection sites. I called the manufacturer of Byetta and they advised me to discontinue use immediately. After consulting with my doctor, she agreed. I noted on this board that many are using Byetta simultaneously with Metformin. Perhaps that is the corresponding key to Byetta's success. I, on the other hand, had very adverse reactions to metformin and am not able to take it. Wish my experience was different as it seems so positive to hear that many people lost substantial amounts of weight and quickly! I did not and when I voiced that to my doctor she explained that the average 10 lb. weight loss with Byetta is slow and gradual over the course of a year.
I am responding from the U.K. There has been much comment over the National Health service in the U.K. However a a Diabetic, in the U.K. as I will have to take medication for thr rest of my life, I do not have to pay for my prescriptions. 5mls Pen of BYETTA costs £68:00 here. A lot to be said for our NHS.
Are the 'Blood glucose levels' the same as blood sugar levels?
If yes then I am very confused as a bs of less than 100 (average normal) is not anything that needs treatment.
My bs runs about 200 and I've known 'diabetics' that have a bs of near 1000!
Why treat a bs of average normal or less?
Confused; j.kuss
I almost had a heartattack when I heard how much this stuff was going to cost monthly. How can they expect people to pay this monthly? It's ridiculous. I then started to look at Canadian and Mexican pharmacies. The Canadian are just about the same as the USA or even more and the Mexican does not carry it. What is in this stuff? Gold??? Come on Amylin, get with the program. We are in a recession!
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