Can I Lose Weight With Byetta?

So yes, it's been some time since my last posting. I have not forgotten about this website. I have been on vacation and have been enjoying myself, what with my weight loss and new found energy. I will tell you that for the last several days, I have neglected to take my medicine on time due to the fact that I have stayed awake long into the night, forgetting to take my medicine, thus writing it off until I wake up later in the day. Not good!

I have also neglected to test my blood sugar on a few occasions, but the times I have tested it, it has been fine. I have read online about another diabetes injectable medicine (not insulin) that has a well known, documented side effect... an effect that I could stand to live with - WEIGHT LOSS. I have reached a plateau with my current loss of weight and am curious about Byetta. I learned about Byetta by searching Google for diabetes type 2 weight loss. The forums are filled with success stories of people who've lost 30-40 pounds on average by using Byetta. The people say that Byetta inhibits your urge to eat.

On my next doctor visit, I want to see if the Doctor will prescribe Byetta - Here's a list of some known side effects of Byetta:

Side Effects

The known ones are of course our biggest problems but there have been some identified on the Blog that are not in the literature. I ‘m going to address each of them and try to give a synopsis of all the suggestions. Please forgive me if I left out any. It is nothing personal. I have tried to review both Blogs today as I was writing this but I’m sure I have left something out.

Nausea: Probably the worst and most debilitating if you get it. A lucky few escaped with just a little or only a few days. It is definitely dose related and some of the things that have been considered a total day off; starting with one shot a day for one week and then increasing to two and repeating with a dose increase; staying at 5mcg for an extra month or two if you are having problems adjusting especially if you work. Drugs that some of you have been prescribed or are taking Phenegan, Zofran, Compazine Emmetrol, Pepto-Bismol, Pepcid AC and Benadryl. Non-medical things that seem to help some people sugar free mints, Real Coke, Coke Zero, Ginger Ale, Tummy Tamer Herbal Tea, Dole fruit cups, eating immediately, waiting to eat. Other tips are staying away from high spicy or high fat foods. It is a highly individualized thing and some people sail through with few problems. But the ones who are ill are very ill.

Hypoglycemia: While this is second on the list I don’t think it’s been a huge problem for us. Just a few posts and mirroring the Trials it is the patients on the sulfonylureas. You need to be prepared and take precautions and the recommendation is if you are on one of the sulfonylureas you might consider a dosage reduction before starting Byetta.

Jitteriness: No comments on this one.

Dizziness: I believe this one is due to B/P dropping and the cardiovascular effects of this drug which are just beginning to be studied.

Headache: There have been complaints of headache both regular and sinus. No one has posted anything specific they are doing for it. I am wondering if the body is protesting all these shifts to normal that are going on.

Dyspepsia: another frequent complaint and can be rather embarrassing. Belching at inopportune moments. A prescription for a Proton Pump inhibitor helps but does not eliminate nor does adding Pepcid AC for me. Avoiding particularly gassy foods has been helpful to some people. Sipping coke to make the belches come was one person’s solution.

Asthenia: a fancy word for weakness or lack of energy and strength. Lots of people have mentioned tired or fatigue or no energy and the only thing here is apparently time.

Decreased appetite: Most of us were counting on this one to work and for most it is. The weight loss seems variable and most dramatic for those of us on drugs that caused fluid retention but there is most definitely a real sustained weight loss for most people with this drug. There is a description of a feeling of fullness with less food and no real hunger. People are saying they have to be reminded to eat.

GERD: Gasrtroesophageal Reflux disease. A fancy word for the burping we are all doing. I think most of us already had this anyway.

Hyperhydrosis: Excessive sweating I seem to have missed this one and there hasn’t been a lot of comments about it.

That’s the official Byetta List

The Uncharted Territory: Our List of things we have discovered

If you have anything on this list it is important that the manufacturer be notified either through your Health care Provider, your Pharmacist or self report it by calling the 800 number noted in the contact section earlier.

Teeth Pain: A number of people have reported increased sensitivity in their teeth despite good dental hygiene and previously healthy check ups. No one has particularly remarked as to what they are doing about it but I have tried taking a couple of Tylenol. Thankfully my teeth were cleaned not long before I started. Something to think about if you haven’t started.

Male dogs chewing up their owner’s underwear. Two reports. It is a hormone. It is excreted in the urine and Dogs have very sensitive noses. One solved the problem by putting the hamper in the closet and the other started using panty liners.

Feeling cold after an injection: Several people are complaining of this. It is a blessing with the temperatures we have been having this summer but seems to be for a couple of hours after each injection and is sometimes followed by a flush.

Decreased number of bowel movements or constipation:Universal complaint. Slows gastric emptying and apparently all of peristalsis.

Sneezing, nasal congestion, allergy symptoms: numbers of these seem to be growing and I don’t know if it is because it was reported and the connection was made or if it is occurring over time. This is another one I think definitely needs to be reported to Lilly. Some have reported using antihistamines. I haven’t had this but I take regular antihistamines anyway so it may be masking it.

Diarrhea: and today a report of abdominal cramping.

Can't Cut Costs On AvandaMet

I was able to drop 4 more pounds this week without much effort. I've been religiously taking my AvandaMet for diabetes control and have maintained a healthy blood sugar average, and I know without a doubt that the other vitamins and minerals I am taking are helping me tremendously. I have not experienced any adverse reactions with anything I am presently taking now, and I consider myself very lucky for this.

Sometimes I find it very difficult to avoid some of the food I've enjoyed eating so much in the past, and I know I can still enjoy some things in strictly limited moderation, however - breads, pasta, and certain condiments are now considered my enemy and I keep them far from me to avoid any temptation to eat my enemies. Since I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I've also managed to stay away from juices and non-diet sodas. I've actually developed a liking to a few diet drinks and stick with them. I haven't limited my intake of caffeine despite the recent news that caffeine may drive up blood sugar. I have to keep some elements of life in my, well, life.

I recently spoke with my doctor about the costs associated with AvandaMet. With my prescription coverage, I am still paying $61.00 for a monthly prescription for this medicine and it's really making a major dent in my pocket. I asked the doctor if he could write me two separate prescriptions - one for Avandia and one for Metformin. He did advise me that he was pretty sure the Avandia by itself would be just as much as the combination of Avandia and Metformin known as AvandaMet. He told me that Metformin by itself was generally less than $5.00. Well, he was correct. The two prescription medications were called in and when I went to pick them up, the Avandia was $60.00 and the Metformin, $4.00. I would have actually paid more for the two separate drugs, so I wrote off that idea and just had my regular prescription filled. My doctor asked me to let him know on my next appointment if there was a major price difference in my favor so he could possibly help his other patients save some money.

Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Fatty Acids - Weight Loss!

I'm obviously back to continue where I left off - the weight I've lost within the last month. The doctor told me on a follow up visit last week that I had lost weight and should continue to do so as long as I keep my glucose levels down as I've been doing. He explained that my pancreas wasn't allowing the body to convert the glucose as it should have, thus the sugar was stored as fat, which explains my previous failed diet efforts. He told me that now, without a lot of extra effort on my part, my body will know how to turn the sugar into energy - but what I do with the energy is up to me.

I mentioned the vitamins and fish oil in my last posting, so let me elaborate on this, because I know you have to be interested. Last month a friend at work included me on an article she read about the benefits of particular vitamins to aid in weight loss. She mentioned that there were official published studies on vitamin B6 and vitamin C as of late. She told me that the study included placebos and the overwhelming majority of the participants in the study who had the real vitamins lost a substantial amount of weight compared to the participants who had the fake stuff. I did some research and found that, recently, a woman's magazine had published such study and there is still research into these findings. I wanted to start my own study, so I went to Rite Aid and purchased a bottle of vitamin B6 and Vitamin C (the highest strength on the shelf) and a bottle of Omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil).

I've been taking these pills at night before I go to bed and, not only do I notice an improvement in my sleep, but my dreams are out of this world! I'm not kidding... I've had some experiences in my dreams that I never thought could come from such a tiny little brain. So, I was curious to find out which one of these pills could enhance my sub-conscious mind-blowing brain activity and I concluded that vitamin B6 was the culprit here. For me, it's not a bad thing, these dreams. I haven't had any nightmares (knock on wood), but I have had exceptionally focused, detailed dreams where I'd almost go as far as to say they were lucid. Now, this wasn't a goal of min, dreams - my goal is less poundage, but I benefit from the added bonus.

Needless to say, I may expound on some of these dreams a little later on, but for the results... Now keep in mind I sit all day at work and have little activity when I get home, so a high metabolism isn't and hasn't been a factor here. In the last month, I've lost 19 pounds and 2.5 inches in the waist area. I'm more than positive that most of this weight loss can be attributed to the glucose being managed properly now, but I am also sure that the vitamins are supporting the acceleration of said weight loss. If I had a scientific mind, I'd weigh myself right before stopping my nightly regimen of popping these pills, and then yes, stop taking these pills for a month to see if the weight loss slows and then get back on them again to analyze results, but I don't want to do this in fear that I might screw with my present success.

As far as REAL scientific data, I guess I don't have anything on paper, YET, but I'd be willing to bet a paycheck that these vitamins and fatty acids are benefiting me more than if I wasn't taking them. I'd also ask my blog reader to think about the success you may experience just by popping a few pills before you go to bed. I will be providing you more details about my weight loss experience in a day or so, and even some data I've come across to support my success with these vitamins.

Avandamet - My Cure For What Ails

I've been taking my AvandaMet prescription now for over a month, and I've got to tell you - I am, no doubt about it, feeling much more human at this time. I really believed for awhile that all hope was lost for me. I really thought because I'd let myself go for so long that I may never see another day where I get out of bed feeling refreshed and ready to take on anything and everything. But by the grace of God and a great medication, not only am I feeling much better, but I've noticed other positive results.

My eye is no longer twitching; My heart doesn't palpitate; My lungs seem more functional, in that I feel I can hold larger breaths of air; I get out of bed not as tired as I was when I went to bed; My skin feels cleaner and more smooth; I'm not feeling thirsty all the time; I'm not waking 5-6 times during the night to urinate... Diabetes really had me whipped, and now because of a pill I take twice daily, I have taken my life back!

Don't get me wrong, along with taking AvandaMet, I have a responsibility to eat the right foods and stay away from what put me in my situation to begin with, and I've also had to change my mindset as well. I no longer drink colas loaded with sugar - now I drink diet sodas and more water. I am a bread lover from birth, but I limit my intake of breads and pastas. Instead of worrying about caloric intake, I am focused on carbs and I've got a roadmap to a healthy lifestyle if I can just stick with it.

When I went to the Diabetes counseling session my doctor scheduled, I learned that carbohydrates are a diabetics worst enemy, not calories... so the counselor let me take home a book that contains almost every dish a restaurant or fast food joint carries with the amount of carbohydrates and fat associated with that food. I had no idea what I was really doing to myself by eating this crap! I am going to find out who publishes this useful guide and will hopefully provide a link on my next post so you can have your very own. It is, indeed, a treasure to be had.

The downside to my diabetes medication, the glucose meter, the test strips, and the doctor visits is the money I will be spending to maintain my health. Thank God I have a job that provides decent health insurance and prescription benefits, because the costs associated with all of this are tremendous.

On behalf of advice I have received from friends and searches on Google, I have also began a regimen of particular vitamins and fish oil which, I believe, has contributed to a noticable amount of weight lost within the last few weeks. In my next posting I will discuss these vitamins and fish oils and what they have done for me, besides the impact on my weight!

Doctor Visit Yields Results - Diabetes Confirmed

A few days prior to going to the doctor's office, I had asked my father if I could use his glucose meter. I had spoken with dad on several occasions about his blood sugar levels and what was considered a normal range. When dad first learned of his diabetes, he was averaging in the mid 200s, and at his age with all of his ailments, that ain't good. Dad has had triple bypass surgery and a valve replacement and when your blood is full of sugar, it's thick and it makes your heart work harder. His heart doesn't need the extra strain, because a couple of years ago, he was also diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He's 76 years old and even with all the years I've had him in my life, I still feel that I would be devastated by losing him.

He showed me how to use the meter and I pricked my finger willfully - eagerly to find out if I was afflicted by something other than my own excuses for letting myself go. The results weren't to be seen, or at least not represented by any number... because the only thing I saw were the letters "hi". I immediately went to the internet to find out what "hi" meant exactly. I found out, and I was scared as hell! I was well above what the meter was programmed to display and that told me a trip to the doctor's office was of crucial importance.

I had read all kinds of horror stories about how organs can be damaged by prolonged, untreated blood sugar, and what with all my symptoms of the disease, I questioned why I didn't visit the doctor sooner. While I was waiting to see the doctor, I picked up a few pamphlets on the table beside one of the lobby chairs. I remembered thinking to myself that this is really the first time I'd ever been curious to read anything about diabetes. I never really picked up any interest in the topic before because I didn't have the disease and never contemplated being diagnosed with it. It's funny how we blindside ourselves about certain things if we've never experienced our own dramas with these things. I think a fine example would be the Hollywood celebs who roll hard with a charity after learning that they or someone they love has been affected by what they are vesting themselves and their money for research into.

Okay, so the nurse puts me on the scale (I've lost 15 pounds since last year's visit), takes my blood pressure, temperature, and tells me the doctor will be with me in a moment. I heard him pick up my chart outside the closed door and he stood there for a minute or two before opening the door and walking in. He's a fit guy and I have a feeling he doesn't have any sympathy for overweight people. If he can be skinny and feel good every day he comes to work, why can't his big patients - or at least that's what I think goes through his head, but I'm a might paranoid anyways.

He sits down after reviewing my chart and asks me how I'm feeling. I told him that I don't think I've ever felt more less of a human for such a long period of time and he asked me to elaborate. I told him about my constant state of never feeling like I've had enough sleep during the night, about my relentless thirst, frequent trips to the toilet at night, my twitching eye, my lack of any kind of energy, and heart palpitations. I mentioned the fact that I had used my father's sugar meter and the reading was "hi". I told him very frank that I believed I had diabetes. I felt he was in awe and doubting of my self-diagnosis, because he knows as well as I that I had just visited him last year and none of these symptoms were present - none of them appeared on his chart.

He got up and told me to follow him and we walked down the halls headed for the lab. He spoke with a lab worker and asked them to give me an A1C test. I was very nervous. I didn't know what the A1C was and I didn't know if the doc had other suspicions of something else that may be brewing inside of me, like cancer or something dreaded and incurable. I do know that he treated the issue with urgency and despite the fact that the lab was filled with other patients, I was moved to the front of the line and blood was taken from my arm. I was then escorted back to the office where I waited for the doctor to return. He walked in and said "You were right - I'm sorry, but you are a diabetic." He told me the A1C results showed that my median score was 373 (over 3 months) and that he needed to prescribe me medication and advised that this should be treated promptly.

A prescription for AvandaMet was sent to my pharmacy and I went to pick it up this day. More about my diabetes medication and initial reactions to come in my next post.

Diabetes Type 2 My Hero

On July 25th, 2008 I was informed I had joined the brotherhood of type 2 diabetics. Of course, this wasn't by choice, but it might as well have been, because for the past three years I've really let myself go. The job functions I've had in the past had kept me somewhat active enough to refrain from being severely obese. Then, in 2005 I landed a job in a call center where I sit on my butt all day and answer phone calls. I was already overweight when I took this job, and my interviewer had told me if I get this job and I don't remain active, one of the drawbacks of the job is weight gain.

The facility I work in does provide a workout room with a good assortment of exercise equipment, but I seldom find myself using this room, except for the adjoining restroom, in which case if there's any weight to be lost... At any rate, the call center doesn't provide square meal choices, but does provide candy snack machines and soft drink machines just to make matters all the worse. When you sit for eight hours a day and fill your face with sweets, your metabolism obviously slows down and, well - I'm not telling you anything you already don't know.

I'm the type of person to make excuses, not that I bombard them on friends and family, but I make them work for myself. I've pondered many reasons in my mind for not using the workout room, or perhaps taking a stroll around the call center instead of going to the smoking area to light up. I know, you're thinking "obese, smoker, diabetic - risk for health problems 100%", but my excuses would have me a winner in that argument, or at least they would have before my hero saved me.

I had been feeling sluggish for approximately one year before I was introduced to my hero, and as that year progressed, my zest for life was fading increasingly every day. I attributed my health to the job I had and told myself that I needed to change something. I had ideas of what I needed to change, such as the types of food I was consuming, my activities (or lack thereof), maybe my job - all of these things were at the top of my list, but I didn't change much of anything at all. No, instead, I started feeling sorry for myself and considered myself out of reach for any self-motivation and pride. I awoke each morning feeling tired and not ready for the waking day. Hobbies I enjoyed were past times I could not enjoy now. I knew depression would be a culprit for my mood changes, but I took care of that by going to the doctor and having him prescribe an SSRI.

The SSRI seemed to take some of the blah out of me, but I was gaining more weight now, something I now know is a common side effect of those selective serotonin inhibitors. I tried weaning off the med, but God help me there. Mind-zaps and dizziness were something I could not cope with now. On top of this, my blood pressure was through the roof on my last visit to the doc. I was prescribed blood pressure/diuretic medication and started to control that. My sleep pattern was altered tremendously by the diuretic and I must have paid visits to the toilet 3-4 times nightly.

With more weight came even more discouragement, and hope for making any major lifestyle changes was slipping away because I just didn't feel like doing anything. When I got home from work, I did the usual chores around the house, but I'd also get on the computer and, yes, find myself sitting down for a few more hours. Though, something was wrong here... with the little activity in my day, I was drinking obnoxious amounts of liquids and could not seem to satiate my thirst. I thought that the diuretic may be causing this and I stopped taking my blood pressure medicine. Now I really felt bad. I had to go back on it.

As more months went by, I noticed strange things happening to my body. My left eye would occasionally twitch - not enough to see it in the mirror, but I felt it. It seemed to stop when I would concentrate on it, but as soon as I forgot about it, it started again. I also noticed my vision becoming blurry. My vision has always been poor since birth, but I was thinking cataracts now. One afternoon, a couple of friends took me to a big arcade that has a bar and restaurants inside. We played some games, walked around a bit and I just couldn't believe how much such simple activity took out of me - I was exhausted. We sat down at the bar and my friend bought me a big mug of beer. I slugged it down and then ordered myself a glass of iced tea. My friend watched in amazement while I finished the glass in less than 2 seconds and ordered another. His wife had a glass of water she wasn't touching and I asked her if I could have it and was wide-eyed when I finished it off just as fast. They told me I needed to see the doctor.

Well, I went - read about it in my next post!