Byetta nausea (and worse!)

[MrsHutt]

Hi. I posted recently that I was going on Byetta. Well I had the first month on the 5 micro g and after just a few days of nausea in the mornings, felt fine. My numbers were well down (a bit too low overnight, but a little midnight snack solved that) and I lost nearly a stone. The nurse was well chuffed with numbers and weight loss and the fact that I felt so very well.

So ... she doubled my dose to the 10 micro g. I have been soooooo sick - nauseous for about 4 hours after taking morning dose, and throwing up 3 or 4 times (without warning!!). The evening one doesn't seem to do it????!!! I am just hoping that it will go off after a few more days (like the 5 did). I know everyone seems to have different experiences on Byetta, so I don't suppose anyone has any answers for me!

One thing I can't understand is that today, for instance, I had some shredded wheat and could only eat a couple of spoons full and had to rest up for the rest of the morning. (I had had the Byetta 1 hour before and gliclazide as usual). Then I took my bm before lunch and it was 8.7 - a bit high for having eaten nothing??? Had a tiny bowl of soup and a slice of bread and butter - all I could face - for lunch.

Anyone got anything to cheer me up???

 

[Steff]

hya mrshutt sori f v brief reply im on a mobile at the min,sori t hear about ur trubles wit byetta im on the 10mg and hav no bother tbh, i think if thedame sees this she wil b able t help u ,she is v knowledgable with byetta.xhugsx

 

[thedame]

Hi Mrs Hutt - well done for the progress you have made in the first month- it does encourage you to see the weight loss even if it is partly as a result of the sickness!

Hang on in there - I suffered with nausea a lot in the first month and tiredness like I had never known - especially after lunch. I put this down to the fact I am more active in the mornings and eat less for brekkie and lunch so had "used up" the food which the Byetta was workign on! Although I often didn't fancy the evening meal, once I started on it, I felt a lot better and back to my usual self for the evening.

Once the dose was upped for the second month some of these symptoms came back although not so violently and they passed by the time the second month was up. It is worth persevering but if the symptoms are so bad that you can't cope after this second month, you could ask to go back onto the lower dose until you stabalise.

Like you say, everyone reacts differently so don't stress out if you think you are "failing" just give yourself time. Have you tried some of the suggestions for the sickness like ginger ale (diet of course) or even a ginger biscuit if you feel a bit wobbly and need a fix? I sometimes sucked on a sugar free mint while pottering around the house and tried to ignore the sick feelings with a bit of music to distract me!

I don't work so could take a rest if I had to - post lunch in the first month would often find me laid out on the sofa for 20 mins- I found that just lying down took the sickness away - it is a bit like motion sickness I think!

Now that I am into my 8th month, a lot has changed. I hit a period of doubt after Christmas- that was at around 3 months- the worse of the symptoms had gone but I don't cope well with Christmas- I get very down so I can't tell you if this was a normal reaction to the drug or just me but I found I was craving treats for a while but felt so bloated if I indulged that I just had to stop!

Then a few months back, I got my second wind, so to speak and following Wallcorkers advice, cut the carbs out for brekkie and lunch and have had some really encouraging results with BS levels and weight loss. I still get the feeling of sickness at around 11am on some days - I usually have a coffee and it passes - when first on Byetta I couldn't face coffee at all!

Looking back, I think that like with other new treatments, you get the honeymoon period when it is all new and encouraging and then hit a bit of a brick wall when the reality that this is possibly for life sets in and you begin to panic a bit. It sounds like a cliche I know but just take one day at a time, don't worry that you may always feel like you do right now. Hopefully it will get better - it will take a while to adjust to the drug- you have now given your body a double dose and it may take a week or two more to settle. Don't make too many plans for changes to your diet right now, just get through on what you can handle and after a few months, you can do some fine tuning if you feel you need to.

Best of luck

 

[BigMalc]

I started on the 5 in January, had a wierd first week/10days then stabilised, then the 10 meant another couple of days of wierdness, but things did stabilise and now apart from some cravings from time to time (nothing new there, just get them whenever I have been 'good' for a few weeks) no issues and seems to be working well.

Keep persevering, but possibly go back to the 5 might be an idea.

Good luck