First Byetta injection

[lucy123]

Finally...I have had my first Byetta injection at 5.45pm last night. Then had to dash home to eat my dinner within the hour.

The injection did sting and continued to sting on the way home but I think this is just due to the first dose being almost straight from the fridge. The others will be left in a cool place before injecting so hopefully wont be so bad.

I felt fine, ate my dinner as normal, then literally minutes afterwards, I really felt my stomach tightening and then the nausea hit me and I was in bed by 8pm - but did have a wonderful 9.5 hours sleep🙂 No sickness so far which is good.

A couple of questions if you dont mind:

1) Do you get the stomach tightening - is this normal? It certainly made me feel stuffed and i do think my next meal I will reduce the portion size even more.

2) When you first started injecting Byetta, did you go on 2 injections a day, or did you start on one per day?

3) Do you leave the needle on after injecting until next dose? Consultant said leave it on, but instructions say remove?

I was quite surprised that I could feel it working straight away - and my bs readings seem to be good so far, but will report back on these after a week or so.

One funny thing for me - I have lost 1.5 stone in the last 5 weeks, but also feel I have lost several inches. When the consultant asked me to stand and grab some fat (four fingers from the navel) I actually struggled. I was expecting the usual bulge to be there but it wasn't. Hubby, consultant and I all had a good laugh about it as consultant did a demo first and he didn't struggle - made me feel good!

 

[Northerner]

Good stuff Lucy, glad to hear you slept well 🙂 Perhaps you were tense, causing the stomach tightening? I always use a new needle for every jab - when you have used one it blunts slightly and the lubricant coating is lost. A lot of people do reuse needles, and actually it was one of the things that was seen as an advantage when they were first introduced (pens with detachable needles, that is), but I think generally the advice is to replace every time. 🙂

Good luck today! 🙂

 

[lucy123]

Good stuff Lucy, glad to hear you slept well 🙂 Perhaps you were tense, causing the stomach tightening? I always use a new needle for every jab - when you have used one it blunts slightly and the lubricant coating is lost. A lot of people do reuse needles, and actually it was one of the things that was seen as an advantage when they were first introduced (pens with detachable needles, that is), but I think generally the advice is to replace every time. 🙂

Good luck today! 🙂

Hi Alan,

Sorry I might have confused you. I didn't mean to reuse the needle. When I have injected the consultant told me to leave the needle on until I next inject - then change the needle before injecting again - I think it was to stop drips?

The instrucitons say to remove the needle - but then wouldn't the byetta run out?

With regards to the stomach tightening - definitely wasn't nerves - was nearly an hour after my injection and straight after I ate. I do know the byetta slows down the processing of food so wondered if this might have something to do with - just felt like I had done lots of abs!!

 

[Northerner]

I would follow the instructions Lucy. I always remove the needle from my pen - you can't replace the cap with it on! 🙂 I would have thought leaving the needle on leaves an open pathway to the byetta, whereas taking it off will reseal it (if it has a rubber bung at the top - haven't seen a byetta pen)

 

[BigMalc]

Hi Lucy,

Needle wise I remove straight away and have never had an issue with it in my two and half years on byetta.

As for stomach tightening etc, the first couple of weeks for me were just wierd. despite never getting any of the usual side effects from the plethora of other pills I take for D and BP, the byetta hit me quite hard. Didnt feel like eating much, almost feeling slightly out of phase with the rest of the world for a while and having very low energy levels (BG levels were still good to high, so it wasnt hypos with me).

They started me on 5ug(?) twice a day, going up to 10 twice a day after a month as side effects had stopped.

I also had issues with the injecting sites as there isnt an inch let alone more of fat on my thighs, but sadly for me, there was plenty around the middle, and though less now, still enough (but I'll keep working on it!)

Keep going, taking it steady with various food options around in case you need short term fixes, but it should settle fairly quickly but if not, then get back onto the Doc to advise.

Malc

 

[lucy123]

Hi Lucy,

Needle wise I remove straight away and have never had an issue with it in my two and half years on byetta.

As for stomach tightening etc, the first couple of weeks for me were just wierd. despite never getting any of the usual side effects from the plethora of other pills I take for D and BP, the byetta hit me quite hard. Didnt feel like eating much, almost feeling slightly out of phase with the rest of the world for a while and having very low energy levels (BG levels were still good to high, so it wasnt hypos with me).

They started me on 5ug(?) twice a day, going up to 10 twice a day after a month as side effects had stopped.

I also had issues with the injecting sites as there isnt an inch let alone more of fat on my thighs, but sadly for me, there was plenty around the middle, and though less now, still enough (but I'll keep working on it!)

Keep going, taking it steady with various food options around in case you need short term fixes, but it should settle fairly quickly but if not, then get back onto the Doc to advise.

Malc

Thanks Malc. good to have fellow Byetta Babes/boys to talk to! I am sure i will have many questions to come - but so far so good. Will it last though - that is the question!

 

[lucy123]

Thank you to everyone for your support on my first few days on Byetta. I really feel I have got a grip on the injecting now and the eyes are getting better.

Been sick twice and a little nausea each time I eat, but nothing major - and not as bad as I was told the side effects would be but I know it is early days.

The best news and again it has only been 4 days but no hypos or floods yet - just off to find a piece of wood to touch now!