Kick up the bum with Byetta

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

lucy123

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi All,

I have been on a beautiful 2 week holiday and since getting back last week have completely lost the plot with Byetta.

Before I went away I was only able to tolerate 5mcg as 10mcg made me very sick. I also was sticking to Diet Chef meals.

Since being on holiday the 5 mcg dont seem to be doing anything - my BS have risen and I am starving hungry. I have also been struggling to get back running again which was working for me. I am still doing my tennis but it doesn't seem enough. My weight has increased again for the first time since being on it.

So from today I have increased my Byetta to 10mcg in the morning to see if I can tolerate it and will see how it goes. So far today I have the nausea/sicky feeling back that I got with the 5mcg but no sickness (which was awful before and immediate).

My question now is - what do you eat on Byetta - what is a normal daily/weekly plan for you - and what exercise do you do? I have had no training as such on what to eat and am a bit lost.

Also for those who have been on Byetta for a while, how much have you lost in weight and how long did it take - and how good are your BS now?


I am due to see the consultant in October again, but I do feel a lot of it is down to me to give it my all to succeed. I want to know I have done everythiing I can do by time I see him.

Thanks for any help you can give.🙂
 
Hi Lucy. I have been on Byetta for about 2.5 years. I lost 2.5 stone fairly quickly and then it stayed there. However just recently I have made a bit of an effort and I am losing again. My Hba1c came down from 10.5 to 6 in 3 months and has stayed there.

As for eating I went on a training course at the hospital before I started and they gave ideas for meals.
Apparently you need a few carbs for the drug to work and 30g per meal is about what works for me.
I tend to have a poached or scrambled egg on toast for breakfast or a yogurt with some berries.
mid morning snack is a piece of fruit or cheese and cracker.
Lunch is a meat and salad sandwich and a yogurt or fruit. Or sometimes I have soup with a wholemeal roll.
Mid afternoon is a piece of fruit or celery sticks with cream cheese or cottage cheese, or if my BG is a bit low a chocolate biscuit. If dinner is going to be late I sometimes have a sandwich or slice of toast
Dinner is something like salmon and veg or salad and some new potatoes in skins, or could be another fish or chicken. I tend to keep red meat for just once a week. I sometimes have a naughty pud or stick with a yog or berries and a splash of cream and/or a sugar free jelly.
Before bed a cracker with cheese.

If I do feel a bit sick which is rare now I have ginger tea. All coffee and other tea is with skimmed milk. I tend not to drink any juices or diet drinks but have a lot of water with a slice of lemon and ice. I even have this at the pub lol.

Hope this helps.
 
Thats brilliant Lizzie - thank you for that (I sent you a pm earlier! Hope you dont mind.)

I didn't know about the carbs so will start monitoring that too to find the right level for me.

Also, I am confused over eating with Byetta. I was told if I inject I am to eat within the hour after injecting (which I do). Because initially I was so sick i was eating immediately after injecting - would you wait a bit now?

Also after injecting and eating within the hour - how long should you leave it until you eat again - I notice you are having snacks. I stopped snacks as I thought you could only eat just after injecting and within the hour? Mind you to be honest, i felt so sick before I didn't really want to eat so it wasn't a problem.

I think I have become used to the 5mcg now and probably need to stick to 10 mcg - does this sound sensible to you?

Thanks again for taking time to send a good long reply.🙂
 
Got the day off today Lucy and it's raining!
I had the 5 pen for a month and then moved up to 10 which I have stuck with. Both made me feel sick and I had quite a bit of time off work which thankfully I was able to do. However I stuck with it as I so wanted it to work. The ginger tea was pretty good, also ginger biscuits - well one NOT the whole packet lol. Towards the end of that first month I felt I needed to move to the 10, I was finding I was a little hungry.
Another tip is to have a smaller plate than you are used to and make sure you have small portions. When I say I have new potatoes, I have 3 tiny ones. Meat and fish is always less then 4 oz. Sometimes my wholemeal sandwich is an open one with only 1 small slice of bread. I also have a large glass of water before I eat.
I do have snacks because I also take gliclazide and I can get the odd hypo. If it is going to happen it is usually around 4.30- 5pm so a snack keeps me going.
Now the snacking can cause a problem. If I accidentally have too much and let my BG go up too much ie around 10 when I am due to inject- doc likes it to be in the 5's before a meal. I have found it can crash back down too low when I have my meal and I have had a few times when this happens and then I over eat in a panic and then have been violently sick. So I am very careful now to always test before I inject to see what my BG's are. If it is up a bit I hop on my exercise bike for 10 minutes and that works a treat in bringing it down. If I am out in a restaurant I have been known to leave the table and go for a very brisk walk for 10 mins. I am getting better at making sure it doesn't go up too much.
The cheese and cracker is a tiny snack and I take that to try to stop the dawn thingy and it seems to work for me. I am usually about 6 on waking and without the snack can be 6.9.
If I am working (I am a part time teacher) it is essential to avoid a hypo during the morning and so that is why I have a snack at break time. On days off breakfast is a bit later and maybe I can miss the snack.
If you can wait a while after injecting before you eat, I think it does have a better effect of making you feel full. When I was on the 5 dose I was told to wait up to half an hour before eating and then on the 10 to try to leave it to nearly an hour. It varies with me as if it is a normal routine at home then it is easy but if we eat out it is harder and I inject just after ordering and then of course it's rarely an hour. If you have big problems with nausea I was told to eat sooner. I hardly ever get nausea now but the secret is to stop eating before you feel stuffed as it was that stuffed feeling that used to make me feel terrible.
Hope this helps a bit.
 
It helps a lot Lizzie. Thanks for the advice on leaving a bit longer after injecting too. I think I will go steady with that one to try and keep the actual vomiting at bay!

My morning bs have gone back up to 7.6 this week which tells me something needs to change.

I am going to try and add in the cheese and cracker bed time snack (dont normally have anything) but dont think on the 10mcg at the moment, I could tolerate day time snacks too.

I have given myself a good kicking and taken your good advice.

I am logging what I eat on my fitness pal now as it also calculates the carbs per meal as well as calories. I am going to stick to 1200 cals per day and 30g carbs + the Byetta and Metformin for a few weeks and see how we go.

My initial concern isn't weight loss- its to get the BG back down again.
Hopefully the weight loss will resume once things are sorted.🙂
 
Good luck Lucy and let us know how you get on. The bed time snack is tiny - 1 cracker with a small cube of cheese so don't go mad with half a packet of crackers and a great wedge of cheese! If you don't need the other snacks that is great. I need them to prevent hypos but there are some days especially if my evening meal is going to be earlyish when I don't need them.🙂
Oh something else I found with Byetta, sadly I can't manage alcohol at all. Even a small glass of wine and I am asleep within a few minutes. Not sure what it does to BG as the only two times I've had a glass I just closed my eyes and off I went without even thinking of testing.
 
Thats okay - I gave up alcohol 3 years ago. I had the champagne on my
50th this year, but tbh could have just gone without.

LOL at the idea of a whole pack of crackers. Its more because I generally do a fair bit of exercise in the evening and feel I could do with a little something even if I dont feel like it.

Thanks again.🙂
 
Hi me again.🙂

Not a good night at all I am afraid. Injected the 10mcg in the morning and had a diet shake for breakfast and soup for lunch and was fine - apart from the nausea but no sickness.

At 4.10pm I injected my 10mcg again and ate my dinner at 4.25 which was a diet chef cottage pie (280 cals and 29g carb).

After eating only 2 or 3 forkfuls of the cottage pie (which wasn't that big - about the size of a WW meal) I felt full but as i hadn't had many calories (about 400) that day I thought I had best try and eat more. 1.5 hours later I was violently projectile vomiting again.

I felt terrible all night.

Taking on board what Lizzie has mentioned I think the issue could be that I ate too much of the cottage pie? If so then my dilemma is that if I stopped after 2 forkfuls (when I felt full) wouldn;t I be under nourished?

I sat and cried with frustration after being sick as I so want to get this right.
I only injected 5mcg again this mornign, but the dreaded hunger pangs have surfaced - and I am dreading another insulin flood.

Any advice gratefully accepted.🙂

I could go back to the consultant but as he is private it costs me each time and I am not sure how much my GP knows about Byetta (particularly as I am special). My DSN is awful. I know I have to work this out myself and do think if I get to 10 mcg twice a day all will be well, but am concerned I may be in danger of starving myself by doing this. Or is that the sickness wears off and the reduced calories is not for long?

I feel in a catch 22 - if I do 5mcg or none, I will put weight on and my sugars go up, if I have 10mcg I vomit! Help!
 
Poor you. That sick feeling is nasty. I had to totally change the way I ate and I don't honestly think Diet Chef is the way to go. I found to start with that there were things I just couldn't stand and something like a cottage pie would be one of them. I couldn't eat stodge at all. If you eat tiny amounts of nourishing fresh food I think you will be OK. I was. So if I felt sick I found cold food was easier to eat. For lunch plain yogurt with some berries was always nice and a small open sandwich with some coleslaw and a sprinkling of cheese was also fine. If you can cope with hot food a 1 egg omelette was the kind of thing I quite liked with just a sprinkling of cheese and a few bits of tomato. You really must not try to eat more than you can or you will feel vile. I have found that after a few months I can eat more which is why my weight loss came to a standstill. Make the most of not being able to eat much and just make sure that what you do have is nourishing and fresh.
I really think you need that 10 dose but you must eat very little and don't worry about being under nourished. Take a vitamin pill if you are that worried but as i say fresh nourishing tiny bits of food will do you for now and don't be afraid to have a mid morning and mid afternoon snack. Some berries and a blob of plain yog or just an apple or even a ginger biscuit kept me going.
Oh yes and don't forget to sip ginger tea or a cold drink with ginger in it - you can also nibble a ginger biscuit.
Don't worry about calories for now just eat what you can and don't overdo it.
 
Last edited:
Lucy,

I certainly think Lizzies approach is a better way to go than mine, as it leaves you in much more control and as soon as you are able to increase the amout you can eat, you are eating all the right things to be able to do so.

Keep the faith,
Malc
 
Lucy I just noticed you are having diet shakes for breakfast. I honestly don't think any of these diet foods are necessary when using Byetta. Have some strawberries and plain yogurt or 1 scrambled egg on toast. Whatever you have needs a few carbs in it but either of those things seem ok for me. Sometimes for a treat I have 1 rasher of bacon and a tomato with my egg. In fact slices of tomato became really nice to eat when I felt a bit nauseus and they are really nice mixed up in a scrambled egg. Another thing I like for breakfast is a couple of lumps of feta cheese with some tomatoes and cucumber and a nice slice of walnut bread from Tesco. These things are also quite nice for lunch.
 
Hi,
Thanks again to both of you for the brilliant support - I am not sure I would have got through this week without you both.

Yesterday I went back to 5mcg and again this morning, as I felt so ill after the previous nights vomiting. I stuck to 1/2 bagel, 1 thin slice ham, and a little beetroot salad for tea last night and it seemed to work - no sicky feeling. However by 9.30 (after 2 hours tennis) I was starving, so this does tell me I need to increase to 10mcg.

I am going to try 10mcg again tonight, and a light tea as Lizzie suggested.
I am going to get all my little jobs out the way first so I can just sit still afterwards and see how I get on. If okay, I will try again tomorrow morning for breakfast with the 10mcg. Lizzie I am finishing the diet chef but was just using up the shakes - tbh they dont seem to make me feel sick and seem okay, although yesterday i was fine with just a low fat fruit yoghurt. I like your ideas for breakfast though - especially the feta cheese!

I am wondering if I should be doing 10mcg in the morning (as I seem okay with this) and 5mcg in the evening (but will try changing food type first). The only problem is with trying this is that I woud need two separate pens - a 5mcg and a 10mcg to get me through a month and at a personal cost of ?80 per pen its not really affordable! I have to pay privately for my Byetta unfortunately but am sure it will be worth it.

I will update you how I get on - fingers crossed.
 
Hi Lucy. I do know exactly how you feel. I felt really vile for about 2 weeks on the 5 pen and then at least a month with the 10. I was told that it would pass and it did and I am really glad I stuck with it. However I had no choice about swapping around with doses and so I just had to go for it.
I am not your doctor of course but knowing how it was for me - I would stop messing around with the 2 doses and just go for the 10 twice a day.
For me I couldn't eat very much at all for a while and was better off with 3 very tiny meals and 2 snacks. I felt vile in the mornings until about 11 am then I was fairly ok as long as I didn't eat too much. As I think I said before I am a supply teacher and so I was able to take some time off and some days I worked just afternoons as I generally felt ok then. On the really bad days when like you I did wonder if this was right for me I lay down quietly for an hour or two and sipped the ginger tea. The reason I kept going was I was losing weight and I desperately needed to do that, also BG was down a lot.
Two and a half years on I am very glad I persevered with it. I no longer feel sick - unless I really stuff myself. I can eat much more but try not to as my weight is stable now. I haven't put any on since the loss but haven't lost much either and I really need to shift another couple of stone. So I am making an effort now.
 
Thanks again Lizzie - I do know you are right about the doses.
I think I may have to speak to my MD about working from home if needs be to get me there. i work at home Fridays anyway and do have the set up to work from home where needs be.

Yes the weight loss is very important to me, but more than anything is to not have the floods and hypos I used to have lots of. Until this week the floods had ceased and the hypos were greatly reduced, so I know Byetta works for me.

I think I am going to shop for tomorrow night and make sure I have some good old healthy food that is quite minimal, eg lean ham, cucumber, tomato, cottage cheese, olives. some natural yogurt and berries and definitely some Ginger tea - do Tesco sell it? If you can think of anything else to add to my list let me know. Then I am going to try my hardest to persevere with the sickness and see how my bs, weight loss, floods and hypos are at the end of the month.

Your advice has been invaluable this week - we are a limited number on here so I really do appreciate you and Big Malc taking time to help me. Thanks🙂

Then i am going to give it my all
 
Good luck Lucy - If I could do it anybody can!
Yes Tesco sell ginger tea bags.
You could also try the low sugar dry ginger fizzy drink.
I went right off bread to begin with but now because I only have a little I get some of Tesco's really nice wholemeal ones with walnuts or olives in. Get some eggs in because you can run up a really nice omelette with just one large egg. I put in some onion, pepper, sprinkling of cheese and maybe cooked new potato sliced. Also I sometimes have a hard boiled egg as a snack.
I love cauliflower and didn't go off that so sometimes I have it with some grated cheese sprinkled on and grilled served with a slice of ham and a tomato.
Also mashed cauliflower is nice with some cheese.
Now I always have strawberries and rasberries in the fridge. They are a bit expensive but I find I can't eat oranges, grapefruit and I have to be a bit careful with apples so I think my vitamin C comes from the berries. As you are eating so little a splash of cream isn't going to hurt but Greek yogurt is my favourite. Those ready made sugar free jellies are refreshing to eat.
I eat some nuts every day, my favourites being almonds. I read somewhere you should eat 6 a day. You could bash them up and add them to your yogurt.
Keep us up to speed with your progress Lucy - you can do it!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top