Victoza anyone?

[Shakespeare1]

I have recently started taking Victoza and wondered how others were shaping up with this. ANyone experienced tiredness or the opposite. How about weightloss? I've been on it four days and oK so far.

 

[AlisonM]

I'd never heard of it so I Wiki'd. It seems to be a new drug that acts in much the same way as Gliclazide by persuading the body to produce more insulin.

 

[RachelT]

Ooo, i know a little bit about this!

The Victoza rep came to see us before chrimbo. It's a drug called Liraglutide and it's similar to Exenatide (Byetta). Top tip to all the drug watchers out there, if two drug names have the same ending (like -tide in this case) then they're often related.
Like Exenatide/Byetta, it's an injection that you take with your regular oral drugs and is supposed to help in both weight loss and to lower your HbA1c. Unlike Byetta, it's only once daily and can be taken whenever you want, not before food, as it's side effects are supposed to be less severe. It's also claimed that Victoza will improve "beta-cell function" and lower blood pressure.
I'm not actually taking it, but apparently out NHS trust is swapping from Byetta to Victoza in the future.

Rachel

 

[am64]

The Victoza rep came to see us before chrimbo. It's a drug called Liraglutide and it's similar to Exenatide (Byetta). Top tip to all the drug watchers out there, if two drug names have the same ending (like -tide in this case) then they're often related.
Like Exenatide/Byetta, it's an injection that you take with your regular oral drugs and is supposed to help in both weight loss and to lower your HbA1c. Unlike Byetta, it's only once daily and can be taken whenever you want, not before food, as it's side effects are supposed to be less severe. It's also claimed that Victoza will improve "beta-cell function" and lower blood pressure.
I'm not actually taking it, but apparently out NHS trust is swapping from Byetta to Victoza in the future.

Rachel

thats interesting stuff rachel....i think it was steff that was looking at byetta before maybe this might be more suitable...

 

[RachelT]

Yeah, it's also a once daily injection rather than a twice daily one. the drawback is that it's still pretty new and expensive. Anybody struggling to get Byetta out of their doctors on the grounds that the benefit wouldn;t be worth the cost is likely to struggle more with liraglutide.
I don't think Steff got her byetta, but thankfully, from what she's said on here, that her levels are much better than they were anyway, which is great.

 

[Steff]

Hi gals aye it was me , but doctor said no for now.when i got on 10th we will see if it is still a no x

ty for the tip there ratchel x

 

[Fuzzy666]

Im on the Liragltuide - or Victozia (sp without looking at the pen!)
I have been on it for a couple of weeks now! I was the guinea pig at my hospital - and in my first post was told that looks like very few people on these boards are on it!

I was previously on Byetta, which apparently ive probably built a resistance to after it did very well with me - over 15kg weight loss and very good control - to sugars going out of control recently and putting a couple of kilos back on!

Now i am on this and have found that it is making me feel better, appetite has dropped again and eating less! Blood readings are also dropping as the days go on!
As stated it is a once a day injection which you have to take at the same time each day for it to be most effective. As already stated somewhere else on a post i will update people after i go for my next check up!
At the moment though i cannot say whether it will be as good as people think as while it is doing well for me, doesnt seem as potent as when i first took exenatide (Byetta) - but hey we shall see!

Anyone on it also welcome to PM if they wanna discuss results not on here!

Fuzz!

 

[Shakespeare1]

Thanks Fuzzy666. I too feel like a guinea pig as there are only a handful of us on this in my hospital's catchment area. Just started using the forums. They seem great and get rid of some of the isolation. The injections ae much easier and less painful than I thought they would be. i've been a little nauseous but not much . Blood sugars have dropped dramatically and i'm now on half the dose of metformin and gliclozide that I used to be on ( it was 3 x 850 metformin and 4 gliclozide). Very tired. Only on a low dose at the moment and go up to 1.2 in two weeks if tolerating the drug. Here's hoping.