Victoza

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Vicsetter

Vicsetter

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Just got my GP to switch me to SR Glucophage (slow release metformin as I have suddenly developed a troublesome reaction to normal Metformin (stomach pains, wind & D..). She has suggested I consider dropping Metformin and Insulin for Victoza (in the new year) as her patients on it have done very well and lost weight.
Anyone got experience of this change?
 
Hi Vicsetter a close friend of mine takes this and was like you was taken insulin but got put onto this, she has done tremendously well on it and found it really helped her with weight loss, i have also had it mentioned to me in the last 2 months but as yet nothing has come of it...At the beginning of the month they was a thread about victoza and i went off and asked her if she would talk to me about it this is what she told me Firstly you take it once a day and that time is decided by you,your started on a small dose of 0.6mg for 1 week then you go upto 1.2g once a day if and this is a big IF your doc then may tell you to go upto 1.8 which is the maximum dose if the 1.2 is not bringing down your blood levels sufficiently......The pens come in a box of 2 and there 3ml solution pens made my novo nordisk,she takes it with 6mm fine needles also..the side effects she has had are nausea,bad wind, stomach cramps and headaches, she has said though for the first 4 months it was the worst now the side effects are less common.
None of that might have helped but thought id tell you anyway.
 
Unusual that she would want you to drop the metformin, that is if you can tolerate the slow release one.

Some people can come off insulin to victoza, if you are on large doses of the insulin you might be able to reduce rather than come off completley. I would ask if your GP has had experience of prescribing both off license in case that is what you do need.
 
It was in case the sr metformin wasn't tolerated, but I'm not sure as to whether the wind and discomfort from Victoza is better or worse than Metformin. I am also on quite high doses of Levemir (60units am and 80 at night) so I am finding it hard to lose weight.

The use of Victoza and insulin is not recommended as it increases the risk of hypos, but then Glucophage SR isn't recommended for T2s (scottish consortium).
 
Vicsetter said:
The use of Victoza and insulin is not recommended as it increases the risk of hypos, but then Glucophage SR isn't recommended for T2s (scottish consortium).
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However plenty of people do, and there are a few type 1's using victoza. I think the use is only going to increase.
 
Suffered with wind last night and rumbly tummy today so looks like the SR Glucophage is no better than the metformin, think I'll try halving the dose and see if that helps.
 
Vicsetter said:
Suffered with wind last night and rumbly tummy today so looks like the SR Glucophage is no better than the metformin, think I'll try halving the dose and see if that helps.
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Hope you see an improvement with the half dose Vic.
 
Well gave up on the Sr glucophage, too much wind. Saw my GP yesterday and she gave me 2 Victoza pens. Injected 1 dose (0.6) last night instead of my 80 units Levemir and had to have a couple of biscuits and cheese in bed as I was 5.7. Morning reading was 8 so took 60 units levemir, below 7 most of the day and just had my second Victoza jab. So far no side effects so fingers crossed that continues. Haven't felt the need to snack either so thats looking good as well.
 
Wow, that's a big reduction in your levemir requirements Vic - hope it works out well for you! :)
 
Vicsetter said:
Well gave up on the Sr glucophage, too much wind. Saw my GP yesterday and she gave me 2 Victoza pens. Injected 1 dose (0.6) last night instead of my 80 units Levemir and had to have a couple of biscuits and cheese in bed as I was 5.7. Morning reading was 8 so took 60 units levemir, below 7 most of the day and just had my second Victoza jab. So far no side effects so fingers crossed that continues. Haven't felt the need to snack either so thats looking good as well.
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Hope it works well im trying to get that as the byetta is not doing what i/dsn would like, at least ill have someone to talk to it about if i do get to go on it .
 
No side effects so far tonight but I'm 10.2 at the moment so no snacking tonight. Supposed to do a week at 0.6 and then go to 1.2 so I'll adjust the morning insulin and see how it goes.

P.S. my GP is going on holiday on Thursday but she phoned me at 4pm today to see how I was going and said she will phone again tomorrow.
 
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Hi

I just joined this forum! I have been taking Victoza for 18 months now. Initially I felt very very nauseous. I kept with it and now have no noticeable side effects. I lost weight simply because I had no appetite! I still have no appetite and have to make myself eat! My consultant said the weight loss would stop and I would start to gain weight - but this hasn't happened yet! NO more weight loss but no gain either! Before on levemir and novorapid I was gaining a steady 2lb a month! I still have levemir, but only 15 units per night. Apparently Victoza was being hailed as a new weight loss drub and in some cases given to non diabetics! I wouldn't recommend that!

My problem now is that I am getting conflicting advice on exercise and have just been told (by the gym instructor)not to go to the gym if my levels are above 14! Apparently this is dangerous! But my consultant said if I didn't want to increase the levemir I should exercise more! He said there was no point in going above 1.2 of the victoza, as tests showed there was no increased reduction in glucose levels!

Any advice on this please? :confused:
 
Hi Seascapes, welcome to the forum :) Your gym instructor has a good point about a safe level to exercise at. Exercising when your levels are high can just cause them to go higher because you don't have sufficient insulin circulating to help the glucose in your blood into your cells. Couple this with the stress hormones released during exercise and you can potentially end up with much higher levels that you started with.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum sea im in the process of trying to go onto victoza i want to come off my byetta, thank you for a little bit more info on it...
 
Hi Seascapes, don't know about exercise, apart from servicing the bedrooms (guest house) and the occasional walk with the dog, I don't do much. However I cannot remember when I was up to 14bg. Have you adjusted your Levemir to compensate, maybe it's running out, it's low compared to mine.
 
Steffie said:
Hi and welcome to the forum sea im in the process of trying to go onto victoza i want to come off my byetta, thank you for a little bit more info on it...
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Good luck with that Steffie, I don't have any trouble with my GP, just collected 100 test strips for my One-Touch and a further 100 for my Pura meter. Is there any evidence that Victoza has less side effects than Byetta? A friend of mine is on Byetta and it seems such an ordeal having to time the injections with your eating.
Last nights reading of 10.2 was with my One-touch, when I went to bed half hour later my Pura meter said 7.7 so I guess I had a sticky finger or something so it's still working. 6.7 first thing this morning and 6.1 before lunch. SO so far so good.
 
Steffie said:
Hi and welcome to the forum sea im in the process of trying to go onto victoza i want to come off my byetta, thank you for a little bit more info on it...
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OK. I have to say that I felt so ill that some days just walking about made me feel sick! I live in Cornwall and on two separate occasions I was supposed to be going on a mini boat trip with a friend - of around 30 minutes, around Fowey, but I felt so sick I couldn't face being on the water! So it did have a strong effect but its all played out now and at least I don't fear the dreaded weight gain every time I stick the needle in - I was hating the weight gain with my other insulins.
 
Vicsetter said:
Good luck with that Steffie, I don't have any trouble with my GP, just collected 100 test strips for my One-Touch and a further 100 for my Pura meter. Is there any evidence that Victoza has less side effects than Byetta? A friend of mine is on Byetta and it seems such an ordeal having to time the injections with your eating.
Last nights reading of 10.2 was with my One-touch, when I went to bed half hour later my Pura meter said 7.7 so I guess I had a sticky finger or something so it's still working. 6.7 first thing this morning and 6.1 before lunch. SO so far so good.
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I've never heard of Byetta! But I just inject the Victoza once a day, first thing, so no worries about timing anything with eating.
 
seascapes said:
OK. I have to say that I felt so ill that some days just walking about made me feel sick! I live in Cornwall and on two separate occasions I was supposed to be going on a mini boat trip with a friend - of around 30 minutes, around Fowey, but I felt so sick I couldn't face being on the water! So it did have a strong effect but its all played out now and at least I don't fear the dreaded weight gain every time I stick the needle in - I was hating the weight gain with my other insulins.
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Thank you for that I guess i can look at as much research as i want but its much better getting to hear about it through people who are already on it x

so pleased the side effects petered out x
 
The Victoza people (Novo Nordisk) claim it has fewer side effects than Byetta (made bey someone else) but then they would. They haven't actually compaired the two products properly.
 
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