Exenatide is suppposed to enhance glucose-dependent insulin secretion and suppress glucagon secretion and slow gastric emptying. Since it is associated with pancreatic response to hyperglycemia, it (by itself) is not supposed to result in hypoglycemia.

It has been reported to improve A1c’s and decrease body mass. As you know, all DM meds, except Metformin, are associated with weight GAIN, which adversely impacts insulin sensitivity. So any drug that improves glycemic control AND causes weight loss is likely to be embraced.

Obviously, this should not be used with folks with gastroparesis.

OK, that was my quote from my literature. I’ve not had much experience with it myself as of yet, tho one of my partners & our DM educator are playing with it. After Rezulin, I like to sit back for a bit & see how the dust settles. And my folks who are resistant to the “shots” of insulin are not likely to go for these shots either. Tho, the weight loss part may be a big seller in certain populations.

I have a bad feeling about this one, I am going to wait at least one more year before I use it.

I have been using Byetta (exenatide) about one month now with no side effects that I have noticed. I have lost nearly 10 lbs which is an amazing weight loss since I have only gained weight while on Glipizide, and Avandia which I take for diabetes as well. I have not seen any adverse contraidications published, and your article mentions thyroid cancer in lab rats. How much exentide was given to the rats to cause the cancer?

If taking the Byett shots,do you continue to take the metaformin or other medications?

Is this an insulin for Type II diabetics? I am interested in the shot but reluctant to take an insulin injection instead of the pills.

Are there any long term side efects once you have reached the desired wight loss from the injections and have discontined the shot?

Please email answers and any info that will ease my mind.

Thank you

I saw positive the comments were, so I thought I had better express my severe problems with exenatide. I suspect my problems are caused by gastroparesis, which I think is a condition where your food is slow to pass into your intestines and thus into your blood sygar. My problem is that I feel bloated and have some mild nausea. At night, when I take the Humulog that matches my food intake and exenatide, my blood sugar goes very low, usually into the 40s. And, no matter how much glucose I ingest, it does nothing, because it it caught up in my stomach with the food I ate earlier. About 3 hours later, my blood sugar begins to rise slowly. This is helped by lying on my right side. Then, I have to stay up hours taking Humulog every 30 minutes to counter the glucose I took. This is not as much of a problem with the morning dose, as, I guess, there is not as much food in my stomach.

Basically, it is very difficult for me to judge when to take Humulog, as my digestion is so slowed. Also, it is too dangerous to get in a position where you have very low blood sugar and no way to adjust it upwards until 3 hours go by. I wish I had the positive effects voiced by the other commentors, but for me, the danger of taking it is worse than the possible benefits.

I have noticed feeling sleepy, but until I read the comment by ann, I never thought it had anything to do with Byetta.

With reguard to Jim’s comment about Humulog , I was under the impression that when you took byetta, you should not be taking insulin. At least that was what my doctor said to me.

My experience with Byetta is very limited. About weeks at 5mg two times a day. I think it makes my mouth taste nasty and cause me to have a lot of nose/throat congestion. Kid of slimy. Also, the other day, I took it and it made me tired and nauseated. When I eat a normal sized meal ( by forcing myself to eat everything on my plate because there are starving people all over the world – my mothers comment ) I really feel like I stuffed myself with a huge turkey meal at thanksgiving.

Hope things are better in 3 months when I switch over to 20mcg twice per day.

By the way, they are working on a version of Byetta that is supposed be one-shot-per-week and in the future one-shot-per-month.

Who knows when the FDA will approve it? !!!

Heard about OXYCYTE? research it on google.

Good luck to everybody.

ive been on Byetta for over a year now and have not lost any weight at all.. in fact i think its made me eat more.. and i have muscle pain also .. does anyone know why this is happening or has anyone experienced this at all.. help..by Lindaakayacabaca4@aol.com thanks

My Hubby has been on Byetta for a year and a half and now is on medical leave due to severe abdominal pain, vomitting and nausea. Negative tests on gall bladder leads me to wonder if the slow gastric emptying is catching up with him. I don’t trust Byetta even tho’ he’s lost 55 lbs and doing great, Dr.’s can’t find out why he’s sick. Anyone else have a similar problem?

I have been taking Byetta since January and have lost 31lbs. I had some nausea and abdominal pain early on but nothing really terrible. This went away very quickly and I have not had any problems at all since. My A1C was 8.8 and at last count is 6.7. Fasting blood sugar is under 100 and after eating goes no higher than 115. I have a doctor’s appt. on the 6th of June and am expecting A1C to be in the 6’s. I was on Advandia as well until about a week ago when I took myself off because I suspect it gave me two episodes of rapid heartbeats, and the news said it is suspected of retinal edema and heart problems. I do not need a building to fall on my head before I stop a med I think may be causing problems. As far as the Byetta is concerned, I will stay on this medication as long as it continues to perform so well.

all these wonder drugs..avandia and byetta have side effects..some severe. my husband takes pills, byetta twice a day and lantus at night. 6 years ago he was on avandia and the medication put him into heart failure…scary. he is doing fine but is on coreg for his heart now …he has been having episodes of nausea and some vomiting in am after first dose of byetta…he has been on byetta for 3 yrs and the morning nausea has never left. he has lost 40 lb but i worry about his quality of life sometimes.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I did not have a good experience with Byetta, as it made me so sleepy during the day that I was literally sleeping with one eye open. When the medicine would disperse in my system it was like waking up at the office, like someone turned on a light switch. I took it for 5 weeks at 5 mcg and then went up to 10mcg. That’s when it became intolerable. I’ve been off of it now for several days and I feel fine. I went to my endo and told him that I couldn’t stay awake. He had never heard of this, but I see a few posts here where people are saying they have had this. I called Eli Lilly and they were happy to take my info, since they are studying customer reactions and report back to the FDA. They also said that there are a few reports out there. If you are sleepy an hour or so after eating, I urge you to call lilly. You can find thier phone number on http://www.byetta.com. I did lose 3 lbs, but I rode my excersize bike a little more too. I think there may be some test I think doctors should run before prescribing this, like glucagon levels, liver enzyme levels, etc.

@ Anne: I've been taking Byetta for 2 months. I take 10mcg injections morning and night. This amount of the drug suppresses my appetite so much that I can eat anytime within the 60 minutes following the injection and still lose weight. My doctor told me 30-45 minutes is optimal, so I do try to stick to that. I've lost almost 20 pounds since starting the drug.
My first week was rough, as I had nausea from the Byetta *and* diarrhea from the Metformin, but I was determined to stick it out, and now I'm glad I did. I think these are beneficial drugs. To maximize their effect, I completely restablished my relationship with food; I kept a journal, looked for eating patterns (emotional eating, etc.), learned to view food as fuel for my body (instead of as a friend or an enemy), and reworked my budget to allow for healthier food purchases. Also, I try to pretend fast food doesn't exist. For exercise, I do fun things: play at the park with my kids, use the Wii, and record hip-hop dance workouts on FitTV.

Best of luck to you on your weight loss!