Any T-1's on Victoza?

Does Symlin also suppress the liver from creating glucose? I heard that Victoza does. I’m not really clear on what the difference is other than Victoza stimulating beta cells. But for some reason, my doctor has found that Victoza seems to benefit Type 1s better than Symlin. I have never heard of anyone taking both.

It probably won’t suppress your appetite as strongly once you have been on 1.2 for a while. At least that’s my experience. I agree about the dry mouth symptom too.

Yes, Symlin is supposed to control the liver’s relesase of glucose into the system. Honestly, it sounds like Symlin and Victoza do almost exactly the same things - but they’re both created by the body - so I guess the body controls these things from more than one place! Victoza does kind of make me nervous though just becasuse it’s such a new drug (even if it is human recombinant dna origin) and it has a black box warning for cancer…lol! The other thing I’m not clear about is: do Type 1’s already create this substance in their body? I like Symlin becasue it’s replacing something that the beta cells would normally produce - so I know I’m just replacing something that shoudl be here. WIth Victoza I’m not sure if it’s replacing something or merely adding something…

Yes, good question. Though I am wondering if I don’t lack more than just Amylin. My doc said that one of my labs indicated that there was something going on with my metabolism but he didn’t go into details.

New to the site. T1 for almost 40 years, Minimed Revel and CGM. Have had weight issues since adolescence - always about 15-25 lbs overweight. In recent years, and especially since going on the pump around 3 years ago and using CGM a little after that, have put on more weight. Classic signs of insulin resistance per my endo.

I had been on Symlin regularly since April and had a lot of success with weight loss - lost about 25 lbs and was feeling great. It basically makes you fuller when taken before meals so that you dont eat as much. For me I could only eat about half what I did before I went on it. The key for me with Symlin was taking it at least 15 minutes and ideally more like 20-30 before eating so it had time to kick in before I started eating. The other positive side effect was it slowed stomach emptying so my post meal spikes were a lot less. However, it does just shift the spike out to about 1 1/2 hours after you eat. I also was fortunate that I didnt have any nausea when I took it and was able to go up to the highest recommended dose within a couple weeks of starting it. Anyway, Symlin was like a miracle for me until it started to lose its effect. Over time I found I didnt feel full anymore after taking it and of course then the lbs started coming back on. I had gained about half the weight back, then my endo suggested I try a Symlin holiday for a couple weeks to see if starting and stopping it again would make it more effective again.

While on the Symlin holiday I found the article by Kelly Close in DiaTribe about her experience with Victoza. I know Kelly and so was interested in trying it. My endo agreed to let me try it - he runs a large Diabetes center at the University of Chicago hospital where they treat hundreds if not thousands of diabetics, and Im his first T1 patient on it.

The experience has been mixed, but overall positive. Unlike with Symlin I did have side effects as many others here have reported. Generally I felt like I had the flu much of the first couple weeks. Not a ton of nausea but generally feeling sluggish, very tired, and having a dull headache often. I did lose my lunch twice on a day when I tried upping the dose too quickly (apparently).

Now in my 3rd week on it Im taking a couple clicks above 1.2 (I guess thats about 1.5 or so) and feeling better most of the time. My appetite has decreased considerably, as have my basals. I generally have almost no appetite, and sometimes have to make sure I eat. Ive lost about 7 pounds thus far, but will no doubt lose more if I keep eating as little as I have been the last couple weeks. Bloos sugras also have been much flatter overall and seen also to be more consistent. I can stay within a 10 point range (or less) now for hours at a time which was pretty rare before.

Adjusting insulin has been tricky and I am far from having figured it out. One thing Ive struggled with is that I work out regularly, usually snacking as needed to get my bg up around 180 before I start. With Victoza, I cant seem to get the bg to rise so Ive had many workouts cut short. These are however the only real lows I have experienced, other than a few as Ive adjusted my basals throughout the day downward. My problem is figuring out how long before I exercise I need to eat something to get the apike timed right. Appreciate any insights from others on this one.

Im also still trying to figure out where the spike occurs after meals. I think its occuring even later than with Symlin - so more like 2-3 hours after eating, but the spikes Im getting are so small its hard to detect them. Again appreciate any thoughts on this from others.

Overall, very positive with Victoza, though to be clear its a learning process still in its early stages. If the weight loss continues Im more than happy to tolerate the occasional headache and adjust my snacking to accommodate workouts.

From what I can tell, the spike is between 2-4 hours after eating. I’m wondering if it doesn’t make a difference how much I eat or what foods I eat. Still trying to figure it out. My problem is, I am not on a strict schedule, diet, or routine. I have 4 young children at home, so I have to kind of go with the flow sometimes. So there are a lot of variables to consider.

I don’t have kIds but my work schedule is petty unpredictAble and includes a lot of trVel, often internationally. So I certainly appreciate the challenges you experience. I’m going to keep closer track in the next few days of the time between meal and blood sugar spike to see if I can figure out when to expect it. I’ll also try to see if what and how much I eat seems to make any difference. Will let you know what I find out.

Hi everyone! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Holiday! Just wanted to give a quick update on my Victoza experience…

I stopped taking it - mainly because the dry-mouth side effect was too much for me to handle. I know we have many different ways of gauging our blood sugar levels and dry-mouth is only one of them, but I would get such extreme dry mouth that I would freak out and assume that my blood sugar was through the ROOF only to test and discover that my BG was 80! Talk about confusing! Anyway, it DID drastically reduce my appetite - most of the time I just didn’t want to eat at all! There was some low-level nausea throughout the day, but nothing that would make you feel the need to stop taking the Victoza. I began to wonder if I could survive long-term on such reduced food intake…lol! I should also just mention that I’m taking Symlin too - so it might have been the combined effect of taking both that reduced my appetite soooooo drastically. My overall insulin intake did go down, but I attribute that to my reduced food intake. It definately had an effect on my blood sugar, but I think it was more of a delay in spikes rather than an elimination of them. Again, the reduced food intake is probably responsible for a lot of the reduciton in insulin requirement. It also threw me off in that I couldn’t time my exercise properly - obviously if I had remained on it I would have figured out timing issues, as that is simply a trial & error, and observation issue, but I would eat my meal and then an hour later be off to the gym only to find that my blood sugar was at 75…definately NOT going to go do an hour of cardio on that number! But then 3 hours after my meal my blood sugar would suddenly jump up. All of the timing issues and massively reduced appetite would have been fine, I would have worked through it, but the dry-mouth just did me in. I also felt like my system/metabolism had been slowed down, like waaaaayyy slowed down! I didn’t like that feeling either!

So, dry-mouth, reduced appetite, odd-timing of spikes and slowed system are what I came away with. Again, if it weren’t for the dry-mouth and massively slowed metabolism feeling I probably would have stuck with it…but then there’s also that black box warning for some odd/rare thyroid cancer that kind of puts a damper on things… :slight_smile: I do have a higher comfort level with trying Victoza because it is rDNA origin, but still there have been no studies on long-term use (obviously since it hasn’t been around very long) and that combined with the other effects just kind of put me off. I’m still taking Symlin (which I absolutely LOVE), and may re-visit Victoza in the future…

Obviously everyone is different and responds differently, so for those of you who are getting amazing benefits from it - I’m super excited for you guys - and a little jealous that I don’t respond the same way :slight_smile: For any other Type I’s who might have similar experience to me with Victoza I’ve got to recommend Symlin - that stuff is amazing AND it’s replacing something that we should make but don’t since our beta cells were destroyed! I do wonder if Type I’s have a reduced production of the Victoza substance (since it is a rDNA origin - this is something that our bodies make) or not…that would be really interesting to know.

Ok, hope everyone is staying warm - I’m in So Cal so I know it’s wimpy for me to complain of temps in the 40’s-50’s but it is coooollllldddd! :slight_smile:

I’m still not clear on the difference in functions between Victoza and Symlin. For some reason, my doc thought I’d do better on Victoza and never tried me on Symlin. My insurance doesn’t want to cover Victoza so I’m not sure if I’ll be on it long term. Just using samples right now.

Something I did notice is that it is important to take Victoza around the same time every day. If I do it 3 or more hours later than the day before, I can tell the next day. I’ll be higher in the morning or have an upset stomach.

Victoza has improved my blood sugars and overall well being tremendously. I am Type 1.



After a few weeks the nausea, headaches and dry mouth went away. There is a mild feeling of being on it now, only. It is far, far, far better than not being on it.



I did a search on google+ and there is a guy who posted his blood sugars before and after, who has similar results to mine:



Glucose pictures

Please, people, do not not take this drug because one person stopped it. It’s the best drug for type 1 diabetes in a long time, since insulin probably.

Hi Jessica - that is awesome that you are seeing good results with Victoza!!

Just wanted to make sure you didn’t read my reasons for not continuing with Victoza in my previous post as a condemnation of it!! I was just giving my experience (positive and negative) with it - obviously everyone responds differently! Sounds like Victoza for you is what Symlin ended up being for me :slight_smile: I was impressed with aspects of Victoza, but at that point it in time it just wasn’t for me - totally wasn’t trying to say that Type 1’s shouldn’t use it! :slight_smile:

Thx. How long did you try Victoza again?

I’m sure it affects different people differently. But I don’t have any headaches any more, and have no need of tylenol whatsoever. My lethargy in the morning is gone too. It’s all good. If this keeps up, I’ll be on this drug or something like it until I get the final cure.

I’m wondering if I should take C-Peptide supplements next.

Hi Jessica,



I am a type 1 as well. 38 years. I just started Victoza 2 days ago. My endo told me to discontinue Symlin and just take Victoza. I am only at .6 on day two and going to 1.2 tonight. I don’t overly mind injecting, but if I can go from 3 times with Symlin to 1 with Victoza, I am not going to complain. My A1c normally runs around 6.4 so I am interested to see if my standard deviation of my bg changes as significantly as in the Dandona study at U of Buffalo.



Thank you for posting your experience and to everyone else!

Hi Jessica,
I’m type 1 and started Victoza last week. I’m French and live in Portugal where it’s impossible to buy Victoza. I had to buy it in Spain. So here doctors haven’t any experience about it. This sort of discussion are very important for me. My goal is to reduce my A1C (now is 7.9%) and LOOSE weight. I’m 24 lb overweight and even if I’m exercise every day (walking 1h/day) since the last 1 year and half I didn’t see any result. Very frustrating!! I started on last Wednesday and on Monday I had already -4lb !! And reduce the insulin in 8 unit. Actually I can’t eat, very difficult to make a simple lunch or diner. But I don’t care, I prefer like that. Today I had to pass to 1.2u but my endo advice me 0.7u for more one week. My main question is to know if Victoza will have the same effect (loosing weight and improve my blood level) along the time. As you have more experience, could you help me?

A lot of posts I have read seem to suggest that the appetite suppression lessens over time but the benefit of improving blood sugar control remains. People usually start on the smallest dose and then gradually increase up to the highest dose. I’ve also noticed some people use other drugs along with it- like Metformin, Symlin, or Phentermine- either from before they started the Victoza or once the appetite suppression starts to decrease. I lost about 20 lbs during the first 4 months on Victoza, then nothing more.

Hi Sophia, 20 lbs is very good !!! I read a lot of posts but about people with T2 and they said that they stop loosing weight when they reach their normal weight. That will be nice, something that allow you to loose just what you need !! Surrealistic? Is the case with you?

I still have quite a bit more to lose to get to where I want to be, but I also have other medical challenges. I am T1 though. The impression I have gotten is that the appetite suppression only lasts for a short time (several weeks or a few months), then you have to increase the dose. Once you get to the maximum dose, if you still need to lose weight, you have to look for additional options. I suppose it is a little different for everyone.

Thanks Sophia

I am a T1 on Victoza and love it. I split my daily dose into two injection 12 hours apart. The pharmacodynamics of Victoza shows a peak plasma concentration at about 8-12 hours after injection which may or may not be seen in your sugars depending on you rates and sensitivity. If you experience lower BG's 8-12 hours after injection like I did, consider splitting the dose. This works beautifully for me because the effects are soooooo stable, no peak and no wear off. It mostly helps to reduce your dependence on insulin for your basals. I found this most helpful during activity. Having less insulin in my system at any one time makes me less susceptible to lows from increased activity and light exercise, like walking my dog or riding my bike to school. I still need a temp 50% basal before going to the gym or any extended/moderate to heavy exercise - group exercise classes for example.

If your main problem is insulin resistance, you might ask about metformin instead of Victoza. Victoza just reduces glucagon, but doesn't have any direct effect on cell's ability to take up glucose. Metformin does, so it might be a better fit. Ask your endo about it.