I am new to the group and new to Diabetes as well. I was just diagnosed last week with pre-diabetes, and my doctor prescribed me Victoza. I didn't have any problem with Anthem Blue Cross filling it, which shocked me from some of the other posts that I have read about how hard it is to get approved and the cost of the medication itself.
I started the Victoza yesterday morning around 11, and within an hour I felt HORRIBLE!! I had no appetite which is fine, because I need to lose weight, but have had really bad nausea and off and on headaches. Yesterday I cold barley function because I was sooo tired, but had a horrible time falling asleep. Does anyone have any idea how long these side effects will last? Do they get better with the passing days, or worse? My doctor said I could take Compazine to help with the nausea, but I haven't seen anyone else that has done that.
My A1c is 5.6, and my average blood sugar is 122. He said he prescribed it to keep me from hopefully getting type 2 diabetes. My morning fasting level is between 100-109, so I don't know if that is bad or not. I am not that educated as of yet, and am concerned as if I should be taking this medication at all, or if this is too soon... Any thoughts and advise is more than welcome!
Hello Sky my side effects lasted about 8 days then I really started to feel the benefit of taking victoza like you I lost my appetite straight away out went the daily nibbling at this and that the tummy rumblings soon went and I did really feel much better, I lost half a stone in 3 months being 18.5 stone you can see any wight I shed is a plus, keep with it best regards Twiddlemethumbs
Make sure that you eat something if you feel nauseous. I know this sounds strange but it works for me. Try a small glass of milk and a small amount of crackers to take that edge off. I have had and continue to get these feelings from time to time. You may get these in the middle of the night. I take a couple of glucose pills and glass of milk and I am good to go for the rest of the night. My experience you cannot run around with an empty stomach on this stuff. A small amount of food will likely do the trick. You may not have been a big eater and this could lend itself to this.
Also what dosage are you on? Check with your Dr to lowering your dose if you are on 1.2 or higher. You need to work up to higher doses. It took me 6 weeks to go to 1.2. I dont plan on going higher at least for now.
As to your fasting numbers this should improve over time. If you are this high yes you are diabetic with this fasting and need to get your numbers below 100. To some fastings over 100 are diabetic.
You also need to eat super low carb. That will do more to get your numbers down more than anything if you are insulin resistant. I follow Dr Bernstein and Adkins for my carb counting.
These are great tips that I will be following. Day 2 on the Victoza and doing a little better. I dont feel like I was hit by a Mack Truck, but still have the nausea and the weird headache. You were right about waking with that feeling. I woke up about 3 this morning not feeling so hot… but when i got up for work, i had a small glass of milk and a cracker and it seemed to help just a little.
I started on .6 and my doc wants me to go up to 1.2 in a week, i dont know if i will be able to do that though, i cant imagine being able to function at work and with my kids feeling any worse then I do now. My fasting number this morning was 88, so i think the .6 is working good for me!
Low carb, that is going to be the trick! i love bread and potatoes, but i know this is something i have to do to prevent this from happening!
Yes, ask to stay with.6 for awhile. That may do the trick for you and you are seeing the fastings come down.
You may find though after time that it is not doing much and then ask to increase the dosage. Thats what happened to me.
As I said you cant go around on a completely empty stomach on this stuff. I find I have to have a little something to take that nauseous feeling away.
There is alot on this website on low carb and food groups you can link up to.
You may also want to ask your Dr to allow you to test 4 times a day too. Morning, Night, and to test before and after one of your meals. You can then see if your on target.
That is helping a lot! I take it at night since the headaches come pretty close after the injection, The side affects have subsided somewhat, which is real nice. I still get headaches, and very tired, but the nausea isnt so bad anymore… but i havent bumbed up my dose yet either! I am happy where I at, afraid to move up, but i know it is time!!
Hi Sky I have been on victoza for 8 months now like you i had a few side affects but they soon wore off and like most drugs our bodys take time to adjust, i lost half a stone in 3 months and my craving for food was cut down a lot, hope you are feeling better today best wishes tweedlemethumbs
Welcome to Tud I started victoza about 3 weeks ago and experienced no side effects or weight loss. I’ve tried Byetta and that is the only thing that made me nauseous.
Sky, your situation sounds just like mine. In July of 2009, my endo said that if I didn’t get my blood glucose down I would be an insulin-dependant diabetic in 5 years. It was 5.5 (I believe). I’ve been taking Metformin since then but last week he added the Victoza. Side effects are substantial but I’m going to continue on because I need to lose weight and I definitely do not want to be on insulin. I, too, am a carb junkie…love breads, potatoes, rice, cereals, etc…Now I’m really sincerely trying to limit them from being in my life. My husband makes it hard because he is a potatoe chip eating, junk food buying, binge eater who is not a diabetic (yet). Him bringing snacks into the house doesn’t help me.
