Problems with taking and stopping Victoza

Type 2
1

I have been taking Victoza for about one year. About three months ago I found whenever I ate a hamburger my stomach would get a bloated feeling, I would get quite gassy and I would start to burping quite a bit. The problem is the burps, boy would they get foul-smelling. It would cause my wife and kids to want to jump out of a moving vehicle going 60 miles an hour just to get away from the smell. The devil came to attack me one night and poke me with his pitchfork but I let out a burp and even he ran away.

I am taking Victoza with Metformin, NovoRapid, Levemir, Rosovustatin, Iron, Nexium, Aspirin 81mg. I am also taking Invokana 300mg every morning. Invokana makes me have to take a leak about every two hours which sucks at night when I’m sleeping because every two hours I wake up to empty my bladder.

Now with this cocktail I have been able to keep my blood sugars around 5.4 - 7. I stopped taking Victoza about five days ago and my stomach problems cleared up, the burps stopped and I felt comfortable. But now when I check my blood sugars they ranged anywhere from 15 to 18. So I went out and purchased more Victoza and will be starting it again. I’m not looking forward to the burp thing but I guess it’s better than the high blood sugars.

Any suggestions on how I can tame my stomach and the burps that like to spring forth at the most inopportune moments. My family would forever be indebted to you if you know of anything I could try that might remedy this problem. I don’t get to see my doctor until the middle of May but by that time my wife might have sewed my lips shut, such a loving woman she is to put up with the aromas that my burps contain.
As I have only been off Victoza for about five days I will start at the 1.8 mg instead of ramping up.

2

Have you tried Gas-x?

Also, maybe you can fine tune your insulin, instead of going back on Victoza. Maybe an increase in basal. Do you carb count to figure your bolus fast acting insulin?

Hugs to your wife, she sounds like a gem!

3

HI Hay_Dude,

I remember those burps and more when I took Victoza (not fondly either). One thing my Endo and CDE never told me (I assume they just thought I knew) and I realized after transitioning full time to insulin, is how delayed the stomach process is for fats and protein. One of the things that makes Victoza work, is by slowing down the stomach emptying process. Add to that a high fat/protein load, and you feel extremely full for a very long time. It also causes the burps you mentioned - at least for me. When I ate low carb/plant based/ low or no dairy I didn’t experience the after effects as much as when I had a steak or a high fat chili. After I transitioned to insulin, I could see the fat/protein spikes in great detail on my CGM - usually at the 3-4 hour mark after eating.

I also experienced dramatic gastric issues after I stopped Victoza for 4-6 weeks and restarted at the low dose. It was if I had never taken it. Hope you get a few good answers that will help.

1 Like
4

Thanks El_Ver, it’s nice to know that I’m not alone. I’m going to try not eating hamburgers, (very sad day but a small sacrifice to make my family happy). This only happens with hamburgers. Maybe it’s because our meat comes fresh from the farm and not from the store, I don’t know. All other meat does not do this to me.

5

I will go get some gas x to keep handy and try it when I need to. Thanks, never thought of that stuff.