Hi all, my last A1C was up over 9 so my doctor wants me to start taking Victoza. Has anyone had experience using this medication with the pump? I have a Medtronic 723 Revel, so I'm curious about any adjustments having to be made to insulin dosing with the new medication.
Well, Victoza is approved by the FDA for use with Lantus in T2s, but not for use concurrently with rapid insulins and not for pump users. Your doctor can prescribe it off-label for other uses. I am not sure whether you are T1 or T2. The primary use of Byetta/Victoza in T1s has been to reduce hunger and drive weight loss. It seems to work for many, apparently by making you less hungry and slowing stomach emptying. The slowed stomach emptying works along the same path as Amylin so it may be more about being less hungry for a T1. For a T2, things are more complicated as it also has the affect of amplifying the insulin release in response to eating. So this can cause real problems with hypos at meals if you don't adjust things properly. You may need to severely change your ICR and switch to more of a correction strategy for meals. A low carb diet can also help things, I don't know if you have considered that. A low carb diet can reduce you bolus needs at meals, drive weight loss and reduce the potential for hypos if you do start Byetta/Victoza.
I am T1 and have an Animas Ping. I've been using Victoza about a week now (my A1C has consistently been over 9 also) and I'm starting to see a definite need for insulin reduction. I didn't really see much difference the first couple of days, but yesterday my BG was getting down to 50 a lot (which rarely ever happened before starting Victoza). I've already reduced my overnight basals a bit, and I'm going to try reducing the rest of them slightly as well as boluses. Sorry I'm not much help yet, I'll try to report back in a few days and let you know how much I've reduced. I know it's different for everyone, but sometimes it helps to know others experiences.