Readings with Victoza

1

Hi everyone, I jumped around a bit so I am landing here for the moment.

Victoza pen, full dose, one Glyaburide Metphormin in the evening.

I was wondering what are the readings for those taking Victoza are? say the morning and night? I am presently on this and have been for 7 months. Then, on account of the Health Care Reform in which I am not benefitting from, my 3 pens a went up from $40.00 a month to $190.00. I called my doctor and said its not happening. I tried to go back to pills for a week and no go there. My doctor is presenly working with me until I can get back into his office until November so he is supplying the meds until then, it was the hand of the the Lord helping me out there. Meantime, I have to eat like a sparrow to get decent readings, I have entered the insulin forum just because I think I am heading that way. There is a long story behind my health, I will spare you all. I have been on meds about 7 years and now the Victoza and if my readings are not fair in the evening I go ahead and take a Glyaburide Metphormin for the night as well. Unless I eat very little and or dont eat after 6:00 at night, well I have crummy readings in the morning. I run high anyway, 150 or so. However, I am no dietician although I have been to one and that confused me more. I eats what I think will do and thats its. I try to stick to meat, veggies and well carbs in my veggies. I bought the Atkins milkshake drink with 160 calories, 1 net sugar, 1 net carb and well, two hours later my sugar is still high. I guess I will tell my doctor after this week again that my sugar will not pan out if it doesnt. I am not big cook on special diabetic meals and its just something I cannot do. So I do what I can, watch the sugar intake, hardly eat bread at all, watch the carbs with veggies and I do like to eat ham and cheese together, the brick cheese and sliced ham, just as a fill in. Nothing seems to be working though. I was just wondering what everyone else is going through. I lost 10 pounds on this stuff too. I started out 7 years back at around 150, 5’2, so I am now down to 127, a bean pole with the gene for diabetes and its hooked into my system. I could sure use a few easy meals to try if anyone has them. I will say sour kraut and sausage was good and I ate alot of it, checked my sugar two hours later and it was 160, that was a good reading for me. I check about two hours after meals but even when I check at 3 its high. For instance, I had two breakfast burritoes at Mcdonalds and coffee with cream, about 10:00 am, at an apple because we went riding atv’s that day and I ate half an apple in about two hours. Then finished it about an hour later. I ate Kentucky Fried chicken, < I dont eat fried chicken I just did that day. A thigh, chicken leg, and let me tell ya, they were pathetically small, green beans, cole slaw, a buiscut and half a diet soda. Almost 3 in half hours later my sugar was 179…does that sound about right? Please understand, I dont drink diet soda, on the average, maybe 1 a month. I drink alot of water period or those Atkins drinks. I do drink tea with not sugar unless I use Stevia, someone said that doesnt make your sugar rise. Well there is more to this story but I am trying to keep from writing a book here. Any thoughts are good thoughts.

Thanks everyone…

2

I see from your profile that your are a type 1. Victoza is generally used on type 2’s. One of the things it does is stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin. Type 1s don’t produce insulin except in the very early stages in what’s often called the honeymoon. So it could be that your Dr. prescribed Victoza in an attempt to prolong your honeymoon and it is now coming to an end.

If you are indeed reaching the end of your honeymoon it may well be time to start insulin. Many in your position find it is a big relief to have a little lee way on what they eat.

3

Hey, thank you for your reply!



I must have that marked wrong as type 1, only because my doctor has categorized me as type 2 and thats what I go by. However, you made a very interesting comment and wow, I think your probably right, I’m sure he would not tell me that though. Not so sure on the eating thing though, its not delightful at all, thus comes the dilemma of the entire diabetes concept, no food, good or otherwise unless its perfect. HA!.



Frankly I am severely bored with my choice of eating, but have no choice. Here’s what I have witnessed, people who do insulin compensate the difference by using more or less insulin for the raised sugar levels from food, in other words, if they eat more sugar than they should and or carbs, or what have you, then check sugar and its soaring, they use more insulin. They wonder why years later they get their limbs cut off, I have known a few. The trick is in the eating and being consistent, basically following those diabetes eating charts until their second nature if you will. I dont, but I follow what I can stomach to eat for the most part. An individual is to use the same insulin amount daily, but many do not. So to be honest with you, maybe this is my trial base to get my eating right before i go on insulin. I dont want to masquerade my intake of how much and when, I want it to be steady and soley be dependent on what I eat and how much. Ya, its all fun. Oh ya and I have NO LEE WAY in my eating habits. My sugar levels are always high, I have woke up to having scrambled eggs for breakfast, sardines and 8 crackers for lunch and stick with a meat, two veggies and often drink water and no other kind of drink and still have crummy readings. Its been like that forever, if I do anything else I call it cheating for sure. I do cheat, not often but I will go insane if I dont.

4

Everyone has to set their own goals, my own goal is to never go over 140. When my numbers recently deteriorated, and I was no longer meeting my goals despite a low carb diet, my Dr. added Victoza to metformin. It has improved my numbers dramatically.

We are all different, so what works for one will not work for another. I believe eating low carb and eliminating certain foods like sugar, fruit, potatoes and grains is a great place to start treating T2. Whatever diet you arrive at, needs to be something you can stick to for the long term, and allows you to meet your goals. For some this is enough but others will need help with drugs.

I would tell your Dr. that your blood sugar levels are unacceptable and you want to change your treatment. If your Dr. says your numbers are OK get a new Dr. Several folks here faced with a similar situation to yours have gone to insulin and feel it was liberating. Some docs wait too long and let bad numbers continue too long because they feel they will get push back from their patients about insulin. I think it’s good you have accepted this may be where you are heading. The goal is to keep your numbers as close to normal as possible so you can avoid complications.

5

I think many of us have struggled with very similar issues. I had chronically high fasting blood sugars and it made things very difficult. If you are already close to 140 mg/dl before a meal, you will be hard pressed to eat “anything” and be at target below 140 mg/dl 2 hrs after a meal. I think often we are given poor advice on diet. In the end, I found that I needed to follow a low carb diet, and I am strict about it. You lunch of fried chicken, beans, cole slaw and a biscuit still probably added up to more than 50 grams of carbs, far more than I typically eat in a meal. I’m just sayin that you might find it useful following a stricter low carb diet like in the book “New Atkins for You.”

I also tried Victoza after 2 years using Byetta. I had initial success for a few weeks, it greatly improved my response to meals. But it soon lost effectiveness and it’s cost of $200/month was quite high for a medication that did not work. And in the end, about the only thing that has any effect on high fasting blood sugars is metformin. In the end, nothing helped my fasting blood sugars and I moved to insulin. And insulin was a blessing for me. It absolutely works. I can completely control my fasting blood sugars, today I woke up at 81 mg/dl, literally half what my number was before insulin.

Anyway, my point is that you may find some success in tightening up your diet, I also learned that I could eat unlimited quantities as long as they were very low carb. And it is ok to think about insulin, it is just one of the tools you should have in your arsenal.

6

Hey, thank you on your reply…

Ya for me thats just it, what is my target range… I guess 150, thats always been a good reading one I dont see often. I am really struggling with the food part of things. I dont like to do this, that and the other thing with cooking because my husband only eats meat and potatoes so I cook literally two different meals constantly, no choice. It gets to be overwhelming, the cooking and the clean up but thats life. The Victoza did work for a few months but hasnt helped much at all here lately. I dont know the cost of insulin either but no one does until they have to take it. I am readying myself for the change. I am not charged up about any of this but who is. I would have the service Meals on Wheels deliver my food and or one of the other popular weight loss methods but my goodness, who can afford their silliness. Perfect ideal foods that will kill ya, well your pocket book anyway when you dont have it. BadMoon, thanks for your input here, its very helpfu. Yes I think I scared my doctor on the insulin thing but he knows I am ready to move on. I guess if these numbers of mine dont lighten up, I will call him here in the next two weeks, ya and my moms birthday is Sunday…oh boy…kind of a cheat day and thats it. Talk to you again and when I get on insulin I will be back. This forum is phenomonal with the help and support, we are not alone. So many ideas, tips and direction, its very apprecieated.
thank you

7

Thank you do much for your reply…

Ya the insulin things scares me because its dangerous, its good but dangerous, people play around with that stuff and it loses its power as well and if your not disciplined by the time your on that stuff one could expire by not paying attention to what their doing with it. Thank you for that link, I truly wish I had the income to open up a store that could preserve and serve diabetic meals. Its impossible because the food is to be served up fresh mostly and not frozen. I always think of this. So one could buy them, unfreeze and eat. Like me, he-he. I am a good cook but, since my husband only eats meat and potatoes and that is it, I dont cook the good meals I once enjoyed long ago but then again it would kill me to eat those foods. I never thought about keeping the carb count under 50, now that looks to be tough but your right on that, thats why I had success with the sour kraut and hillshire sausage I think, sugar was 169 If I remember correctly after checking two hours later. Thanks for that advice, I am going to be paying alot more attention to that count on the carbs to stay under 50 if possible. One day at a time, in Heaven the food will be an abundance…here…we still have these bodies, (sigh) . Thank you again for your help…I apprecieate it all!

8

Just as a frame of reference I need to keep my carbs at 30 to 50 a day to meet my goals. I find the source of carbs is very important I have had to eliminate sugar, fruit, potatoes and grains. The BloodSugar101 website has a simple system to identify what foods are causing you problems, it also has a good section on setting goals. If you decide to try lowering your carbs first before you move to insulin the Bernstein Group here on tuD is a good source of ideas as well a recipes, as are the several low carb recipe groups.

9

Insulin should not scare you. It’s something to be respected but not feared. I would dare say that more damage is done by avoiding insulin when needed than is caused by the insulin. Almost all that are prescribed insulin do learn how to control it. Not controling your blood sugar is far more dangerous that insulin usage. My advice is that if you need it don’t avoid it . Then learn to tame the beast it’s not that hard.

But if you can gain control with diet then that’s all the better.

10

Hi Lynn…

For me yes its bean pole syle, HA! its because of my body and its porportions. Now, 36/24/34 but my legs are straws, trust me. I have people say they look fine but they arent telling me the truth, so as far as that size of me its very thin. I have super small ankles. I was 90 lb at one time and that too was scary. Even at 121 I look scary, anorexic. I am holding this weight (127) so far so good but I drop going back and forth and in a strict diet I just keep losing.

11

Thanks Stemwinder,

I am trying so hard to do this, I guess I cheat about once a week or so, ha, nothing big, I consider cheating eating sugar free food, laughable.

12

Hey, thank you so much on this BadMoon, I am gone for the weekend and on this like jelli on bread when I get back, I want so much to get this story of mine straightened out.

13

Sorry your not following the post… I dont know what it is your not understanding? I started out years back say about 8 years ago, at 150lb, slowly over the years I dropped to 144lb, then as I continued my treatment with diabetes I dropped more weight coming to about 137 or so. At 137 lb my endo administered the Victoza and while using this I dropped another 10 pounds. As I continued a more strict diet I fell to 121 lb. I am now back up to 127 lb and thats what I wish to stay at or 130 lb. The 90 lb weight I was referring to that I once was happened with a hospital incident back in 1990.

Lynne-
that is a ton of carbs…of couse your numbers will be high. i’m not sure what you’re trying to say in your posts and comments

Nor am I yours?? I am still educating myself on the food part of things and I am learning this, I’m learning me and what is working out for me. So ya I was wondering about others and their number readings from time to time. Had I just eaten baked chicken, a portion of green beans, maybe 1 ear of corn on the cob, those numbers would still be high, so it confuses me even when I eat right, that is my concern unless I skinny dip all my food. Oh ya, and I drink a bottle of water with the latter dish mentioned as well. I can follow strict diets but still see high numbers so this is why I am questioning and wondering of said diagnosis, but I beleive as Bad Moon said, its the last of my honeymoon stage.

14

Ok, LOL… thanks for the typo correction!