The constipation is KILLING me! Just started the Victoza last Friday and haven’t produced hardly anything…
Thank you! Kellie, those are excellent suggestions. I will definitely try them because what I’m doing isn’t working.
You are welcome! My doctor recommended the Citrucel, stool softener and mineral oil. Those three work for me. Sometimes I have to use a suppository to get things moving. Basically the Citrucel has worked the best for me and doesn’t create any gas which is nice.
I’m having a love/ hate relationship with Victoza. I love what it’s done for blood sugar numbers, but I’m going crazy with the side effects. I started Victoza Nov 15, 2010 with the .6 lowest dose. After two weeks, I moved up to the 1.2 dose, and about a month ago I moved up to max dose of 1.8.
For the first week I was very sick to my stomach, but it did go away. When I bumped up to the 1.2 dose I had no side effects, but then about two weeks after using the max dose of 1.8, I’m having all kinds of side effects. I’m breaking out in hives at random times, at least 5 days a week. I take Benadryl and it helps. I’m not having any breathing issues or throat swelling so I can live with this. However, the bloating ,gas and sulfur rotten egg burbs are driving me nuts. Any and all suggestions would be great as I dont want to stop Victoza. This is the first time my blood sugar is great! I also take 30 units of Levemir and 2000mg of Metformin a day. I’m desperate to stay on Victoza. Thank you for your help.
Well that went out the window. I’ve been taken off Victoza as of today, and tomorrow I am starting on Byetta. I hope I’m not allergic to it.
Ugh, I think I have to take a Victoza vacation. It hasn’t helped my bs’s but it definitely helps me eat less. I took a break from it a few weeks ago for a week. I really needed to get my digestive system back to normal. I ate like a pig. I didn’t even realize how much it was helping me until I went off it. I was always hungry and couldn’t resist my urge to eat. So I went back on it with the starting dose again and built up to the middle dose. I have egg burps. I have bubbles that come up my chest like burps but don’t come out. I have bubbling in my stomach but not gas. It just seems like everything is stuck inside churning.
I’m skipping it today, gotta clear out.
It’s been 2 weeks since I’ve been taking the Victoza…the side effects have diminished considerably. I’m down about 8-9lbs…it varies day by day. I have noticed that, when eating, two things happen: I lose interest in the food & I’m getting fuller ALOT sooner than without the Victoza. I recently increased my dosage to 1.8 and horrible smelling flatulence has occurred (sorry to be so graphic!) but that’s only happened twice since I increased the dose (it’s unusual for me!).
All in all, I’m pretty happy with it. I woke up this morning nausous so my husband cut up an orange for me. The orange held me over until I could eat breakfast. I’m still working on changing my eating habits. I believe the Victoza is controlling my BG because my morning fasting BG is about 73-79 - this past weekend I experimented and didn’t take my Metformin but continued the Victoza. Throughout the day, my BG stayed between 80 and 95. Not too bad, right?
I’m on my first day with Victoza and I hope and I hope I can hang in there. The nausea is very bad. I had a headache earlier today but it has since gone away. I think I may switch to taking it at night as I don’t think I can take this all day while I’m working. I did try to go out to the mall and that was tough feeling nausea and dizzy. We will see what tomorrow brings.
I found that taking the Victoza at night really helped the whole nausea thing - you kind of sleep through it. I still get occasional fleeting mild nausea after being on it for 6 months & no real weight loss (8# altogether & that happened the 1st 3 weeks I was on it). My BG levels were awesome from the get-go but are not creeping a little again - I’m on the 1.2 mg & hesitant to go higher because of the side effects. Some people don’t get any side effects at all so it’s pretty individual. I really want to stick with it but… Good luck & glad you found this site! I’m new here too & it’s helpful knowing there are other folks dealing with the same stuff!
That was exactly my experience during tghe 1st few weeks, but now after 6 months on it, not so much. My appetite is totally back, n o early feeling of fullness, in fact I find I actually turn to food to fix the nausea which has never quite gone away. I would definitely stay on the Metformin though – tried & true med & they think it may be preserving beta cell function. 
Thanks for sharing your experiences - really helps all of us!
I eat yogurt everyday as well but no help with the burps!!
Patty,
why were you taken off Victoza? I am curious because I have the same problem with bloating and gas and constitpation. And please let us know how it goes with Byetta…thinking of you.
Hi Tracy,
I was taken off of Victoza because I started getting hives daily. Well I’ve been having hives almost everyday for 3 months, so it wasn’t the Victoza. I don’t like the Byetta very much at all, because it doesn’t bring my blood sugar down as well, and it doesn’t help much with appetite very much. I want to convince my doctor to put me back on Victoza, because it worked wonderful for me, even if I had sulfa, rotten egg burbs. Hang in there because some of your side effects will go away after you’ve been on it for a while. I think it’s a wonderful drug. Good luck.
hi, how’s it going with the victoza? I just started it about 3 weeks ago and the nausea has passed already.
I was fine on the .06 and 1.2 doses, but when I went to 1.8 I was sick. My doctor told me to go back to 1.2, and that has been fine, but lately I have had a couple of episodes of sickness at the 1.2 dose and now I am scared to take it before I go to work. I’ve burned three sick days because of it. Maybe I’ll try it at night. Has anyone else had sensitivity to smaller doses?? It seems odd because I had been just fine at the 1.2 dose.
Thanks
John
Hi All!
Day 1 on Victoza - Whew! The Dr. mentioned the side effects of Victoza, but as I’ve always been one to rarely have side effects on medications I kinda let what he said go in one ear and out the other. I did some research before bed and found this forum, and read again about the side effects many of you have been having, but I still didn’t expect I’d have much of a problem.
I took my first .6 shot before bed and slept a good 7 hours before the nausea woke me and wouldn’t let me go back to sleep. I tested first thing and was quite pleased with the results. It was 128 when normally waking levels were often much higher, so I figured the nausea was worth it. At least I did until, less then 10 minutes later, I was projectile vomiting into the commode! A very unpleasant experience that I’ve not had for quite sometime. It certainly left me weak and shaking and questioning my decision to take Victoza.
Now, however, 30 minutes after the fact, I sit here typing and feeling much better. Nausea is gone (along with everything in my stomach). All I can think of now is, that if this keeps up, I’m sure to lose weight (really need to lose 50 pounds or so) and my blood sugar levels are finally going to stay in the healthy range (no food to pull sugar from). So I guess I’ll stay on it a bit longer and see what else happens.
I’ve never had a problem with headaches so I hope that’s one side effect I don’t have to deal with.
Thanks for the turn on to Glucose Buddy Kellie! This being my first full day on Victoza I look foward to being able to go to my followup appointment with a graph of my progress to present to my Doctor. He’ll be quite impressed I’m betting.
I have been on Victoza for over a year now... and the combination of Victoza and Glucophage helped me lose 60 pounds... So I don't want to go off it, but I may. My BS has been perfect. However, I really hate the side effects. I have to stop Victoza once a week because I haven't had a bowel movement and have those smelly egg burps. I take Citrucel and stool softeners daily but nothing helps. Sometimes I have to take an ExLax to get things going. When I go off it, it takes another couple of days until I can "go", and OH, my tummy feels so much better... not just because of the constipation but even the first couple of days, everything feels tight and cramped... I guess this is why I am not eating much. So, in a years time, I've not overeaten or experienced the "used to it" effect that sometimes happens as you build tolerence. My doctor says its OK to go off and on again like this but I would ask yours before trying it. Its the only way I can live with Victoza.
Any reason why this is preferred over Insulin?
Are you back on Victoza?