How Byetta Helped My Out of Control Diabetes

I have Type 2 Diabetes which, like a lot of people out there, I struggle to control. Along with diet and exercise I was taking Metformin as a way to control my blood sugar level. All of a sudden it wasn’t cutting it. What do you do when your current treatment no longer works?

It’s real easy to overlook the warning signs that your blood sugar levels are not under control unless you stick to a very strict sugar level testing regimen. Like a lot of people, once my blood sugar levels were under control for a long period of time…I kind of slacked off with the frequency of testing my sugar levels.

Complacency is a huge factor in the denial associated with diabetes. Unfortunately I fell into this trap. I didn’t start with regular blood sugar level testing again until I was feeling the side effects of having a high blood sugar level. We all know that having a high blood sugar level for a prolonged period of time will cause diabetic related complications in the future.

So once I got back on track with regular blood sugar level testing I was alarmed to find that I had elevated levels. Just waking up in the morning my sugar level was around 280. That is really high for not having eaten anything since dinner time the evening before.

The Warning Signs Of Elevated Sugar Levels Were There

There are a few telltale signs of elevated sugar levels that you need to be on the look out for. Here is the thing, if you are not actually testing your blood sugar level and seeing that it is raised, some of these warning signs can seem to be due to other factors…at first.

• constantly tired
• body aches especially upon waking
• thirst
• shooting pain in your body
• frequent urination
• feeling confused

Now you may look at these warning signs and say “how did you not make the connection between any of these and diabetes?”. Well, the mind is a powerful thing. Since I was convinced that I was doing all the right things to battle diabetes I guess my mind just wouldn’t allow me to make the connection.

The tiredness and body aches in the morning I blamed on my mattress. Feeling confused went along with being tired. I figured I just wasn’t getting a good nights sleep and so this must be causing the confusion. The thirsty thing…hey it’s summer. Who doesn’t get more thirsty in the summer?

What it boils down to is that if I had stayed on top of my blood sugar level testing I would have known right away that my current diabetes treatment was no longer working.

Byetta Was My Solution

After being seen by my doctor it was decided upon that I would begin taking the Byetta drug to help control my blood sugar level. So, that’s good news right? I can just start a new drug and all will be well. But, what I didn’t realize is that Byetta is taken in the form of an injection. What, what, what?

Is this the beginning of the end for me? Are insulin injections right around the corner? Well, according to my doctor…no. Starting Byetta injections does not mean that I will have to do this for the rest of my life or that soon I will be giving myself insulin injections. It means that for right now, Byetta will be used to help control my blood glucose level. We can revisit my options again in the future.

Daily Injections!!!

In the doctors office I was shown how to properly inject myself in the stomach with Byetta. It didn’t seem like much fun. To stick myself in the stomach two times a day with a needle? I was not feeling good about this.

My doctor explained to me that if I can handle all the pin pricks in the fingers that it takes to test my blood glucose level…this tiny injection would be no big deal. I have to say, I wasn’t buying that right away.

Once I actually injected myself with Byetta I realized that it isn’t painful at all and it is something that I could handle doing to myself. After just one injection it was apparent that Byetta was working to lower my blood glucose level.

It has been one week since beginning Byetta and I have not had any raised blood sugar levels. Every time I test my blood sugar level it is always within the normal range. So for now…Byetta is working to control my diabetes.