Living with Diabetes, how bad is it?

[SueM in MN]

I am an insulin dependent type 2 diabetic and have been on Byetta since August 4, 2005. I have lost almost 90 pounds and have not had a single incidence of high blood sugar starting 6 weeks after beginning Byetta. My c-peptide tests show that the beta cells in my pancreas are regenerating. Type 2 diabetes is NOT a simple gain weight and get diabetes type of disease. There is almost for sure an auto-immune component to it, as there are many, many people who are overweight who don't develop diabetes as well as a significant number of people of normal weight who do.

I am now off of novolog, glucophage and actos. It is extremely simple to lose weight when I am not hungry And with Byetta, I am not hungry anymore. For diabetics with no beta cell function, Symlin (like Byetta but without the beta cell stimulating stuff) is also helping type 1 diabetics gain control.

Here's a website with links to information about Byetta, Symlin and diabetes. Dr. Bill is an absolute sweetheart who runs the blog out of the goodness of his heart and to try and help diabetics: http://www.diabetesmonitor.com/ Scroll down to the discussion blogs for more information.

And to bring it back to Disney Byetta is very fussy about temperature and needs to be kept between 36-46 degrees. Traveling is a bit of a challenge and I am sure that going to the parks will be as well.

Thanks for this information. Very interesting.

It looks like you don't have a real tight time period for giving it before meals, so it may work to store it at First Aid.
One thing to keep in mind is that the small refrigerators don't always hold temperatures well, so you may want to bring a thermometer with you to make sure it is maintaining the temp.

 

[Figaro]

You are very welcome, Sue! The times to take it (twice a day and then you need to eat within an hour) are difficult only because the slowing of digestion makes timing the taking of other medications a bit more difficult. Add in that some medications need to be taken with food, and things get even more confusing While the morning dose probably won't be a problem, the evening dose is going to be a bit more difficult to manage in the parks, but I am looking forward to figuring it out .

Now that I have no more blood sugar swings and am off of the medications that can make it extremely difficult to lose any weight, I can look back and see how much those two things contributed to the problems that I had managing my diabetes. For many of us, Byetta has truly been a miracle drug and I am so glad that it was developed. My last A1C was 5.1, which is the same level that non-diabetics have.