The Byetta Exenatide Experience
About Byetta Exenatide Injection
I am not a healthcare professional. I am new to Byetta and I am a sleep-deprived mom. For more reliable information on Byetta, visit Byetta.com.
I will attempt to provide you with a simplified version of what I understand Byetta to be, but take it with a grain of salt - this is coming from a frazzled mom brain known to have bouts of wrongness.
Byetta is in a league all it's own. Not only is it a new drug, it is the first of a whole new drug class called incretin mimetics.
It is a synthetic hormone based on a naturally occurring hormone called exendin-4. This hormone naturally occurs in Gila Monster venom.
This Gila Monster hormone is similar to a human incretin hormone called GLP-1...a hormone many type 2 diabetics have little or none of. The most significant known difference between the human and lizard hormones is that the Gila Monster hormone has a longer half-life...or effective time.
So why are we injecting a copy-cat version of a Gila Monster hormone into our diabetic bodies?
Well, many type 2 diabetics have a too-fast digestive system. This leads to problems regulating blood sugar. On the other hand, the Gila Monster eats maybe twice a year and has an extremely slow digestive system. Somebody thought the Gila Monster could teach us a thing or two.
It turns out this incretin hormone is very important for regulation of blood sugar. The Gila Monster hormone was found to mimic the human incretin hormone in humans after a meal.
Here is what happens when a nondiabetic eats a meal:
- Eat
- The human incretin hormone signals for insulin.
- Insulin clears out sugar.
- The hormone signals for insulin to stop and for the liver to squirt out enough sugar for bodily functions to run.
- Blood sugar levels stay pretty stable.
In a type 2 diabetic, here is what typically happens when a meal is eaten:
- Eat
- The proper insulin signal fails to be sent.
- Blood sugar levels rise.
- The liver still functions and squirts out sugar for bodily functions and sends out way to much.
- Blood sugar levels rise even more.
- Blood sugar levels
get and stay high.
When type 2 diabetics in studies received the a synthesized version of the Gila Monster hormone, their bodies reacted to food more like a nondiabetic. In type 2 diabetics, it seemed to send out appropriate and timely signals for the exact amount of insulin needed at the start of a meal and for the appropriate amount of glucose to come from the liver.
As a result, it was found to lower A1c levels. An unexpected side effect was weight loss. It is not certain yet why or how this happens. It doesn't happen to everyone, but it happened to enough people for the experts to take notice.
The longest study published was for 3 years. After these incredible studies, Byetta received FDA approval in April 2005.
The Diabetic Mommy factor.
Byetta has not been out long enough or been studied to see if it is safe for pregnancy. Because of this, expect to get a huge contraception, don't-get-pregnant, stop-immediately-if-you-do speech. Mine was VERY stern.
For the same reasons, it should not be used if you are breastfeeding.
I was told by my diabetes educator that if I planned on becoming pregnant, I needed to stop the Byetta for 3 months prior to trying to conceive. This would give the Byetta a chance to get completely out of my system. Plus, I would likely have to switch to insulin.
