There seems to be a new drug out in a pen injection approach; Victoza.

My first take on it is I don't like it.

It sounds like it messes with the beta cells and I remember that most drugs that do, tend to kill off the beta cells.

I just did a quick read on this new drug, but I am concerned.

I had a friend mention it to me.

Any input would be appreciated.

Right now, I have no intention of trying it.

Ralph

Dr. Bernstein has been talking about Victoza in his monthly telecasts for a few months. He says it's a wonder drug, that controls appetite even in type I diabetics.

As you may know, beta cells produce some hormones other than just insulin, including a hormone that controls appetite. Drugs like Byetta, Symlin and Victoza replace/augment this appetite controlling hormone.

The main use for these drugs is, supposedly, to control blood sugars, and they do have a pretty minor effect on blood sugars - at least for type II diabetics. But their real value is in controlling appetite. Victoza, according to Bernstein, is by far the best and most effective for this so far.

I'm a long-time type I diabetic - 43 years, and taking it has been amazing. It really reduces my appetite, almost amazingly.

Please note - using it for appetite suppression and use by type I's is off-label. It may require a note from your MD. But if you have difficulty controlling your eating, including controlling carbo craving, it can be fantastic.

It can, if you have it, worsen slow stomach emptying. I don't think it harms beta cells at all. As you probably know, normalizing BS's is the best way to preserve beta cells - and if Victoza helps you do that by controlling appetite - that would be fantastic.

All the best,
-Harold

The victoza website mentions nothing about appetite supression.Supposedly victoza causes the pancreas to secrete more insulin and the liver to secrete less glucogon.
It SUPPOSEDLY is only for type 2 diabetics.
It sounds like it's overall effect would be something like a
sulphy-metformin combo even though victoza is injected.
Eddie

I don't take it, but I would, because I think anything Dr. Bernstien is for, is good enough for me. I'm going to ask my doctor about it at my next appt. I would not be afraid of it.
Judy

You mean like Actos? Dr. Bernstein sounds pretty high on that too in my latest copy of his book.

On his teleconferences, hasn't he backed off of that one?

He may have, but he was subscribing it for a while and has it in his book as one of the drugs he recommends for use, which is why "if Dr. Bernstein says so" is not really good enough for me.

point taken

Opinions that are not backed up by study and result data are
only unsubstantiated opinions IMHO.I am not a member of
the "Bernstein sez" club but I think he is worth listening to
albeit with critical ears.
Happy holiday season to all
Eddie

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

What is the difference between Victoza and Byetta? Or Victoza and Symlin?
V.

My Dr felt this would be the most effective med for me with little to no side effects. The insurance company disagrees and refuses to pay for it. I can't afford $400 a month out of pocket. So we are back to experimenting to find something I can tolerate that actually works. Bad insurance company! Boo! Hiss!

I have been eating very low carb & then LCHF for over 3 years. My weight, however, had been stalled a very long time. My Endocrinology NP said it was due to the insulin I still must take. She knew & believed in Dr Bernstein, Dr Fung, & LCHF. (I went to her because every single Dr at that clinic had refused to treat me according to Dr Bernstein's guidelines...so, I was so happy to have found her.) She told me she believed Victoza would get my weight moving down again. She did mention that certain people shouldn't take Victoza but that I didn't fit into that category. I was desperate! (I hadn't found the 'Reversing Diabetes' group on FB yet & was trying to eat very very low carb & work with Dr Bernstein's book by myself.) She was the 1st Endocrinology provider I'd ever seen. Because she believed in the people & the diet I was following, I trusted her. And Dr Bernstein, in his book, even says he uses Victoza to help people lose weight. But he only has patients use it on occasions when they might overeat because it greatly diminishes the appetite. He doesn't prescribe it as a daily dose. So, I decided I would 'try' Victoza to see how it would go. My first attempts weren't very successful because there are side effects you have to get past with time. They were difficult gastrointestinal distresses. So, I stopped for a while. Then, I read about people who decreased the starting side effects by starting at a very low dose & increasing the dose slowly in increments. That did work. And I have to say, the Victoza also did indeed work! I quickly lost 20#! BUT...big 'but'...it cost me almost $350/month as my cost share w/ Medicare! On top of that, I had researched it myself & discovered it had really bad possible side effects that were not only limited to certain people; it's just that certain people were more likely to get them. So, I began, thinking about those side effects & was worried that the longer I took Victoza, the greater my possibility of getting such side effects. Between that & the cost, Victoza no longer seemed like a good idea. So, I stopped the Victoza. And, it seemed like my Diabetes turned into a roaring , raging lion! I very quickly gained all the weight back plus some...without changing my diet at all! And my BS's went crazy! They were WAY higher than they had been before I started the Victoza. Before Victoza, it had been 5.5; with the Victoza, my A1c went down to 4.9. After the Victoza, it jumped to 5.9... I was extraordinarily frustrated! It has taken me since Jan. (7-1/2 mo.) to get my sugars to better levels but they are still not as good as they were before the Victoza. I am sharing this long story so that anyone thinking of trying Victoza will know, not only about the initial starting side effects which cause a lot of nausea & other gastro upsets & about the dire possible adverse reactions (Pancreatitis & Pancreatic cancer) that can affect anyone, but also about the blood sugar horrors that occur when you stop the Victoza. The thing is, NO ONE tells you what happens when you stop! I'm not even sure if the medical field knows. I know. And I would never ever advise any use of Victoza at all!!
Addendum: I recently heard Dr Bernstein say he has begun to very closely monitor his patients using Victoza, using regular blood testing for indications of any problem. (Apparently some of his patients began to develop some of those adverse reactions.) At the 1st small indication of a change...he takes them off it.

Hi Lynsi! This is a very old thread but I'll weigh in here as well.

I firmly believe that Victoza helps people to lose weight by making them feel sick all the time. There's no magic - giving them anything that makes them feel terrible would do the trick.

As for stopping, I didn't have the same issue you did, but my whole experience was different. I had Met, insulin and Victoza all together for a long time - that did very little other than make me fat and sick. Trying to lose weight by reducing carbs only made my BG very low but did nothing for my weight. My doctor did not agree that the insulin was making me fatter instead of better, so I dropped that doctor and the insulin and the weight started coming off without effort (but with no real difference in my BG). This past February (see my sig) I started hard core low carbing to try to get some of this weight off and finally bring down my BG, but with Victoza still on board my BG was getting VERY low and I was still extremely sick, and was having some heart issues to boot. I dropped Victoza and my BG rebounded a little, but not that much. My heart is fine. I'm no longer queasy all the time, but I still don't have much of an appetite.

It's been several months without Victoza and just recently I'm starting to see another slight uptick in my BG, but it isn't much and I can't rule out other causes - lack of sleep, stress, hormones, lack of exercise, etc. So I'll keep working on that.

I wish I had stayed LC the first time instead of playing around with meds trying to give myself some wiggle room in my diet. But I learned some valuable lessons!

I have followed David Mendosa for some time. He is an advocate of GLP-1, his story of Beyetta use for over 100 lbs weight loss and BMI from 40 to 19:

http://www.mendosa.com/blog/?p=3824#more-3824

That is impressive to me! But, I have a friend that was constantly sick, so weight loss with sickness is sorta "sickening" to me. But it could be a good choice for some.

I am interested in the sglt2 inhibitors which Dr. Fung has mentioned numerous times in his blog. However, when making major changes in life I believe in being cautious, so I am looking and looking and reading regarding these. In the meantime, I'm trying to get more of a handle of a disciplined life to more fasting.