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Lizard Spit

Summer of 2007 I was at the doctor again whining about my weight.  She wouldn’t give me more Phentermine saying that I was on it long enough to be a “lawsuit waiting to happen”.  I whined that I didn’t take it consistently over the few months it was prescribed, but she wouldn’t budge.  I had my gallbladder removed the previous winter and that interrupted my Phen use. While I was going on and on, she was looking through my records and noticed that I had recently had lab work due to another issue. (I’m not a hypochondriac I swear!) She freaked me out because my blood sugar was high and should have caused red flags.  The other office neglected to tell me I was on the fast road to becoming a diabetic. Having a family history of diabetes increased my chances.

I was introduced  to Byetta.  It’s for people with Type II Diabetes, but it’s one of those medications that is multipurpose.  (I will never understand that.)  The manufacturer did a 6 month study that showed people who used it lost weight along with controlling their blood sugar.  She gave me my first month via a sample (5mg) kit and told me to come back in a month.  Notice I said kit. This time it wasn’t a pill. I had to give myself injections! The nurse showed me how to do it, gave me a prescription for needles and sent me on my way assuring me everything would be fine.

Later when I went to do it myself I got nervous. After the first time I got over it.  It was in pen form and the needle was super tiny.  My sample starter kit had a little postcard to send to the manufacturer. It was a free offer  for this nifty little black carry case. I was all set!

That afternoon I had to work.  I snuck online to see if there were blogs and forums  of peeps taking Byetta for weight loss. I wanted to know what I was in for along with poking myself twice a day.  My co-worker was Googling with me and came across a forum that referred to it as “Lizard Spit”.  W-T-F? I made her read it to me as I gagged.  All I could think of was EWWW EWWWW EWWW. Who the hell comes up with this shit? Oh, Let’s take poisonous lizard spit and see what it can do?

Exenatide (also Exendin-4, marketed as Byetta) is the first of a new class of medications approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. It is manufactured and marketed by Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly and Company.

Derived from the saliva of the gila monster, Exenatide a 39 amino acid peptide that mimics the GLP-1 incretin, an insulin secretagogue with glucoregulatory effects. While it may lower blood glucose levels on its own, it can also be combined with other medications such as pioglitazone, metformin, sulfonylureas, and/or insulin to improve glucose control. The approved use of exenatide is with either sulfonylureas, metformin and thiazolinediones. The medication is injected twice per day using a pre-filled pen device. Typical human responses to exenatide include improvements in the initial rapid release of endogenous insulin, suppression of glucagon release by the pancreas, regulation of gastric empyting, and reduced appetite – all of which function to lower blood glucose. Exenatide is self-regulating in that it lowers blood sugar when levels are elevated but does not continue to lower blood sugar when levels return to normal, unlike with sulfonylureas or insulins.

After my first month I went back to see the doctor. I was tolerating the Byetta and lost a few pounds. She gave me my prescription for the next 5 months. 10mg twice a day.  Aside from vomiting unless I took nausea meds, that make me sleepy, it went OK.  I only stayed on it 5 of the 6 recommended months.  I lost my appetite at first as expected, but it came back after 2 months. I lost maybe 15 pounds total. WOOO HOOO! Luckily the needle didn’t leave scars on my belly.

That would be saved for my surgery.

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