Tracking Your Blood Sugar

Many studies show that managing diabetes is important for your health. There are two ways of tracking your blood sugar (glucose) control:

• Self-monitoring of blood sugar is important and will help you and your healthcare provider determine how well your diabetes is controlled. Blood sugar could be checked 2 hours after the start of a meal to see how well BYETTA is working.
• While you are on BYETTA, it is not necessary to do extra blood sugar monitoring.
• If you have questions about the best times to check your blood sugar, ask your healthcare provider to look at all your medicines and recommend exact times.

• This is a test that determines your blood sugar control over the past 3 months. The A1C test gives a 3-month average of your blood sugar levels.

Where should my blood sugar level be?

The American Diabetes Association has guidelines that help you set goals for your blood sugar. Having better control of your blood sugar can have a positive effect on your overall health.

What are the symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and how do I manage them?

Ask your healthcare provider for a list of what you can use to treat hypoglycemia. Be sure you always have at least one type of these items with you. If you develop hypoglycemia, act quickly. Check your blood sugar and treat your hypoglycemia with one of the items from the list in the table below. Wait 15 to 20 minutes and check your blood sugar again. If your blood sugar is still low and your symptoms of hypoglycemia don't go away, repeat this treatment. After you feel better, be sure to eat your regular meals and snacks as planned to keep your blood sugar from going too low.

Indication

BYETTA is an injectable prescription medicine that may improve blood sugar (glucose) control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus, when used with a diet and exercise program.

BYETTA is not insulin and should not be taken instead of insulin. BYETTA can be used with Lantus^® (insulin glargine), which is a long-acting insulin, but should not be taken with short- and/or rapid-acting insulin. BYETTA is not for people with type 1 diabetes or people with diabetic ketoacidosis.

Important Safety Information for BYETTA^® (exenatide) injection

• Serious side effects can happen in people who take BYETTA, including inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) which may be severe and lead to death. Before taking BYETTA, tell your healthcare provider if you have had pancreatitis, stones in your gallbladder (gallstones), a history of alcoholism, or high blood triglyceride levels. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have pain in your stomach area (abdomen) that is severe, and will not go away. The pain may happen with or without vomiting and may be felt going from your abdomen through to your back.
• Your risk for getting low blood sugar is higher if you take BYETTA with another medicine that can cause low blood sugar, such as a sulfonylurea or insulin. The dose of your sulfonylurea or insulin medicine may need to be lowered while you use BYETTA.
• BYETTA should not be used in people who have severe kidney problems and should be used with caution in people who have had a kidney transplant. BYETTA may cause new or worse problems with kidney function, including kidney failure.
• Before you use BYETTA, tell your healthcare provider if you have severe problems with your stomach, such as delayed emptying of your stomach (gastroparesis) or problems with digesting food.
• Do not use BYETTA if you have had an allergic reaction to exenatide or any of the other ingredients in BYETTA. Severe allergic reactions can happen with BYETTA. Stop taking BYETTA and get medical help right away.
• Tell your healthcare provider if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if BYETTA will harm your unborn baby. Talk to your healthcare provider first if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed.
• The most common side effects with BYETTA include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, feeling jittery, dizziness, headache, acid stomach, constipation, and weakness. Nausea most commonly happens when first starting BYETTA, but may become less over time.

These are not all the side effects with BYETTA. Talk to your healthcare provider about any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

Please see the BYETTA Prescribing Information and Medication Guide.