Skip to main content
  • More from ADA
    • Diabetes
    • Diabetes Care
    • Diabetes Spectrum
    • ADA Standards of Medical Care
    • ADA Standards of Medical Care, Abridged
    • ADA Scientific Sessions Abstracts
    • BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care
  • Subscribe
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • My Cart
  • Follow ada on Twitter
  • RSS
  • Visit ada on Facebook
Clinical Diabetes

Advanced Search

Main menu

  • Home
  • Current
    • Current Issue
    • Online Ahead of Print
    • ADA Standards of Medical Care
    • ADA Standards of Medical Care, Abridged
  • Browse
    • Issue Archive
    • Saved Searches
    • COVID-19 Article Collection
    • Quality Improvement Sucess Stories
    • ADA Standards of Medical Care
    • ADA Standards of Medical Care, Abridged
    • Clinical Compendia
  • Info
    • About the Journal
    • About the Editors
    • ADA Journal Policies
    • Instructions for Authors
  • Advertising
  • Reprints/Reuse
  • Subscriptions
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions and Site Licenses
    • Access Institutional Usage Reports
    • Purchase Single Issues
  • Alerts
    • E­mail Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
  • Podcasts
    • Diabetes Core Update
    • Special Podcast Series: Therapeutic Inertia
    • Special Podcast Series: Influenza Podcasts
    • Special Podcast Series: SGLT2 Inhibitors
    • Special Podcast Series: COVID-19
  • Submit
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Submit Cover Art
    • Instructions for Authors
    • ADA Journal Policies
  • More from ADA
    • Diabetes
    • Diabetes Care
    • Diabetes Spectrum
    • ADA Standards of Medical Care
    • ADA Standards of Medical Care, Abridged
    • ADA Scientific Sessions Abstracts
    • BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care

User menu

  • Subscribe
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Clinical Diabetes
  • Home
  • Current
    • Current Issue
    • Online Ahead of Print
    • ADA Standards of Medical Care
    • ADA Standards of Medical Care, Abridged
  • Browse
    • Issue Archive
    • Saved Searches
    • COVID-19 Article Collection
    • Quality Improvement Sucess Stories
    • ADA Standards of Medical Care
    • ADA Standards of Medical Care, Abridged
    • Clinical Compendia
  • Info
    • About the Journal
    • About the Editors
    • ADA Journal Policies
    • Instructions for Authors
  • Advertising
  • Reprints/Reuse
  • Subscriptions
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions and Site Licenses
    • Access Institutional Usage Reports
    • Purchase Single Issues
  • Alerts
    • E­mail Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
  • Podcasts
    • Diabetes Core Update
    • Special Podcast Series: Therapeutic Inertia
    • Special Podcast Series: Influenza Podcasts
    • Special Podcast Series: SGLT2 Inhibitors
    • Special Podcast Series: COVID-19
  • Submit
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Submit Cover Art
    • Instructions for Authors
    • ADA Journal Policies
Patient Inform

Using Bydureon

Clinical Diabetes 2012 Jul; 30(3): 134-134. https://doi.org/10.2337/diaclin.30.3.134
PreviousNext
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

What you need to know about starting this new, once-weekly medication

What is it?

Bydureon, also known as exenatide QW, is a medication that helps lower blood glucose (sugar) in type 2 diabetes. You take it by injection only once a week.

What does it do?

Bydureon has been shown to reduce blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes. In addition, it often causes some weight loss, which can also help you manage your diabetes.

What are the side effects?

The most common side effects of Bydureon include nausea, stomach upset, constipation, or diarrhea, or irritation at the injection site. These problems are more likely to happen when you first start the medicine. Contact your health care provider if you are unable to tolerate these side effects. While Bydureon doesn't cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) on its own, if you are on other medications that can cause hypoglycemia, you may still get low blood sugar.

More serious and very rare side effects of Bydureon may include thyroid cancer and pancreatitis. Once you start taking Bydureon, if you develop severe stomach or stomach and back pain that does not go away, with or without vomiting, stop taking Bydureon and contact your health care provider right away. This can be a symptom of pancreatitis.

What's in the box?

Each dose of Bydureon comes in a separate packet that contains:

  • one vial of 2 mg exenatide powder

  • one vial connector

  • one prefilled syringe of liquid

  • two needles (only one is necessary, but the second is provided as a spare)

How do I use it?

Bydureon is injected once every 7 days, meaning that you will inject it on the same day of the week, every week. Choose a day that is convenient for you and that you will remember each week. Some people find it easier to remember to take a weekly medication on a weekend day.

A diabetes educator or other health care professional should have already shown you how to inject Bydureon, but here are the basic steps:

  • Choose an injection site. Use the abdomen, thigh, or upper arm. It's okay to use the same region every week, but do not inject into the exact same spot in any region from week to week. Make sure the injection site is clean.

  • Mix the solution. Open the Bydureon packet. Use the vial connector to join the vial of exenatide powder to the syringe of liquid medium. Shake the connected vial and syringe to mix the powder and liquid together. You should look for a white liquid to form, shaking hard to break up any clumps.

  • Prepare the syringe. Once the solution is fully mixed, disconnect the vial, attach one of the needles, and line up the plunger with the “dose line” marked on the syringe.

  • Inject the medicine. Inject into the skin as soon as possible, pushing the plunger all the way down.

Once you've started using Bydureon, make sure you check your blood glucose as often as your health care provider suggests. And keep following your diet and exercise regimen and taking other medications as prescribed, unless you and your provider have made changes to your diabetes management plan.

Where do I store it?

Bydureon should be kept, unopened, in the refrigerator. Do not freeze Bydureon; it must not be used if frozen. If necessary, Bydureon can be stored, unopened, outside of the refrigerator, protected from direct light, for up to 4 weeks at moderate room temperatures.

Footnotes

  • Permission is granted to reproduce this material for nonprofit education purposes. Written permission is required for all other purposes. Please send requests to permissions{at}diabetes.org, referencing Clinical Diabetes, Vol. 30, issue 3.

  • American Diabetes Association(R) Inc., 2012
PreviousNext
Back to top
Clinical Diabetes: 30 (3)

In this Issue

July 2012, 30(3)
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by Author
Sign up to receive current issue alerts
View Selected Citations (0)
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about Clinical Diabetes.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Using Bydureon
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Clinical Diabetes
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the Clinical Diabetes web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Using Bydureon
Clinical Diabetes Jul 2012, 30 (3) 134; DOI: 10.2337/diaclin.30.3.134

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Add to Selected Citations
Share

Using Bydureon
Clinical Diabetes Jul 2012, 30 (3) 134; DOI: 10.2337/diaclin.30.3.134
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • What is it?
    • What does it do?
    • What are the side effects?
    • What's in the box?
    • How do I use it?
    • Where do I store it?
    • Footnotes
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

  • Using U-500 Insulin
Show more Patient Inform

Similar Articles

Navigate

  • Current Issue
  • Papers in Press
  • Abridged Standards of Care
  • Archives
  • Submit
  • Subscribe
  • Email Alerts
  • RSS Feeds

More Information

  • About the Journal
  • Instructions for Authors
  • Journal Policies
  • Reprints and Permissions
  • Advertising
  • Privacy Policy: ADA Journals
  • Copyright Notice/Public Access Policy
  • Contact Us

Other ADA Resources

  • Diabetes
  • Diabetes Care
  • Diabetes Spectrum
  • Scientific Sessions Abstracts
  • Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes
  • BMJ Open - Diabetes Research & Care
  • Professional Books
  • Diabetes Forecast

 

  • DiabetesJournals.org
  • Diabetes Core Update
  • ADA's DiabetesPro
  • ADA Member Directory
  • Diabetes.org

© 2021 by the American Diabetes Association. Clinical Diabetes Print ISSN: 0891-8929, Online ISSN: 1945-4953.