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Exenatide Dosage
Generally, the recommended starting exenatide dosage is 5 mcg injected twice daily just under the skin of the thigh, abdomen, or upper arm. After one month, your healthcare provider may decide to increase your dosage to 10 mcg twice daily. The dosage your healthcare provider prescribes will vary depending on a number of factors, including how well your diabetes is controlled, other medical conditions you may have, and other medications you may be taking.
An Overview of Exenatide Dosage
The dose of exenatide (Byetta®) your healthcare provider prescribes will vary depending on a number of factors, including:- How well your diabetes is controlled
- Other medical conditions you may have
- Other medications you may currently be taking.
As is always the case, do not adjust your dose unless your healthcare provider specifically instructs you do to so.
Exenatide Dosage for Type 2 Diabetes
The recommended starting dose of exenatide for type 2 diabetes is 5 mcg injected twice daily. After one month, your healthcare provider may increase your exenatide dose to exenatide 10 mcg twice daily if needed.When adding exenatide to oral diabetes drugs such as metformin (Fortamet®, Glucophage®, Glucophage XR®, Glumetza® or Riomet®), pioglitazone (Actos®), or rosiglitazone (Avandia®), the dose of the oral medication does not usually need to be adjusted. However, when adding exenatide to sulfonylureas, the dose of the sulfonylurea may need to be reduced to decrease the risk of low blood sugar. Sulfonylureas include:
- Chlorpropamide (Diabinese®)
- Glimepiride (Amaryl®)
- Glipizide (Glucotrol®)
- Glyburide (DiaBeta®, Micronase®, Glynase®)
- Tolazamide (Tolinase®)
- Tolbutamide (Orinase®)
- Glipizide and metformin (Metaglip®)
- Glyburide and metformin (Glucovance®).
Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD