Symlin - what I've found out so far

When I saw my endo recently we talked about the use of Symlin. She looked at my after dinner readings and agreed that Symlin would help there (range of 200-300 mg/dL). So she gave me a dosing information sheet for Type I's and a sample vial. By the way, there is a reimbursement assistance program for folks using Symlin.

The information given to patients tells you exactly what to do, but not a lot of the why. The prescribing information sheet (PDF) that comes inside the box is a good deal more informative, but of course it's written with a good deal of doctorese.

I started taking Symlin last Saturday, and right now I'm only taking it for dinner. I did experience the nausea for the first two days. It comes on about 10 minutes after the shot. More interesting for me was the experience of feeling full. This is something that I really haven't felt in many years and it really does reduce my inclination to over eat.

Right now I'm on the Symlin 15 µg dose (2.5u on a normal insulin syringe). It stings slightly when injected. Within 10 minutes I get the full feeling (or very mild nausea). I've started dosing it about 15 minutes before I eat so I tend to eat less. I'm currently reducing my insulin dosage by 40% and taking that just before I eat. (Note: the Symlin folks want you to stabilize your Symlin dosage before adjusting your insulin too much beyond the 50% reduction.)

The net results. For the most part I've seen much better after meal levels. One evening the values never went above 180-186 mg/dL, which was great.

Tomorrow I'll start using the 30 µg dose and see how that goes. I'm also tracking a good deal more information using a spreadsheet, including: blood glucose; carb count; Symlin dosage; pump-suggested insulin amount; bolus amount taken; dual wave bolus amount taken. Right now this much information is not too informative, but later it may prove valuable.

My advice? I think this is an important tool in your diabetes toolkit. The many warnings about hypos means that I'm being very careful about usage, and you probably should too.

The biggest benefit? The feeling of being full, I really missed that and it's nice to have it back for at least one meal a day (for now).

posted by Bernard @ 5:51 AM