I have been on Symlin for about 3 months now but I just started a pump two weeks ago. I am really struggling with the timing of Symlin and bolusing. I know when I take a normal bolus and Symlin before a meal, my sugars drop rapidly and I hit lows that won't come up. So I tried using dual wave and square boluses. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. I usually see my sugars drop slowly over an hour after eating after taking Symlin and eating a meal. After an hour, I always see a rapid spike in sugars. I end up taking more insulin just to keep it from spiking over 300 and it will eventually drop back down to normal range. Any ideas on how to prevent this spike an hour after eating? I don't want to take my full dose of bolus with my meal or else I could end up in a coma due to the Symlin. What percentages and duration typically work for dual waves or squares?
Another example just happened. I was 135 before dinner. I injected 45mcg's of Symlin before eating. After the meal, I noticed my sugar was sitting steady around 115. I square bolused for my meal and had only delivered 1U when my sugar started dropping rapidly. Am I just on a too high of dose of symlin? Basals causing this? I have no idea why Symlin by itself would cause such a rapid drop in sugar levels...
Hey there...I just replied to your other thread. I see youre on a pump...
As far as the dosage...its a personal thing. I take 30mcg and it seems to work fine for me. What I do is take the Symlin before the meal, bolus after the meal. I take my normal bolus with 20% upfront the rest stretched out over an hour.
Another thing about Symlin...although it does slow digestion, Im told it wont slow digestion of fast acting sugars (i.e. OJ or soda) so you can correct for a low. That said, its smart to have a glucagon kit handy :)
Also, you should only be taking Symlin for meals that are 500 calories or 25g carbs or more. Anything less you could have hypo issues.
Do you know your I:C ratios for different parts of the day?