Just throwing it out there…has anyone tried it or thought about it?
A TuD member wrote a guide to Symlin in three blog posts. Click on the links below to read them:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
I will read it, thanks! I am specifically interested, though, in people’s (as many as are out there) experiences with it…if they have anything personal to report.
There’s also a symlin users forum group which gives more feedback. I had used it pre-CGM (I got it as a sample from my parents who are physicians), but found it hard to use with MDI alone. I also never went up to the full dosage. It took me a lot longer to get used to it, but I did like the fullness effect it had.
I would love to try Symlin! Unfortunately it’s not available in Europe and since it requires a prescription, there’s no way I can get it 
I’m curious about it. I wear a pump and don’t want to go back to needles in the slightest…but for even better control? I don’t know. More reading to do!
i take it, it makes me feel funny in stomach, and i pee a lot and belch
but it has help my levels, and my weight
they say once i have taken it for a while and like i am suppose to, the funny queasy stomach stuff will go away.
i was taking it when i was on the pump, but i stopped pump and went back to the shots
Hi Laura,
I’ve been on symlin two different time. The first time was a few years ago, when I was still on MDI. I eventually gave up because I was having really bad hypo events. The slowing down of the digestion/absorption rates that symlin causes made it hard to recover from a low. I was sitting on my couch, sobbing, sweating like a madman, and chugging all the glucose tabs and food I could get my hands on. I decided the benefits (appetite satiety, weight loss, smoothing out of post-meal BG spikes) did not outweigh my problems from the low BG events.
A year or two ago, after having been pumping for awhile, I decided to give symlin another try. I thought that perhaps the symlin just exaggerated the problems I was already having with MDI, particularly wide BG swings and common hypo events. Pumping had helped me improve a lot in those two areas. I basically started having the same problems. Bad hypo events that were hard to recover from. Plus, it changes the math for one’s insulin:carb ratio. So that’s another wrinkle. I again gave up on it. The recurrent low events, for me, outweighed the benefits.
So I did not have success with it. Others here have had success, and hopefully they can point you in the right direction on how to incorporate symlin into your 'betes routine. It’s like we say, YMMV. It didn’t work for me, but it doesn’t mean it won’t work for you.
Cheers and good luck,
Mike
My Endo wouldn’t let me try going on Symlin because Im type 1.
After arguing with him, he finally allowed me to at least go on Metformin for a few months (in addition to my insulin) so I could fix my insulin resistance.
I’m currently pregnant, but once I’m back to being just myself, I’ll probably give Symlin a try.
Congratulations, Marps!
Wow, Mike. What an experience…or experiences. I have to admit, that’s kind of what I’ve been afraid of, myself. I have decent control right now (6.7) but still battle highs and lows. I don’t want to exacerbate the lows though, so now probably isn’t the best time for me to try it. I am curious about it because it attacks from a different place (replacing amylin). But I’m guess I’m just not curious enough at this point to go mucking around with my ratios, recovery time from hypos, more hypos, etc. Maybe in the future… Thanks so much for sharing with me!
That’s another thing I was wondering about…the GI side effects. How long have you been taking, it Germain?
I tried Symlin on two occasions – once while on MDI, and once while on my pump. I didn’t have success either time.
I don’t have issues with big spikes after meals, but wanted to try Symlin to help me take less insulin with meals. I found that I ended up needing the same amount of insulin, just at a different time (would bolus much later). Perhaps I never got the timing down right…I don’t know.
It also made me feel weird. First go around I remember nausea. Second time around, I didn’t get as much nausea, it just made me feel generally cruddy…hard to define really. But because of this, I wasn’t willing to work too hard on my timing issues.
Hi Laura,
I had bad luck with it, but that doesn’t mean you will. Check out the Symlin Users group, herein. There’s plenty of folks there who’ve had good experiences with it. They could likely give you some good guidance on how to incorporate symlin into your 'betus regime.
I wasn’t try to scare you off, ala, the store we’ve all heard such as “I had a grandparent who went blind and had his feet cut off.”
Good luck whichever way you go with it.
Cheers, Mike
Thank you everyone, for your input!!
I tried it. I was told to double my I:C ratio so I wouldn’t go low. I had to change it back to my regular ratio (1:10) because I was running high after eating. I didn’t notice enough benefit using it to continue using it so I stopped. If you decide to try it, they start you on a reduced dose and gradually work up to the maximum (60) per dose. I think I went 15, 30, 45, then 60, this is to get your body used to it to reduce the stomach discomfort.
I’m using Symlin and have been for about a year. Aside from the occasional nasuea, it works great. I’ve cut my insulin requirement by about 25 units a day. I’ve also lost about 20 lbs