I’m trying out symlin. So far it’s working well, but I’m still trying to figure out the dose timing and practicalities of taking it.
Questions:
What do you do when you eat two meals/snacks, say, two hours apart? Do you take another symlin dose or not? How long do you find the effect lasts after a symlin injection? And: how far ahead of eating do you take the symlin?
You take Symlin at mealtime, a meal that consists of at least 250 calories or 30 carbs. I am having a late snack of peanut butter and grapes. I bolused for them, but didn't take a dose of Symlin. At dinner, later tonight, I'll take the Symlin.
I typically pre-bolus and take my Symlin then.
I wouldn't take another dose unless three and a half to four hours has gone by.
It's worked well for me, primarily by greatly reducing BG spikes after I eat, while taking half the insulin.
Yeah, I’ve read the prescribing information sheet, and I’ve been using it for a week now, with considerable success (at preventing big post meal spikes). I’m just curious about the details of what more experienced folks do, in practice.
I don't know if I am a typical user, but I've been on Symlin for two years now with great success.
You were asking about snacks and it was funny (for me) because just at that moment I was eating one and knew that lunch had been about three hours earlier and dinner was going to be in a few hours. Speaking of which, it's time for dinner!
If I can help with anything else, just ask :)
Haha, thanks! Hope you enjoyed your snack. :)
Do you use a different, higher ICR/bolus rate for when you're not using Symlin (e.g. the grapes)? And do you take it for big fatty meals that normally wouldn't cause a spike anyway, or not?
Excellent questions!
No, I don't have a different ICR when I'm not using Symlin. I intentionally paired the grapes with peanut butter to help ease the spike. Which fits in with your next question about bigger, fatty meals. I don't change the ICR or my dose of Symlin when I have a higher-fat meal. I wear an OmniPod though, so I am able to change how the bolus is delivered and I do extend my insulin dose with a higher-fat meal.
One would think Symlin would help with a snack, like grapes, just like it does with a full meal, but there must be some residual benefit that carries you close to the next meal. I know I didn't spike yesterday :)
I wasn't much help with this, but as I said, excellent questions! I know I will be paying much more attention to see if I notice anything that I might not have made the connection to before.
No, that’s very helpful, thanks!
In case you’re interested, I just asked my doctor about the action duration. He said the half life of symlin is about 45 minutes, but the tail hangs around until about 4 hours. So your residual action idea certainly seems likely (and that would be an additional reason for taking it consistently at every meal).