Does that have something to do with it?

I have a question for the all-knowing blogosphere.

Symlin/Amylin. (no, that’s not the question. Be patient…I’ll get to it…)

Symlin is the brand name of the man-made drug now available that resembles amylin. Amylin is a natural hormone that is created by the pancreas and released into the blood after meals. It’s job is to slow the rate at which food is digested and absorbed, to reduce the production of glucose by the liver, and also to reduce appetite. Many of us have heard about it, and know people using it.

I know that I probably would benefit from symlin, and will give it a shot (ha!) soon. I have pretty dramatic post meal BG spikes, but then come back down to target within a few hours. I can’t add more insulin because I would be dropping too low shortly after. I think I could do better by making smarter food choices (lower GI items), bolusing 15-20 minutes before eating (I try, but it’s pretty damn hard most of the time), and by limiting the amount of carbs I eat in a meal. I have also tried John Walsh’s “Super Bolus” with promising results, but it’s a complicated bolus and takes a little bit longer to program.

That list of stuff exhausts me just thinking about it. So, I’ll try symlin and see how that goes. I’m waiting for it to come out in pen form (recently FDA approved) and to get on a CGM. Both are (relatively) right around the corner.

My question is this; We know that amylin/symlin slows the digestion of food (therefore slowing the rise in BG). We know that people without diabetes naturally produce amylin. I know that I don’t produce amylin. Does that mean that my food digests (and raises my BG) faster than a person without diabetes (because they produce amylin)?

Shit. That hargeniusdly seems fair. I’m already pancreatically challenged, and the timing of today’s insulins are not fast enough as it is. Don’t tell me my food is raising my blood sugar even faster than the next guy and his perfectly working pancreas!

If my carbs are like Road Runner then I’m like Wile E. Coyote getting all effed up trying to chase them down (using all sorts of questionable contraptions).

I hope that C-Peptide (another hormone produced by the pancreas that is not in the man-made insulin I use) doesn’t do anything terribly important!

Maybe it is responsible for boosting IQ. That would explain a lot

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Scott K. Johnson

Patient voice, speaker, writer, and advocate. Living life with diabetes and telling my story. All opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily represent the position of my employer.

Diagnosed in April of 1980, I recognize the incredible mental struggle of living with diabetes. Read more…