Symlin.
I can’t express how beneficial this medication has been for me so far.
Where has it been all these years? How have I made it so far without it?
It’s been somewhere around three weeks so far, maybe a little more, that I’ve been using it.
Week one was on the pen, and it sucked. The nausea, the shot thing again, the new and unknown timing of digestion and how to match the insulin to it.
It’s all relative, and I’m sure the pen is a great improvement over the vial & syringe.
Week two and three I used a second pump with Symlin in it. Yes Kathy, Gary Scheiner (rock on G-Man!!) was a big influence on my decision to try pumping Symlin. I worked with him for some pointers on it and to clarify some of the questions I had. I also got past the nausea (mostly) during this time.
After two weeks (or so), I can say that so far I love this approach. That the convenience of having my Symlin in a pump so outweighs the drawbacks of a second “set” of pump stuff. I’ll talk more about why in a different post soon.
Making it convenient for me to use plays a HUGE part of using it consistently. Using it consistently plays a HUGE part of reaping the benefits I’ve noticed.
Those benefits include a significant decrease in appetite, as well as very “gentle” BG curves. It’s amazing really. I’m almost hypnotized by watching my post meal blood sugars. I’ve never seen anything like it. Steady, steady, steady, then a slow and gentle rise, but not too high, then back to target. All slow and gentle curves.
It’s like I’ve tamed the roller coaster.
The appetite connection is huge too, and that alone would be worth it for me. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I feel satisfied after eating less.
Satisfied and less are two very important words to me right there.
I’m in love with my Symlin, and can totally feel that my body has missed this important hormone for a long time. It seems to be, so far, a very useful tool in my diabetes management toolbox.
Time will tell if my struggling A1C’s and weight will show any positive progress. I’m pretty sure they both will…