Just thought I'd drop some info on this for the other diabetics on here who wouldn't mind a little extra help with their diabetes.

I just went in for my 3-month appointment today and my doc & diabetes educator gave me some information on hormonal treatment for diabetes using Symlin (synthesized Amylin). The website has more information on it: http://www.symlin.com/210AboutSymlin.aspx

For those of you who don't want to read through pages of stuff, Amylin is a hormone that is produced in a normal, healthy pancreas. It helps to regulate how quickly and how much sugar enters the bloodstream from your stomach, intestines and liver.

With diabetics (both types) the pancreas will produce reduced amounts of Amylin or it won't produce it at all. This leads to blood sugars that spike after meals, or irregular blood sugar patterns after meals. This leads to higher A1C levels and tends to drag down on your general feeling of wellbeing (durr I guess, high blood sugars make anybody feel like shit).

Used with insulin, Symlin can apparently improve your body's response to food by helping to prevent these fast blood sugar peaks after meals and I think it also reduces the amount of insulin you'll end up using (as it limits the amount of sugar that will end up in your blood stream). It also acts to curb your appetite, so if you're a diabetic with weight problems you might want to ask your doctor about this.

I'd just be excited if I could bring down my A1C levels even more with the stuff. The post-meal jumps are really bad when I eat big meals (like cookout, or going out to eat at a nice restaurant), but when your eating schedule isn't as regular as you'd like it to be you've got to get food into yourself somehow.

8/16/2006 10:45:04 PM

Wow... Good to know.

Thanks

8/16/2006 10:49:46 PM

^^Thanks for the news, I'll bring this up to my brother (the diabetic) and the fam.

8/17/2006 12:48:53 AM

you fucking fatties

put down the cake

hows that for sugar regulation

maybe you should have thought about that before feeding your face all your life until you developed this disease

8/17/2006 8:25:59 AM

>0 >0

8/17/2006 8:27:31 AM

this is another medicine for people with diabetes to try.
BYETTA improves blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes and is used with pills like Glucophage® (metformin), and/or a sulfonylurea like Amaryl® (glimepiride), Glucotrol® (glipizide), Micronase® and others. Its a shot.

It works well for my mom and helps maintain her blood sugar at ~80.
http://www.byetta.com/index.jsp

[Edited on August 17, 2006 at 9:24 AM. Reason : ]

8/17/2006 9:23:38 AM

Excoriator,

tell that to my 95 lb 17 year old sister who's pancreas was killed by a bad flu and a little genetic predisposition.

Not all diabetics brought it on themselves

8/17/2006 9:31:43 AM

ya but 99.99% did

8/17/2006 9:36:42 AM

not true at all.

8/17/2006 10:14:13 AM

90% of diabetic cases are brought on by being overweight, poor diet, and bad genes (type II, and a combination of these)

type I is more serious and we don't know exactly what causes the pancreatic cells to become immune targets or what else would stop them from working.

(heard this on a doctors radio show last night) I may be a few % points off but less than 10

Quote :

"Type 1 diabetes Results from the body's failure to produce insulin, the hormone that "unlocks" the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter and fuel them. It is estimated that 5-10% of Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes Results from insulin resistance (a condition in which the body fails to properly use insulin), combined with relative insulin deficiency. Most Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes"

from the ADA website http://www.diabetes.org/about-diabetes.jsp

8/17/2006 10:30:34 AM

Quote :

"ya but 99.99% did"

No.

Seriously, just no. A lot of people who get type 2 are also going to get it due to a genetic predisposition to the disease as well as other factors. Anyone in my family's bloodline on my dad's side is prone to the disease, as I got type I and so did my dad's sister.

It honest to god doesn't fucking matter how people get the disease anyway. If you need treatment you need treatment whether it's due to your own mistakes or not (and instead of calling fat people names, we could try spreading education about the most common bad habits people have that contribute to their obesity and development of diabetes).

It's not like all type 2 diabetics are making dietary choices like having 5 sodas a day or something. They're making the same dietary choices as millions of other regular, healthy americans. The trick is that their pancreas isn't working right and they either don't know it, don't really care, or haven't been scared enough into caring that they're going to change their lifestyles for the better. Just calling diabetics names and spouting ignorant drivel isn't going to help the problem.

8/17/2006 9:08:31 PM

^agreed. Type 2 people can just have a bowl of pasta and experience a blood sugar spike. It doesn't take cakes and sodas and such, although obviously those cause it too. That said ..

VERY COOL!

8/17/2006 9:12:48 PM

Lol

I was SUCH a fatass when I was 4 years old.

I'm 6'6" and 175 dripping wet... I fail to see how I brought this on myself. I guess me and Mindstorm are that 00.01%

I tried symlin, but you have to inject it separately, and that's bullshit and it didn't really make me feel any better so I dropped that.

Now the Aerodyne treatment for my feet, thats awesome

[Edited on August 17, 2006 at 9:50 PM. Reason : .]

8/17/2006 9:47:12 PM

lantus, humulin, humalog, byetta, symlin, novolin, novolog lotsa meds

8/17/2006 10:42:23 PM

novalog works the best for me.

That Apidra (sp) crap from Aventis was horrible.

8/17/2006 11:05:31 PM

I'm using humalog right now, but I'll see if my doctor recommends I switch back to novolog down the road.

I wouldn't really mind giving myself a post-meal shot if I could use a pen to do it, and if it brought my blood sugar levels down to normal after big meals.

We'll see if I try this therapy or not, I have to get more information about it from my doctors first.

They haven't recommended anything to me that was absolute crap though. I think they usually wait for something to prove itself before they recommend it to most of their patients.

8/17/2006 11:11:20 PM

a lot of the difference when it comes to these products is simply the patient. Different people react differently to medications. I was on Humalog since it came out, then switched to Novalog about a year ago. I found that the humalog lost effectiveness when I got down to the bottom of the cartridge. The novalog seems to preserve its effectiveness longer for me.

I'm signed up to get the intra-vascular implant for constant blood sugar monitoring.

[Edited on August 18, 2006 at 10:03 AM. Reason : .]

8/18/2006 10:03:20 AM

any of you have the pump? my sister has had it for a few years now

8/18/2006 10:11:22 AM

I've had my pump for 10 years now.

8/18/2006 10:26:16 AM

Had my pump for two.

Only been a diagnosed diabetic for three.

8/18/2006 10:08:37 PM

Did anyone hear about the new powdered inhalation insulin? I just saw it at the pharmacy today.

oh i found it...its called exubera

[Edited on August 26, 2006 at 1:18 AM. Reason : http://www.exubera.com/content/con_index.jsp?setShowOn=../content/con_index.jsp&setShowHighlightOn=.]

8/26/2006 1:11:28 AM

Haha...

8/26/2006 2:20:42 AM