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The Amazing Hormone Amylin, Can It Help With Weight Loss & Blood Sugar Regulation:

Healthy Living With Type 1 Diabetes The Hormone Amylin And Type 1 Diabetes:So after having a couple of amazing conversations over on the Facebook page, a lovely young lady asked me if injecting insulin was the reason why she was gaining weight after her type 1 diagnosis.  

While I’ve heard this several times, is it the insulin that is causing the weight gain, or could it be something else?  Perhaps a hormone that as type 1 diabetics we also stop producing since our beta cells have died off.  

Have you ever heard of Amylin? Could the lack of this hormone be the reason why she is seeing an increase in her weight? What is amylin anyway, and is it something we should be concerned with if we are no longer producing it?

These are all great questions and honestly this was news to me as well as I’ve never heard of it.  So lets take a closer look at what this little hormone does and if it has a direct impact on our overall health as type 1 diabetics!

Function Of Amylin?

So what is amylin? Or as its also called, pramlintide, and how can it help us? Amylin is a peptide hormone (insulin’s partner in crime) which is released by the beta cells in response to ingesting food. This hormone, is also released at the same time as insulin, but in different quantities and its primary function is to help aid in the digestive process by helping to control the rate of digestion.

The complete range of functions of amylin is still not fully known, but its main function has been determined to be to help to slow the speed at which food is digested and glucose is released into the bloodstream after a meal. Essentially, amylin keeps too much glucose from appearing in the blood in the first place.

Amylin accomplishes this in a number of ways. It decreases appetite by promoting a feeling of fullness, hence reducing food intake. It slows gastric emptying and inhibits the secretion of digestive enzymes, all of which slow the appearance of glucose in the blood after a meal and it also slows the secretion of glucagon, which otherwise causes additional glucose release by the liver at mealtimes.

In short, the release of amylin minimizes glucose spikes that often occur after meals. I know, frustrating right!  I mean this disease is already hard enough, now this.  Fortunately for us, we do have another option to replace this important hormone that has also died off with our beta cells so go ahead and keep on reading.

 

Can We Replace Amylin?

Well, your in luck! Welcome to the world of symlin, the equivalent to amylin. Symlin minimizes the blood glucose rise that occurs after we eat. We have all dealt with the dreaded post meal spikes which can make us feel as though we are drudging through concrete.  Post meal spikes can have a negative impact on our A1C as well as progress the development of complications further down the road, so symlin is a viable option to help prevent this from happening. 

To good to be true, right?  Well, symlin can also be a valuable weight loss tool. Users of symlin lose an average of 6.6 pounds over the first six months of use, mainly by consuming smaller portions at meals and snacking less often. Given that many people with type 1 diabetes have difficulty controlling their appetite (likely due to lack of the amylin hormone), adding symlin to one’s treatment has obvious lifestyle benefits.

Symlin, like insulin, is taken by injection in a fixed dose typically before meals (I can also be taken post meal). The FDA has approved symlin for use by adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes who take rapid-acting insulin at meals.  The bad news:  Symlin has not yet approved for use in children but several studies have shown that symlin is safe and effective when used in a supervised manner by adolescents.

Side Effects Of Symlin:

The most common side effects of Symlin include:

  • severe hypoglycemia
  • severe ongoing nausea
  • headache
  • dizziness
  • drowsiness
  • vision problems
  • hunger
  • weakness
  • sweatingHealthy Living With Type 1 Diabetes The Hormone Amylin And Type 1 Diabetes:
  • confusion
  • irritability
  • fast heart rate
  • feeling jittery

More common side effects may include:

  • nausea
  • vomiting
  • loss of appetite
  • headache

Its always a good idea to chat with your medical team if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away, particularly if your finding yourself having constant hypoglycemic episodes.

If you feel that you’ve done everything in your power, including revamping your diet and your still finding difficulty controlling your post meal numbers, this is definitely something that you should discuss with your doctor.

If this article on amylin was helpful, please leave a comment right below my bio or hit the share button to share with your friends :-)

Thanks for Reading!

Chris

Chris - The Organic Diabetic

As a type 1 diabetic, I made the switch to an organic lifestyle several years ago after being diagnosed with Diabetes in 2006. Living with diabetes is hard enough, why make it more difficult by consuming products with chemicals, toxins and other harmful, unhealthy ingredients. To me, the choice was easy and just made sense. We hope you enjoy our blog! Feel free to look around and check out all of our products by clicking through the tabs above! Thanks for stopping by and also please be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter by liking our pages below! You never know what freebies we will be giving away!! Don't forget to check out the website as well at www.theorganicdiabetic.org

9 thoughts on “The Amazing Hormone Amylin, Can It Help With Weight Loss & Blood Sugar Regulation:

  • Ang Fitzgerald

    Hi there,
    I found this article incredibly helpful & useful. I was not aware at all about this hormone, we could all be lacking, until reading this. So thank you, I’m definitely going to discuss this with my doctor, & see if I have the option available here.

    Many Thanks again !

    Reply
    • Hi Ang! That’s great. Honestly I never knew about it as well so it was pretty eye opening to me. Granted my first go to is diet and I’ve been successful with that thus far along with exercise when it comes to managing my type 1, but I know a lot of people who are doing the same and still finding difficulty so this is certainly a good option to discuss with your doctor. Hope all is well and thanks for chiming in 😀

      Reply
  • I’m late to the post, but I learned about Amylin from the book “to think like a pancreas,” I asked my doctor about it.
    He told me he was thinking about asking me if I wanted to try a pramlintide. The symlin was something I would have to give every time I ate, but being on the pump I would like victoza better.
    I saw the commercials on TV but didn’t know what it was until he brought it up and the light went off in my head.
    The side effects of nausea, vomiting, lost of appetite is what I experience. I would eat everyone food at the table where we would not have a to go box. Now I’m the first one full and we have three to go boxes. My Daughter likes it.

    Reply
    • Have you noticed a huge difference in your blood sugars John? I’ve talked to a lot of people who seem to have the same type of side effects that you do, particularly with the vomiting

      Reply
  • I took Symlin from 2005-2007. It made me extremely nauseated as soon as I took it and I wouldn’t be able to eat a bite of food. I went from 125 lbs to 105 lbs within months. But it also made my blood sugar drop drastically and the directions that I was given did not work for me. Overall, I stuck with it because I liked being skinny, but it was a huge hassle for me.

    Reply
  • Hi Chris.Great article.I have difficulty falling asleep and waking too early.My friend advised me to try GABAPENTIN but I’m worried because I don’t want to gain weight.I’ve read an article somewhere that Exercise and Eat healthier are some ways you control your weight while taking Gabapentin. Do you agree?

    Reply
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