PAM & ALLEY - 1-4-11 (Tues)

I saw on Marci's thread that he dropped below 40 today. Anything different? Type/quantity of food, activity level? Maybe getting the KD out of his diet is finally yielding bigger results.

I'm tempted to say hold the dose and see if this drop happens again (in case it was a fluke), then if it does happen again, drop back to 3 drops. He had such a beautiful day on Sunday, but he dropped so fast today.

 

Hi Sheila, I have gone over this in my head and cannot figure out what happened. I am sure he is bouncing from the drop yesterday and am confident that the 4 drops are ok for now. The only thing that is possible is the damn syringe, may have given 1/2 drop too much! I remembered your advise about Beau, that just 4 drops sent him into hypo. The K-D is a thing of the past, and now his temptation to eat well is the parmesan cheese.
As soon as this bounce clears up, I think we will be ok again.
Just tested at +3 247, down 101 from shot.
Thanks again,
Pam & Alley

 

Are you making sure that the zero line on the syringe is actually printed at zero - so there is no part of the stopper top above that line (needle facing up)? My syringes can have up to .25u above the zero line cat(2)_steam I just make sure I check it each and every time before I draw the dose so I can compensate for it.

 

Yes, I am very careful to check the zero line. I even find some stoppers are lopsided, when you roll the barrell facing up, slightly different line comes up. Practice like crazy, I am seeing the zero line in my sleep!! Had to be my error somehow, today he is fine, a little high, but that is expected for awhile. Did I read somewhere here that there is actually a micro-dosing syringe available? Only the cost has to be crazy. I realize these syringes are mass produced, but do they not have a QA department???? USA made too!
Have a great day,
Pam & Alley

 

My PK gets aprox .35 u and I use ReliOn syringes, which are SO unreliable that I have contacted the comapny and now am enrolled in a quality test type thing with them where I get to point out all their flaws and what I think could be imroved.

For my troubles, they have given me a box of syringes. humph! ( well, that and prepaid shipping lables and boxes and containers and such to return bad syringes...I returned 15 used syringes last week!)

Anywhoo- what I have decided to do for accuracy is to cut a slip of paper the depth of the insulin I want to pull consistently. I guess a poor mans measurer!

I am going to make it so there is plenty of space to hold it with finger and thumb, but make the end slice the width of the .35u as I see it. Then I am going to put clear tape on the whole thing to steady it up.

so- just an idea for you if that might help you measure your drops more accurately.

 

Thanks for the tip, it will help, 4 drops in poorly marked syringes is a royal pain! My husband does all the insulin draws (I shoot) and he said the paper marking would work for him, thanks!
that is just great that you are working with the syringe company quality testing. I worked for a gage manufacturing company for 25 years and we were very thorough on our quality control, it upsets me that every company cannot take it that seriously. Just an even line people! AND an even stopper.
Thanks again,
Pam & Alley

 

I think (know) it comes down to the bottom line (no pun intended). Do we want to pay $15 for 100 syringes or $18? There is some acceptable error rate that the FDA allows them to get away with and that's that. Bear in mind that humans are supposed to use these syringes at doses well above 1U so errors of .25u don't make a big difference in response to the insulin.

 

Melissa's suggestion of marking the barrel everytime has sent my husband into creative mode. (We call him MacGiver). Right now he is trying out a fish hook to clasp around the barrel at the marking point and fill above it with insulin. It would not matter if the line is off or missing if put in the exact same place with the depth of the fish hook. It is for HIS special cat, so he will come up with something to get the exact dose everytime.
I think we are almost past the bouncing stage, hopefully Alley will be back to nicer readings soon.
P & A

 

That's really cool - using a the depth of a fish hook to get a consistent dose.
Ok, I have a newbie Lev question...I just looked at your ss and saw that Alley dropped to 39...does that number not call for a dose decrease? Again, just a newbie question - just trying to understand Lev. I hope he feels better today.

 

The ONLY thing I can come up with is that he had an extra drop or Lev, it is SO hard to dose exactly 4 drops! He did not settle in on 3 drops, even tried 2, so I know right now his dose is as good as can be expected. He was 318 AMPS, so I think he still has a small bounce in him from the 39. When he comes off of that, I think we will be in the low yellow PS (crossed fingers) and blues, don't mind not seeing the greens, because everytime he has been there, it was kinda scary.
Never know what to expect with this kitties!
Pam & Alley

 

I can't even imagine trying to draw 4 drops. You are doing an amazing job! :RAHCAT
I know about the scary greens too. Klinger got down to 28 once (on prozinc)...my heart never pumped so fast!
Thanks for explaining his numbers to me. :smile:

 

Pam, today (Fri) is shaping up to be a good day so far, number-wise, for Alley...

As for the greens, I know it is hard to let go of the "fast-acting" insulin management where dropping below 70 made your heart beat faster and dropping into the 30 made you panic, but lev is so much more gentle that you really don't have to be concerned above 40, and even the 30s, if mid to late cycle, are safe.

Where you want to be "alert" to the numbers is when the 30s happen early, before about +5. I always feed a number below 60-ish and if he is as low as 30s I retest until the BG starts to come up. A lot of times they will hang at the lower numbers, maybe dropping a little bit more, but very slowly, before slowly climbing back up again.

I think it took me until Jeddie to really stop freaking out over the low numbers. After 2+ years of vetsulin with Beau seeing lows, even on lev, was alarming. Now I'm kinda like, "oh, I should feed him".....

 

He did not finish the day very well, his PMBS was 365. His nadir is at +6/7 most of the time. I thought he might be done with his bounce from 39 by now, but guess not. Alley threw up twice yesterday, and I stopped the small amount of parmesan cheese on his food because it made my stomach upset thinking of him trying to eat again smelling that!! Yuck. Anyhow, I boiled some b/s chicken breast and shredded it into his Evo, which he loves like crazy. Do you think that could possibly raise his numbers? Darn those pinks, it feels like I lost a whole week now.
At least when Alley hit 39, I just encouraged him to eat his regular food, but I knew I would be in trouble that day when he dropped to 91 at +2. Stayed home all day to watch him. When he tested at 39 I knew beforehand because his eyes were glassy and he looked lethargic. He did not feel good, but it wasn't like any hypo from N by far!
How is Jeddie doing? Is he allowing you to test at random? Funny how everything is on their terms and we just go along for the ride. Dogs have masters, cats have staff...

 

That's not a horrible day. Low 100s for a nadir is good. And, yes, he may still be bounding from the 39, and/or from throwing up twice yesterday.

Boiled chicken won't raise his BG. I use boiled chicken breast as a treat after testing. they love it!

Jeddie is usually pretty good about testing these days, he just wasn't going to make it easy for me to get #7 the other day... I skipped spot checks today because I was busy doing some illustrations and I had a headache all afternoon. I'll get a couple of checks tomorrow.

 

Good morning, Pam & Alley,
I have another newbie question...was looking at your ss again and I noticed that on 1/1 you stopped feeding the K-D, the drop to 39, the vommiting...I know you said that you've tried 3 drops before, but that was before you stopped the K-D, right? Maybe it's worth another shot (pun intended). :lol:

 

I love it when people are creative!

I say whatever works for you will help. This is what I use: Micrometer
In case he likes tools - what guy doesn't ;-)

 

Vicky, please tell me about this micrometer please!

Pam

 

You asked for it. Call me crazy cat lady on this one for sure, but I brag about it when I can. http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y161/F ... tructions/ Those are the Photobucket photos I made to show how to use it. Some show how NOT to use it, because it needs to line up where the top of the barrel starts so you are measuring only what is holding insulin, not the plastic of the barrel. You can blow up the pictures a little to read the text I placed on some of them.

1mm = 1U on my syringes GNP brand from Hocks - 1U would NOT equal 1mm on all syringes, as some barrels are smaller/bigger around than others!!!

It works best to hold syringe and micrometer up to natural light or light of a TV screen/computer monitor. CFL bulbs cause a horrible glare. I slowly push out a drop at a time till the amount of insulin lines up with the micrometer points.

Like I said, whatever you do that works for you. I like the micrometer because the markings are rarely consistent from syringe to syringe, even in same box. The micrometer takes away the guess work.

I knew hubby would be intrigued!

 

Marcy, in the beginning of the week we were thinking maybe 5 drops? Now after his bounce he is getting pretty stable. His AMPS was 187 and I did not shoot until I coaxed Alley to eat a little bit more and then retested him - 260 then I shot 4 drops. i expect him to go low today because +2 was 140 and his nadir is usually at +6/7. hoping he doesn't go too low, and if not, will try to stay a while at 4 drops. if he drops too low, then maybe 3 drops is in order. the K-D was just a swipe for flavor, but it did make a difference in his numbers after he went off of it. I am now mixing shredded chicken breast into his food (about 1 tsp) because he needs an incentive to eat. Doesn't take after me!!

Take care
P & A