8/08 Mr. Howell AMBG 55 - Dosing advice after quick drop?

Good morning, LL
Yesterday
Oooh I knew I shouldn't go to bed last night after his +3 was 65 so I put 1/2can HC food with 1/2can LC - I set the alarm to get up at his +6 and totally missed it. I woke up late this morning and the DBF was late for work too - and Mr. Howell was clearly upset in the kitchen.
I know it's too early for another dose reduction, but maybe I should have reduced him that more than just .25u since his numbers have been sooo low. I feel nervous every time I shoot if his AMBG/PMBG is below 200. :?
I don't want to skip a dose but I feel like even .5u is too much for him. Also when he is this ravenously hungry/low BG I cannot deny him his food just for the sake of retesting in an hour. :sad:
Hope everyone has a good day.

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMPS 55 - skip dosage

Hi guys .. well look at mr howell go! That certainly is a nice start to the day, hoping he comes up a bit and surfs the day away for you .. have a great day guys!

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMPS 55 - skip dosage

Thank you! I ALWAYS read the 'Data ready to shoot low #'s' sticky so many times, and I know I should stall and shoot without feeding, but I just get worried he was in a hypo state early this morning and I wasn't up to help him out of it sooner.
I never know what to do! :? He certainly was playful after breakfast though - I know he's happy when he sits down and purrs after eating. How can I deny him?! Gosh I am a pushover.

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMPS 55 - skip dosage

Wow! What great numbers for Mr Howell! I hope the skipped dose doesn't show up too much tonight.

Have a wonderful day!

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMBG 55, skip dose, +3 70

+3 70. So far so good. I have no idea what Mr. Howell has planned for himself this evening... I'll be able to watch him the next few days but I'm hopefully starting work/training by midweek so I'm crossing my fingers that he will be a little more stable by then. If wishes were fishes, I know. I need to be a bit more patient, he has only been on this diet for 2 weeks. I'm glad to see he hasn't hit super high numbers in at least 4 days, antijinx.

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMBG 55, skip dose, +3 70, +6 109

+6 109. Mr. H is doing surprisingly well without his shot. I'm anticipating this evening giving him maybe 1.25u instead of the 1.75. We shall see!

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMBG 55, skip dose, +3 70, +6 109

you're so cute!

the way to develop a hard heart is to be convinced yourself that it is the very best thing for him! he's not going to waste away in a half hour - and that would give you a few minutes to check his BG again and to be sure he's not hungry because he's hypoglycemic. in 30 minutes he'd also rise higher.

the bottom line is that the way to OTJ is to be able to steel your heart and shoot lower - but then test test test to make sure that he's ok. i know i thought "but if he drops from 300 to 200 with 1u, then won't he also go from 150 to 50 with 1unit?" the answer is not necessarily. as lantus does its magic the curves flatten out. you stop having the steeper drops that you have when you're first getting controlled. but every cat is different - and the only thing you can do is test to let you know how Mr. Howell (still loving his name) is responding.

never shoot him at a lower-than-you're-used-to number and leave him, though. here's the sticky you want to re-read: Lantus & Levemir - Shooting & Handling Low Numbers

so i'm sending you encouragement vibes! be brave! you can do this!

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMBG 55, skip dose, +3 70, +6 109

Mr. Howell is keeping you busy!
You kept Mr. Howell safe. Think of it as a fur shot.
Sometime in the future you'll likely get the opportunity to try stalling instead.

You want to count how long since his last shot in a case like this. So he was actually 109 at +18. When shot time comes around tonight, he'll be at +24. After you shoot, the count starts over again.

Not sure what to say about the dose. The shed will be drained some and you will likely see some higher numbers until it's replenished. Put a shout out for some opinions how much to shoot.

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMBG 55, skip dose, +15 70, +18 109, +23

Julie, thanks so much. I know he's not going to starve to death if I wait to feed him for 30min-1hr, but he certainly makes it sound as if he will!
The story behind his name is simply that he was found on Howell Street so it's his shelter name. I have gotten him to respond best to 'Meow-Meow', 'Kittycat', and 'Dumbledore' on occasion. :lol: :lol: But NEVER Mr. Howell.
He's +23 237 right now.
I'm thinking 1.5u tonight, but I still don't know!

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMBG 55, skip dose, +15 70, +18 109, +23

i would sure be curious what he did last night between the 65 and this morning's 55. and it was with 1/2 can of high carb?

i think you should ask for dosing advice from someone with more experience. i suspect he'll be ok tonight, because of the drained shed, but he might need to be reduced more. i really don't know - but i'd encourage you to ask. put it in the subject line so you get eyes on it.

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMBG 55, skip dose, +15 70, +23 237, Dos

Yes, last night I gave him 3/4can LC FF at PMPS, then another 1/2can LC + 1/2can HC FF at +3. He did not eat all of it by this morning, but was still acting as if he had no food and was starving (my guess is he just HATES Turkey&Giblets that much).

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMBG 55, skip dose, +15 70, +23 237, Dos

i'm going to ask for some more experienced folks to peek at mr. howell's ss - i'm really uncomfortable with this - to have had him get down to 65, then give him 1/2 can of high carb and only have him up to 55 by morning . . . well i just don't know enough to advise you but i think something needs to change in his plan.

hopefully someone will see it by morning and can give you thoughts on dose. if you don't have a comment here would you please post in the morning and include "need dose advice for this morning" in the subject line?

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMBG 55, skip dose, +15 70, +23 237, Dos

Yes Julie, I can certainly do that, thank you so much. I posted another reply at his PMPS but I guess it didn't go through.
He was at 319 PMPS so I went ahead and gave him 1.5u with 3/4can Cod&Shrimp FF. When I got back he had eaten maybe half of it so I put out some Beef (which he LUVS), tested at +5 138. He has tons of energy tonight and he's currently in a heated match against the coffee table legs. :lol: :lol:
If anyone sees this tonight and cares to have some input, I would love to hear it!

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMBG 55, skip dose, +15 70, +23 237, Dos

my input? i hope he wins! :lol: nothing against the legs of the coffee table, but i just like to cheer on the furry purry guy!

could be that you edited farther down in the condo and it didn't change the subject line. i'm not sure. you have to edit just the first post of the day for the subject line to get changed and be visible from the main lantus forum page. i sent a pm to a couple of people that know a lot and asked if anyone could take a look. he just is going downward in dose pretty fast and we want him to be safe.

are you mostly around during the day to check on him?

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMBG 55 - Dosing advice after quick drop

:lol: :lol: I meant input on his condo, not his match vs. the coffee table :lol: :lol: But he DID show it who is boss...
I will be around tomorrow during most of the day but perhaps not the evening, and I'm going in to schedule job training on Wed. morning so I may or may not be working Wed or the rest of the week. I do live only 2 blocks from where ever I need to be at any given time (volunteer position, job, school, and my apt. all in a 4-block radius, amazing), which is awesome and convenient, so I can be home pretty quickly.

Re: 8/08 Mr. Howell AMBG 55 - Dosing advice after quick drop

Well, I completely agree -- you shouldn't have gone to bed on a 65 that was a dropping number. At the least, a test at +3.5 and +4 would have told you where things were going. Even putting out food and setting the alarm for +6 could have meant that Mr. H was sitting in the 30s or 40s for almost 3 hours.

It looks like you reduced the dose. That's fine. I do think that you need to try to shoot at least something every cycle. What it looks like to me is that you panic and skip the shot which results in a high number at the next pre-shot time or Mr. H is bouncing after a lower number. At some point, if you want to see Mr. H continue to make good progress, you're going to have to steel yourself to shoot lower numbers. Maybe not a 55 quite yet, but shooting a 68 should be OK.