Nicky - Question about Dose

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Luann and Nicky

Luann and Nicky

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Hey Guys,

Well Nicky did not bounce last night with a dose of 1.8U and he had some nice blues. But he did drop around 70%. As a result of that drop I lowered him a bit (1.6) to hopefully prevent such a drastic drop. Does that make sense or should I have kept him at 1.8U. Fortunately I am home today to monitor him. If I was not home I definitely would have been more conservative in the dose.

One thing I am noticing is that in the last 3 days I have been giving Nicky 4 oz of food in the morning and evening. Prior to this I gave him as much food as he ate and as you can tell from my spreadsheet he was all over the place on the amount of food he was eating. For the last 2 days he has been licking his plate clean and definitely wants more than 4 oz. I am somewhat surprised because his glucose values have been quite a bit lower and I thought his appetite would have decreased. He is not a huge cat and weighs around 10 lbs which the vet says is this ideal weight. Anyway this is just an observation.

Thank you again for your support and wonderful advice!!

-Luann
 
How lovely he didn't bounce, Luann! Your 1.6 sounds like a good idea. If he is flatter and higher than last night today, next time you could try the 1.8. It's all just data collection - each number gives us more information to use.

Just for thr future - when you are in a hurry to get to work in the morning, once you get a number above 200 and are sure he is rising, You can shoot.

It sounds like reducing the food helped! Robin will be excited to see that.
 
Luann and Nicky said:
Hey Guys, One thing I am noticing is that in the last 3 days I have been giving Nicky 4 oz of food in the morning and evening. Prior to this I gave him as much food as he ate and as you can tell from my spreadsheet he was all over the place on the amount of food he was eating. For the last 2 days he has been licking his plate clean and definitely wants more than 4 oz. I am somewhat surprised because his glucose values have been quite a bit lower and I thought his appetite would have decreased. He is not a huge cat and weighs around 10 lbs which the vet says is this ideal weight. Anyway this is just an observation.
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Good morning, Luann! (Love those blues you got last night!) Keep in mind that it's very likely Nicky will continue to feel hungry/want more food until you're at the point where he's giving you blue pre-shots & greens mid-cycle. The longer I'm in this dance with Bat-Bat, the more I believe that a significant part of the battle with diabetes is fine-tuning that balancing act between insulin dosage/ food intake (amts, timing of the feedings, etc.) for your own cat's unique metabolism.

One thing that might help you with that (believe it or not, my vet actually suggested this): Weigh Nicky daily for awhile; will help you see what to do in terms of adjusting the amt. of food required to maintain his best weight. Ha, must admit that some time back, I got sloppy about doing that, for a time ... and was surprised to see that Bat had put on an addl. 1/2-lb. (which is a lot, for a cat!) beyond her 11 lbs max. So I cut her rations back a bit, and it wasn't more than a couple of weeks before she was back to her "fighting weight." I also learned, through trial & error, that she's extremely carb-sensitive. (Dang!)

So I guess my point in telling you all this is: It all takes time, vigilance & appropriate adjustments based on the patterns you see emerging in your kitty --- and you're doing great, btw! Keep up the good work! :bighug: - Robin
 
I need help. At PMPS Nicky is 113. These low numbers at AMPS/PMPS are a new territory for my. I am stalling but I don't know how much he will go up. Should I skip?
 
Wow, looks like your boy is doing the ol' "hang-time" thing (hanging onto his insulin effect longer than 12 hrs). Happens sometimes; just stall for a bit (sometimes takes 3/4 re-checks) - and let's see what happens in the next hour ...
 
It may be that you'll have to skip tonight; we'll just have to see. (I'd do that re-check about 15-20 after the first test - withholding food, of course.)
You did finally get a shootable # this morning ... but now that you're seeing his first PMPS test this low, you're probably going to need to reduce his dose some (by maybe .25?) the next time you do shoot.
 
I just tested him again. He is now at 120. Very slowly going up. I now have 3 very hungry cats glaring at me. I will stall another 20 minutes but I don't think it will go up high enough. As for tomorrow, I will not be home to monitor, so I will have to conservative. I always get nervous when I am not home to monitor because he has these random deep drops. Would this be a case where I would give a drop or two?
 
With a number as low as 120, I would skip tonight if you can't hold out for a couple more re-checks. But frankly, I'd doubt that he's going to rise enough for you to shoot anyway. Tomorrow, let's see what his AMPS is - and if you get a shootable #, even if it's kinda high, I still think you're going to need to err on the side of caution with a reduction.
 
If you take a peek back a few months in Bat-Bat's SS, you'll see we had a similar problem (hang-time). And even when she rose to a shootable # the next cycle, when I elected not to reduce the dose, she dropped too far on me. Luckily, I was around to steer. But certainly wouldn't want to see that happen with Nicky when you can't be home. (Sorry, I know this is frustrating for you; I sure can relate!)
 
In my post above, I was referring specifically to 3/18/15. I was more aggressive in my dosing (only because I was always around to test frequently), and cannot recommend shooting below 200 to anyone else.
 
Robin&BB said:
It may be that you'll have to skip tonight; we'll just have to see. (I'd do that re-check about 15-20 after the first test - withholding food, of course.)
You did finally get a shootable # this morning ... but now that you're seeing his first PMPS test this low, you're probably going to need to reduce his dose some (by maybe .25?) the next time you do shoot.
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Agree! I know this is kinda scary, Luann, but it is great progress. You'll want to keep him safe while trying to keep him moving downward. It is a balancing act.
 
Yes, I'd skip tonight and would reduce by 0.25 for tomorrow. It is likely to be high since it will be 24 hours since the last shot, but I would still reduce. Good call on the 1.6 this morning. I was thinking more - clearly I was wrong!
 
Just realized: I think Luann is using U100 syringes. So do you think that a 0.20 reduction is enough then?
 
Maybe see where he is? I would think subtracting 0.2 is good if he is in the pinks/reds. Maybe 0.3 less if he is in the yellows (not expecting that, but he has really been throwing you curves, Luann.)
 
You guys are great. Yup, I did not shoot tonight. I will go 0.2 lower tomorrow if he is in the reds. Because I will not be home to monitor, I will be more conservative if he is in the low pinks and yellows. But we will see. I will give the little guys ears a rest tonight.

Bobbie, somehow Nicky and Bubba are talking to figure out the best ways to make their mama's crazy. You just gotta love them <G>.
 
That sounds good, Luann. Can you please remind me* what time zone you're in - so that I make sure I'm around when you get that AMPS #?

*You may have told me that a while back, but can I remember stuff like that? Nope!:confused:;)
 
Luann and Nicky said:
You guys are great. Yup, I did not shoot tonight. I will go 0.2 lower tomorrow if he is in the reds. Because I will not be home to monitor, I will be more conservative if he is in the low pinks and yellows. But we will see. I will give the little guys ears a rest tonight.

Bobbie, somehow Nicky and Bubba are talking to figure out the best ways to make their mama's crazy. You just gotta love them <G>.
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Yep! And we do love them so, don't we? Bubba's ear's are gonna get a work out tonight! Post a pic of your sweet boy when you get a chance.
 
Yes, I am in the eastern time zone. I usually test around 5:30 in the morning. I do not expect you to be up that early. That is way above and beyond the call of duty.
 
Wow! Nicky decided to throw some curve balls. :)

I'm in Central Time...I'm usually up around 5/5:30 here...I don't know if it'll help, but I'll check in when I get up tomorrow. It'll be about an hour after your test, but if you have to stall or need an opinion that can wait til then, I'll be around.
 
Merlin said:
Gee, I wonder if it is the moon or alignment of the planets??? We have quite a few low PMPS tonight in ProZinc land. Good to see.
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@Merlin Ha, I wish that was happening here ... Bat-Bat's suddenly popping me pre-shots between 179-189 (on Alpha Trak) last 3 cycles, including tonight's 179. This after a couple of really nice pre-shots (meaning no shot then) of 145 & 137. Go figure!:banghead:
 
Good morning everyone

Well Nicky's AMPS is 404 as expected. The thought was to lower him from 1.6 to 1.4. That should keep him in the safe zone. I will not be home to monitor him today. If any one is awake what do you thing.

I also took some glucose readings last night because I wanted to see what was happening othim with no shop. He was 136 at 5:55 pm, I fed him, at 10:34 he was 410, at 2:06 am was 372 and this morning at 5:24 am was 404.
 
Sorry, Luann, I wasn't awake. I think lowering a bit is good. The high number was expected but you still drop in hopes of getting a shootable preshot each day. :)
 
Yep, agree. You are Bobbi are both in the same boat - cats finally dropping but making things difficult. I would lower your dose as Rachel said. The goal is to have 2 numbers, am and pm that you can shoot, so lowering the dose should help you get that. Skipping is the least desirable choice because you lose momentum, but you had no choice last night.

The difference for you and Bobbi is that Bubba had a nice curve with a green nadir that he was not used to and he bounced. Because his curve was in safe ranges, she holds the dose he was on. Because you got an unshootable pmps last night and had to skip, you reduce. Same problem -reaction needed for low numbers, but different scenario and different solutions. (I am thinking you will be looking at each other's threads. You're in similar places in the sugar dance but are having different issues)
 
Hi Luann, I hope that Nicky does well while you aren't home. It will be interesting to see what he and Bubba throw at us tonight. Do you think they could be Siamese twins, separated at birth?
 
Good morning, Luann - Boy, you & Brenda have such similar situations that I'm starting to have trouble not calling either of you by the other's name! I agree with the comments by Rachel & Sue above, btw. Don't have anything to add except ... keep your dancin' shoes polished up!:p
 
Robin&BB said:
Good morning, Luann - Boy, you & Brenda have such similar situations that I'm starting to have trouble not calling either of you by the other's name! I agree with the comments by Rachel & Sue above, btw. Don't have anything to add except ... keep your dancin' shoes polished up!:p
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Crap!!!:banghead: I meant Bobbie! :confused:NEED. MORE. COFFEE.:coffee::coffee::coffee:
 
Hello,

Wow, thanks you all for checking in on me this morning. As you can see, Nicky was 404 this morning which was not unexpected. I was able to test him at +1 before I went to work and because he went down instead of up after eating 4 oz of food, I decided to come home for lunch to test him in case he did one of his famous random extreme drops. I don't think he did but I have no good idea how low he went today. I think I should dose him at 1.6U tonight. What do you all think.
 
I think 1.6 should be okay. I'd plan on an early test and then one before bed. The last time on 1.6 with a lower pre shot, you got some nice Greens but nothing too low. So it SHOULD work, assuming Nicky doesn't have any little surprises in store.
 
I'm late to the party here, but I agree with Sue. (And now that my stupid ISP finally allowed me to look at your SS:banghead:, I see that's what you shot.)
 
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