11/24 Mocha amps=358/+3=293/+9.5=358/=pmps324

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ColdPlay said:
I was not sure that I tested enough for the tight reg, when I say others ss and they were testing all the time. I did not feel that was fitting for us. But, if you think the testing I do is sufficient, I will read over that method and become more familiar with the differences. Want to ensure she is getting the best dosing possible and perhaps that means going to tight reg.
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Hi Kari!

I wanted to respond to this - I gotta say that there are many people here that somehow manage to test around the clock, sometimes hourly. I loosely followed Tight Reg, although we adjusted things because Punkin had acromegaly. Acromegaly means that the cat has a benign tumor on their pituitary gland and it causes the cat to need larger doses of insulin than normal. The tumor is pulsative, however, meaning that it can fluctuate and the insulin needs can drop rather rapidly or increase. So for his safety, we tended to let him run a little higher.

In any case, we tested on average about 5-8 times a day. I always tested at both preshots. We pretty much always tested at +3 because we'd learned that for him, it acted as a pointer to tell me what was coming next. Then I usually tested about am+5.5, because that was typically about his nadir. That was 5 times per day. If he was running lower, we tested more. But there was probably only 1 day where I tested a crazy amount, and that was when he was running low. That day I think we did 20-22 tests. In 2.5 years, that was HIGHLY unusual.

Don't think that you can't follow Tight Reg's guidelines without letting testing take over your life. That's simply not accurate. Many of the people who test a lot do it as much because they are fascinated by the data as anything. Some do it because their cats are unpredictable, so they're keeping the cat safe. But most people don't need to do that.

Take a look at some other's spreadsheets and you'll see an enormous spectrum in how often people test.
 
julie & punkin (ga) said:
Hi Kari!

I wanted to respond to this - I gotta say that there are many people here that somehow manage to test around the clock, sometimes hourly. I loosely followed Tight Reg, although we adjusted things because Punkin had acromegaly. Acromegaly means that the cat has a benign tumor on their pituitary gland and it causes the cat to need larger doses of insulin than normal. The tumor is pulsative, however, meaning that it can fluctuate and the insulin needs can drop rather rapidly or increase. So for his safety, we tended to let him run a little higher.

In any case, we tested on average about 5-8 times a day. I always tested at both preshots. We pretty much always tested at +3 because we'd learned that for him, it acted as a pointer to tell me what was coming next. Then I usually tested about am+5.5, because that was typically about his nadir. That was 5 times per day. If he was running lower, we tested more. But there was probably only 1 day where I tested a crazy amount, and that was when he was running low. That day I think we did 20-22 tests. In 2.5 years, that was HIGHLY unusual.

Don't think that you can't follow Tight Reg's guidelines without letting testing take over your life. That's simply not accurate. Many of the people who test a lot do it as much because they are fascinated by the data as anything. Some do it because their cats are unpredictable, so they're keeping the cat safe. But most people don't need to do that.

Take a look at some other's spreadsheets and you'll see an enormous spectrum in how often people test.
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Do you have any thoughts on what is going on today with Mocha since her dose increase last night? She seems basically "flat" for the day to me. I am thinking this could be better than bouncing all over and maybe this means the dose is good and will allow slow adjustments down from here as before?
 
Are you familiar with New Dose Wonkiness? Could be that since you just increased her dose. It would be logical if you could always tell what was going on with the blood sugar, but the truth is sometimes cycles don't make sense. Insulin is a hormone, so it's not like other drugs where you take x dose and get x result. I thought if I controlled punkin's variables - fed him the same time, same food, same carbs each cycle, I could get predictable results.

Nope. Those things help, but you still won't have complete control of her blood sugar, even with that.

We know that absorption can vary by as much as 50% from one shot to the next. That shoots the whole idea of controlling variables and getting a predictable result right out of the window! It's not as simple as a math equation. Think of teenage girls and slamming doors - hormones are unpredictable critters.

The most important thing to focus on are the low numbers - so you can give carbs to keep her safe if she needs it, and so you can adjust the dose appropriately. And the other important thing is her overall health - we suggest people give a report on the "5 P's" when they post each day: purring, preening, playing, peeing and pooping. If all of those things are good, that's a good reminder that our kitties are more than their blood sugar numbers. If those things aren't good, even if the blood sugar is ok, then that means that something may be going on.

That's all a long-winded way of saying I'm not positive what's going on with today's flat numbers, other than it might be NDW. As long as she's behaving/eating, etc. normally, I wouldn't worry.
 
julie & punkin (ga) said:
Are you familiar with New Dose Wonkiness? Could be that since you just increased her dose. It would be logical if you could always tell what was going on with the blood sugar, but the truth is sometimes cycles don't make sense. Insulin is a hormone, so it's not like other drugs where you take x dose and get x result. I thought if I controlled punkin's variables - fed him the same time, same food, same carbs each cycle, I could get predictable results.

Nope. Those things help, but you still won't have complete control of her blood sugar, even with that.

We know that absorption can vary by as much as 50% from one shot to the next. That shoots the whole idea of controlling variables and getting a predictable result right out of the window! It's not as simple as a math equation. Think of teenage girls and slamming doors - hormones are unpredictable critters.

The most important thing to focus on are the low numbers - so you can give carbs to keep her safe if she needs it, and so you can adjust the dose appropriately. And the other important thing is her overall health - we suggest people give a report on the "5 P's" when they post each day: purring, preening, playing, peeing and pooping. If all of those things are good, that's a good reminder that our kitties are more than their blood sugar numbers. If those things aren't good, even if the blood sugar is ok, then that means that something may be going on.

That's all a long-winded way of saying I'm not positive what's going on with today's flat numbers, other than it might be NDW. As long as she's behaving/eating, etc. normally, I wouldn't worry.
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Thanks. She is normal except for some urine out of the box, but that has happened prior to diabetes. Is Anya your only cat now? Beautiful photos of them together. How is Anya doing as the only cat. They looked like great companions to each other.
 
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