Awful day, stuck in pinks

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Misterbeesmom

Misterbeesmom

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i dont understand whats going on.

I dont understand how the same dose can get us from pink to blue one week, and then another week doesnt budge him at all. And now an increase seems to have less of an effect than a lower dose did in the past.

I dont know if somehow we're on too much insulin now, though lower doses havent been enough.nwe went through this with lantus too in the past, never finding the right dose. I had high hopes for pzi.

I am going insane. Cat drinking and peeing tons. I dont know how much longer i can deal with this. It'll be a year soon since diagnosis.
 
If my experience with Teasel is any guide, it's possible Mr. B. has developed some degree of insulin resistance (or its partner glucose toxicity) even though you've been working hard at getting his BG under control. He's been stuck in high numbers a long time and his body is less responsive to insulin at this point in time. I've heard it described as a "glass floor" that you have to break through by getting up to a high enough dose. Once you get through the floor a kitty can then drop significantly in dose requirements so it calls for very careful monitoring. You won't know what that "high enough" dose is until you start carefully increasing.

This is precisely the problem Teasel had in his early days when he was on Lantus. It lead to multiple issues that resulted in a DKA episode in March 2016. From the beginning of April until mid-August I was going crazy trying to find a good ProZinc dose for him. I was completely blind as I went because I wasn't following the FDMB protocol. I did weekly BG curves for my vet and found that doses that once worked fairly well stopped working - insulin resistance. I told my vet about the glass floor concept, something she hadn't heard about. I went ahead and increased Teasel's dose up to 3.6 u (blindly except for the weekly curve). He was at that dose for 3 weeks until I suspected he might be going too low overnight. I did some pre-shot testing, was frightened by the low number and came here to FDMB. And the rest is history ... Teasel still has the propensity to develop resistance. I now call it getting "stuck" but with all the testing I do I see it happening and can adjust a dose much sooner.

If you go read the "Advanced Dosing" sticky for ProZinc, you'll see that it addresses insulin resistance/glucose toxicity briefly. There are many causes, including other systemic issues. I see that Mr. B. has some other health concerns that might affect his insulin response. It doesn't mean he'll never respond, only that he might need a higher dose. You're far from needing a very high acromegaly level of dose. It's very hard but don't give up. You've tried three insulins so far but have only been using ProZinc 6 weeks or so. It's still very early days in your investigation of its potential. I'm barely getting a feel for it in Teasel and I've been using it for 7 months.
 
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I sympathize with your frustration, Jen. It's really hard when our kitties don't follow the manual. I'm too new to the sugar dance to have anything to offer other than you're not alone here and we can all give each other hope.

:bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
PS. That scattering of yellows and blues at various doses tells me that ProZinc does work but you just haven't gotten to the best dosing range yet. Like Teasel, it looks like: dose -> some response -> repeat dose -> bounce -> get stuck -> change dose -> maybe a response or continued bouncing -> dose -> response -> etc. I interpret this in my guy as almost getting a decent dose but his bouncing makes it all harder. It tells me I have to go up very carefully and be prepared for more bouncing.
 
I'm with Kris. The nice numbers on your spreadsheet are when you gave 3.8 when he had a yellow preshot. So it may be that he needs more, especially on the numbers closer to 400. So maybe stick with 3.8 when you see a lower preshot but see what your four units do for the higher levels. If not enough, wait six cycles and increase to 4.2

I would continue to raise the dose every six cycles until you see some better numbers. It is frustrating! You might check out Eric and Phoebe's spreadsheet to see patience and determination. Phoebe at first bounced for six cycles after every increase. Finally she is bouncing less - but still bouncing some - and is in lower ranges for longer times. It has taken Eric slowly increasing the dose. With some cats, it is a slow process.
 
Bless you! :bighug: I am sure you are completely frustrated and I know just how energy sapping it can be even for short lengths of time. I've nothing new to add jays a bit of moral support.
Maybe you should look at this new insulin as a beginning rather than sticking it on the end of the previous months with lantus? So in the scheme of things it's not been long? (Reading that it doesn't sound helpful.. Sorry)

Keeping everything crossed for you and sending good vines your way.
 
TempestsMum said:
Bless you! :bighug: I am sure you are completely frustrated and I know just how energy sapping it can be even for short lengths of time. I've nothing new to add jays a bit of moral support.
Maybe you should look at this new insulin as a beginning rather than sticking it on the end of the previous months with lantus? So in the scheme of things it's not been long? (Reading that it doesn't sound helpful.. Sorry)

Keeping everything crossed for you and sending good vines your way.
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I think that's a good way to look at it, Tara. I just ignore the months Teasel spent on Lantus as well as the ProZinc months before I joined FDMB. Any progress I've made has only been since mid-August.
 
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