11/16, Gus, AMPS 248, +6.5 263, PMPS 281, +6 268

[Gus the Furminator]

Yesterday

Good mornin’ all

We’re coming back down!

I have a carry over question from yesterday. Seems Gus wants to play in the bouncy house and just want to make sure I understand it all correctly.

So bouncing is if they drop too low, they drop too fast or they drop into numbers their body isn't used to anymore, or maybe all those combined.. so then the liver releases stored sugars and hormones to bring it back up to where it's used to… please correct me if I’m wrong.

So with that said, my questions are: Is there any good that comes with bouncing? Does it help break a barrier or something? Will he eventually be more comfortable with those lows (guessing/hoping so..)?

TIA!

 

[Sue and Luci]

Yes, bouncing is a normal, natural thing...here's a little story I wrote about it a while back - hope it helps you understand the bouncing biz.


I wish I could draw a picture of that little pancreas...it's got a little tired face today on your kitties @Butters & Lyla and @Lisa & Oberon - that little guy is just pooped out...and has it's little tiny feet up on the sofa...just kinda taking a little nap...only problem is it's so tired and worn out, it's having trouble waking up from that nap...

So while that little guy is resting, help him out and gently, slowly and carefully, increase the dose of 'helper juice' aka insulin - that you're giving. The thing with these little pancreas fellows, is the darn thing wakes up from it's nap and gets all energized and says, 'Hey I can help!'...and starts making insulin and making a contribution...and that's when you've got to back off from the help aka insulin you're giving...and let the little fellow help out...but then he'll get tired again...and well 'sigh'...just gotta sit down and maybe even put it's tiny feet up again and take another snooze...how long will he rest for this time? No one really knows...but when you're helping with the insulin you give and get those greens, it's really hard to tell if he's actually allowing a little bit of homegrown insulin go...or if he's holding onto it tightly while he's resting - but the green numbers are healing numbers...so either way, that pancreas is happy when those numbers are down - less demand - so he's not running so fast on his tiny little 'gerbil wheel' trying to crank out the insulin...

And then let's not even get started on what Mr. Liver thinks of all this activity...because he's the guy in charge of STORAGE! He's constantly storing a supply of gylcogen (sugar basically) JUST IN CASE! He's a real life-saver when it comes down to it...because when that blood sugar goes too low (from your contribution and little pancreas fellow working a little too much)...then he comes to the 'rescue' and dumps a nice big load of sugar into that bloodstream...because he doesn't want anything bad to happen to those organs - like the brain and heart and other important organs that need that 'food'...sugar is a form of energy to the body...and that makes everyone happy except for you...and well, the liver gets a little over-enthusiastic sometimes and dumps all it's got reserved and then there's too much sugar in the blood stream and that's not really a very good thing either - all that sugar coursing through the veins isn't very healthy...kinda hard on those kidneys to deal with all that sugar then...
And so it goes...it's a real merry go round in there with all these players...so just test, test, test...and count based on your dosing method - since those are tried and true and will help you with the pace of a healthy progress back towards a regulated orchestra in there...

And for now...I'm pooped just writing about it...

Have a great evening ladies

 

[Gus the Furminator]

Yes, bouncing is a normal, natural thing...here's a little story I wrote about it a while back - hope it helps you understand the bouncing biz.


I wish I could draw a picture of that little pancreas...it's got a little tired face today on your kitties @Butters & Lyla and @Lisa & Oberon - that little guy is just pooped out...and has it's little tiny feet up on the sofa...just kinda taking a little nap...only problem is it's so tired and worn out, it's having trouble waking up from that nap...

So while that little guy is resting, help him out and gently, slowly and carefully, increase the dose of 'helper juice' aka insulin - that you're giving. The thing with these little pancreas fellows, is the darn thing wakes up from it's nap and gets all energized and says, 'Hey I can help!'...and starts making insulin and making a contribution...and that's when you've got to back off from the help aka insulin you're giving...and let the little fellow help out...but then he'll get tired again...and well 'sigh'...just gotta sit down and maybe even put it's tiny feet up again and take another snooze...how long will he rest for this time? No one really knows...but when you're helping with the insulin you give and get those greens, it's really hard to tell if he's actually allowing a little bit of homegrown insulin go...or if he's holding onto it tightly while he's resting - but the green numbers are healing numbers...so either way, that pancreas is happy when those numbers are down - less demand - so he's not running so fast on his tiny little 'gerbil wheel' trying to crank out the insulin...

And then let's not even get started on what Mr. Liver thinks of all this activity...because he's the guy in charge of STORAGE! He's constantly storing a supply of gylcogen (sugar basically) JUST IN CASE! He's a real life-saver when it comes down to it...because when that blood sugar goes too low (from your contribution and little pancreas fellow working a little too much)...then he comes to the 'rescue' and dumps a nice big load of sugar into that bloodstream...because he doesn't want anything bad to happen to those organs - like the brain and heart and other important organs that need that 'food'...sugar is a form of energy to the body...and that makes everyone happy except for you...and well, the liver gets a little over-enthusiastic sometimes and dumps all it's got reserved and then there's too much sugar in the blood stream and that's not really a very good thing either - all that sugar coursing through the veins isn't very healthy...kinda hard on those kidneys to deal with all that sugar then...
And so it goes...it's a real merry go round in there with all these players...so just test, test, test...and count based on your dosing method - since those are tried and true and will help you with the pace of a healthy progress back towards a regulated orchestra in there...

And for now...I'm pooped just writing about it...

Have a great evening ladies

Thanks! That’s a really cute story! I now have visions of a tiny tired pancreas and a super hero liver! Someone need to turn this into a book!

That pancreas sounds a lot like me lately

I’m glad to hear that all this should break the mould a bit, one nap at a time!

Honestly readings that I thought of TR quite a bit. I’m not ready for that protocol yet but it was my first choice before I decided SLGS was better at this time.

 

[Gus the Furminator]

Your Lucy and my Gus look like they can be twins! Same body marking and white lip (opposite side) even <3

Might not be able to see all of it in my profile pic as he’s being a goofball

 

[Sue and Luci]

Your Lucy and my Gus look like they can be twins! Same body marking and white lip (opposite side) even <3

Might not be able to see all of it in my profile pic as he’s being a goofball

He sure is cute! I saw that he's a tuxie...got those great tuxie feet and that cute smile!

You hang in there...he'll come along and settle down for you soon...I know it seems like it takes forever, but I'm sure you've heard already, this is a marathon, not a sprint...takes a bit of time to get these kitties into the swing of things. Hope you can move along to TR soon...I found it much easier because you can change the dosing sooner (as early as every 3 days) ... SLGS was just too slow for me. But you get comfortable first with the routine...it'll come in time.

 

[Gus the Furminator]

He sure is cute! I saw that he's a tuxie...got those great tuxie feet and that cute smile!

You hang in there...he'll come along and settle down for you soon...I know it seems like it takes forever, but I'm sure you've heard already, this is a marathon, not a sprint...takes a bit of time to get these kitties into the swing of things. Hope you can move along to TR soon...I found it much easier because you can change the dosing sooner (as early as every 3 days) ... SLGS was just too slow for me. But you get comfortable first with the routine...it'll come in time.

Thanks for the encouraging words, I know, I know.. patience… ugh

TR is still in my thoughts for sure! With the holidays around the corner, I’m just not sure it’s the best time. I’m thinking I might reevaluate our strategy in the new year… see how this goes for now. By then, we will have given SLGS a real shot - just over a month.

We might even get to a good place where TR is like a refining phase.. I think that makes sense… but I might be wrong.

 

[Sue and Luci]

Thanks for the encouraging words, I know, I know.. patience… ugh

TR is still in my thoughts for sure! With the holidays around the corner, I’m just not sure it’s the best time. I’m thinking I might reevaluate our strategy in the new year… see how this goes for now. By then, we will have given SLGS a real shot - just over a month.

We might even get to a good place where TR is like a refining phase.. I think that makes sense… but I might be wrong.

I'm glad to hear TR is still in your thoughts...I'm not so sure about viewing it as a 'refining phase' though, it's more like a more responsive phase. So the two things about TR to keep in mind vs SLGS is that you don't have to lower the dose until you go below 50 - and after some review/repeated responses you can use the 'three times under 50 rule of thumb' before you lower the dose.

Often there are other factors that cause kitties to go lower than 50, and often those factors can be managed (food, more frequent testing, etc.) and the other factor - you can increase the dose more frequently - as often as every 3 days vs. 7-10 days on SLGS. Until you start seeing better numbers in both cycles the hope is that by being more aggressive the result will be earlier and more time in those lovely green (healing) numbers. The longer you delay using that time to push Gus toward the lagoon, the less chance of remission - not saying there is a time limit - because we certainly don't know why some cats take longer to get there than others - although there does seem to be a 'window of best chances of remission' and those windows tend to occur earlier in the diagnosis than later.

I hope that makes sense. Don't allow Gus to languish too long in the higher numbers as these are still the early days (best chance of remission) for you both.

I understand about holiday frenzies...but I do hope you'll consider a bit more of a push before January 1 - that seems like a long time (to me) to wait to do what's best for Gus...you may miss out on some amazing opportunities in the next 6 weeks - of allowing Gus to spend more time in the lagoon...and less time up there in those yellows and other not-so-healthy numbers. Help him heal - do the best you can...and remember just to hang in - everyone is doing the best they can..

Any chance of getting a mid-cycle test today/tonight? I'd love to see how this dose is working (or not)...we can only tell with mid-cycle tests since the AM and PM tests are typically the highest of the day.

 

[Gus the Furminator]

Thanks for the info, I will think on this over the weekend. The reason TR was my first choice was because it was a little more aggressive (quicker results) and seemed to have greater results for remission.

TR still makes me a little nervous, but I’m sure if I’m well prepared with md/high carb and syrup and with testing abilities I’d be ok. Ive shot low numbers before but that was with 1u… the higher dose we get is a little nerve wracking tbh

I took a +6 today, 288 (were still commenting on yesterday’s post . And I can also get one this evening as well. Is +6 a good time? If his Nadir isn’t at preshot, he tends to get it at +4 but really it’s all over the place

 

[Sue and Luci]

Thanks for the info, I will think on this over the weekend. The reason TR was my first choice was because it was a little more aggressive (quicker results) and seemed to have greater results for remission.

I took a +6 today, 288 (were still commenting on yesterday’s post . And I can also get one this evening as well. Is +6 a good time? If his Nadir isn’t at preshot, he tends to get it at +4

Yes, I've always had a tough time guessing Luci's nadir too - usually between 3 and 6+...although there are always exceptions...ha!

I usually get a test at 2+ or 3+ and often that'll tell me what Luci is going to do for the day - after that it's always a guessing game...but if she hasn't nadir'd by 6 or 7+ it's not gonna happen (although she loves to prove me wrong and throw down some really low numbers late in the day, it's a rare event)...

More testing during the day will give you a better pattern of nadirs - because unfortunately our cats can't tell time and they sure don't do anything we want them to on schedule - like nadir... you're just trying to get a better handle on when the insulin is the most effective and that's about it...it tends to peak around mid-cycle and then the duration (watch for that word)...drops off as the 12 hour cycle diminishes...of course there are plenty of cats who can't read those rules and will have nadirs very late - some at the very time when you're trying to get that pre-shot test...

Cooperation isn't in their vocabulary most of the time...

 

[Gus the Furminator]

Yes, I've always had a tough time guessing Luci's nadir too - usually between 3 and 6+...although there are always exceptions...ha!

I usually get a test at 2+ or 3+ and often that'll tell me what Luci is going to do for the day - after that it's always a guessing game...but if she hasn't nadir'd by 6 or 7+ it's not gonna happen (although she loves to prove me wrong and throw down some really low numbers late in the day, it's a rare event)...

More testing during the day will give you a better pattern of nadirs - because unfortunately our cats can't tell time and they sure don't do anything we want them to on schedule - like nadir... you're just trying to get a better handle on when the insulin is the most effective and that's about it...it tends to peak around mid-cycle and then the duration (watch for that word)...drops off as the 12 hour cycle diminishes...of course there are plenty of cats who can't read those rules and will have nadirs very late - some at the very time when you're trying to get that pre-shot test...

Cooperation isn't in their vocabulary most of the time...

Ok, they sure know what time food is in the morning though lol

alright so you’re pushing me (in a good way) to get a few more mid cycle tests in each cycle - more than the one? So maybe a +2 to see where the cycle is going and then maybe during the day I can do a +6 or +10… evening I could do +3 or 4 and one before bed?

I’m honestly really bad at guessing when to take his tests. AM/PM PS is an easy one, lol but the rest, I’m trying to stagger them but failing it seems even though I’m getting some guidance.

 

[Sue and Luci]

Ok, they sure know what time food is in the morning though lol

alright so you’re pushing me (in a good way) to get a few more mid cycle tests in each cycle - more than the one? So maybe a +2 to see where the cycle is going and then maybe during the day I can do a +6 or +10… evening I could do +3 or 4 and one before bed?

I’m honestly really bad at guessing when to take his tests. AM/PM PS is an easy one, lol but the rest, I’m trying to stagger them but failing it seems even though I’m getting some guidance.

Take a look around at some other kitties SS's. I always try to get a 2 or 3+ and then a mid-day test or two. If it's an active cycle then I'll test more to keep an eye on Luci...

In the PM same thing applies, a 2/3+ to see what's up within Luci's world - then if necessary, more tests to keep her safe. Each cycle starts again with each injection of insulin...

 

[Gus the Furminator]

Thanks Sue! I must admit I’ve been told +2/3 is a good indicator of how the cycle will go by multiple ppl now. I will get right on that and try to fill in some gaps throughout as well and more if necessary.