? Jessi 7/13 PMPS 165 +2 170 +3 124 +3.75 146 +4.25 177 +5.25 228 +8 279 hold, increase, or fatten?

Stefania S

Stefania S

Active Member
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...03-4-5-187-5-5-229-took-the-reduction.279465/

Since @Bandit's Mom and @tiffmaxee mentioned about the 3 drops rule, I'd like to know if I can go back up to 1 unit in the AM since the numbers are high this evening as has happened several times before when we reduced.

I have to go to sleep soon, if you could leave replies in this thread so I can check them first thing before dosing, that would be great, thanks!

:cat:

p.s. if anyone has experience dosing with the smaller arms of a caliper I could use some guidance on how to do that well. I was using the larger arms with a BD microfine which has the ring around the neck (don't know what it's called) because I didn't know any better. That was hard, so hopefully I can figure this out quickly and it will improve the process.
 
If it were me I would wait to do 3 drops under 40 until you can get ear pricks. If the 40 is accurate I would not want to stick with the dose. See what others think.
 
She is just bouncing from the lows of the AM cycle. Stay with 1U for now and see what she does on it.

Here's a photo from someone on FDMB who used to use BD syringes and the smaller arms of the callipers:

callipers small arms.jpg
 

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tiffmaxee said:
If it were me I would wait to do 3 drops under 40 until you can get ear pricks. If the 40 is accurate I would not want to stick with the dose. See what others think.
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I understand the concern. But if I stay at .75, I'm concerned she will continue having stretches of yellows and pinks too often especially now that she has to go through so much stress with frequent visits and the daily dressing changes and other repeating stressors. That was why we increased in the first place. We hit some lows, but we know these are not accurate lows.

I feel a huge amount of pressure to do the ear pricks. I wish I could do these, and I have made many attempts, and in the near future I plan to make this my goal, but I can't sabotage the other important things I need to do for her right now, and I can't have her always running away from me, which is how she has gotten lately from the frequent vet visits and the dressing changes which she hates so much.

I have to also consider that the sensor comes and goes and when I have it is the only time to increase. Once it's gone again I will probably decrease anyway for safety reasons, so I would use this time to try that higher dose out and get her into better numbers at least for a few days.

It's a very real dilemma.
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Sorry! Typo. I meant stay with 0.75U. We can take it back up quickly if the reduction doesn't hold.
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ok, I gave .75. I was late by a half hour today. I probably should have waited until I had more time to practice using the small arms and trying out the set up I copied from you with the phone magnifier. It took me a bit longer to dose because it was a new set up. Hope that doesn't mess with BGs much!

Question about air bubbles: first, I have been noticing air in the syringe more often and having a hard time getting the bubbles out without wasting lots of insulin, then I noticed air in the cartridge itself. I spent about 15 minutes drawing air out of the top of the cartridge. It seemed like there was a lot more in there than I thought. Is this normal? I definitely don't inject air, but it could be that when I'm pressing the syringe plunger down while putting the needle into the cartridge, a little air is getting in and accumulating over time. Suggestions for how to avoid this, how to get the air out?

How much does air it affect the integrity of the insulin?

Oh, and can I later today use the syringe I used to take the air out for giving insulin or is it better just to toss it?
 
Bandit's Mom said:
She is just bouncing from the lows of the AM cycle. Stay with 1U for now and see what she does on it.

Here's a photo from someone on FDMB who used to use BD syringes and the smaller arms of the callipers:

View attachment 67226
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omg, I only noticed now that in this photo they are measuring from the edge of that outer ring. I have been measuring from that inner lip or ring at the top of the syringe but under that outer ring because I was pretty sure that was what I saw in those dosing videos here on the forum. Was I wrong? Have I been giving a bunch more insulin than I thought? It's hard to explain without showing. I'll see if I can take a photo with the magnifier.
 
Stefania S said:
Question about air bubbles: first, I have been noticing air in the syringe more often and having a hard time getting the bubbles out without wasting lots of insulin, then I noticed air in the cartridge itself. I spent about 15 minutes drawing air out of the top of the cartridge. It seemed like there was a lot more in there than I thought. Is this normal? I definitely don't inject air, but it could be that when I'm pressing the syringe plunger down while putting the needle into the cartridge, a little air is getting in and accumulating over time. Suggestions for how to avoid this, how to get the air out?

How much does air it affect the integrity of the insulin?

Oh, and can I later today use the syringe I used to take the air out for giving insulin or is it better just to toss it?
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Don't worry about the air in the cartridge or pen or vial. Ignore it. Does not affect the insulin. You just need to worry about any air bubbles in the syringe as they would affect the accuracy of the dose.
 
Stefania S said:
omg, I only noticed now that in this photo they are measuring from the edge of that outer ring. I have been measuring from that inner lip or ring at the top of the syringe but under that outer ring because I was pretty sure that was what I saw in those dosing videos here on the forum. Was I wrong? Have I been giving a bunch more insulin than I thought? It's hard to explain without showing. I'll see if I can take a photo with the magnifier.
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Easier to understand with a photo :-)
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Easier to understand with a photo :)
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had a hard time getting a clear image but hopefully you can see from this photo what I was talking about

upload_2023-7-13_15-22-23.png


that inner ring is actually what the uppermost guideline is supposed to be lined up with, though it often isn't as we know, so that is where I measure from, not from the outer plastic ring.
 

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Stefania S said:
had a hard time getting a clear image but hopefully you can see from this photo what I was talking about

View attachment 67227

that inner ring is actually what the uppermost guideline is supposed to be lined up with, though it often isn't as we know, so that is where I measure from, not from the outer plastic ring.
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I got what you meant. I think you are doing it right. What you could do is find a syringe with no zero error and see if the calliper arms lines up with the U you are measuring.
 
I did the same "mistake", and I keep measuring from it. As long as you stay constant in how you measure, it does not really matter. The variations from one dose to the next are what counts, not how you measure them, as long as you measure the same way, if that makes sense?
 
Dosing time is in less than 2 hours, hold or increase? I could also just do a fat .75 instead of a full increase. That's pretty much what I was doing before increasing to 1u. THat's why I wrote .8 in the spreadsheet.

Bandit's Mom said:
I got what you meant. I think you are doing it right. What you could do is find a syringe with no zero error and see if the calliper arms lines up with the U you are measuring.
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I'm not sure if a totally no zero error exists on these syringes, but I will watch out for one! ;)
 
Stefania S said:
Dosing time is in less than 2 hours, hold or increase? I could also just do a fat .75 instead of a full increase. That's pretty much what I was doing before increasing to 1u. THat's why I wrote .8 in the spreadsheet.
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Hold the dose. Give her time to clear the bounce from that long stretch in green/lime.
 
Bandit's Mom said:
You would give her 6 cycles to clear any bounce and then evaluate the dose. Hold the 0.75U dose for at least 6 cycles.
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Done! Maybe it was a smidge over .75 because I was super tired and not wanting to go on for 15 more minutes adding and taking away a drop. she is deep diving now, please see my new thread!
 
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