11/30 - Gen, AMPS >400, PMPS >400

Allie & Gen

Allie & Gen

Member Since 2025
Yesterday.

High numbers. I'm thinking it was a mistake to reduce to 0.5U instead of 0.75U, and that I should increase to 0.75U tonight even though that's not exactly the protocol. I'd be grateful for advice, even though it's not always easy to apply it to my specific circumstances. Please be gentle? I'm exhausted and overwhelmed.

I think one of the reasons my vet recommended the larger reduction, and indeed that I agreed with her, is that I'm about to be in a situation where I cannot be on hand to respond quickly if Gen has another hypo event (which she knows). And I have no recourse about that. Trying to figure out how to care for him without my considerable financial and logistical restrictions is a huge source of stress. It's not a great situation for him or me. I would do anything for him, and that has to include making choices to prevent putting us into a worse one by, for example, pushing an already borderline toxic employment situation that I can't afford to lose, especially with the job market as it is. I feel like it seems as though I'm being overcautious or making less than ideal decisions, but it's because I'm trying to manage these complications, if that makes sense?

I'm truly grateful for the assistance and advice I'm getting here, more than I can say. I'm struggling a lot and doing my best to make the best decisions available to me. I have made some serious mistakes and I'm trying to learn from those, too. My cat deserves the best, and I feel like a poor substitute right now, but I won't give up either.

Sorry for the overly emotional tone. The last two weeks have really taken it out of me, and if I'm honest, I didn't have a lot of reserves to begin with.
 
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Hi Allie! You might want to put your "?" prefix up and change your title to say something like "question about dose increase," while leaving the numbers as they are. That will, hopefully, attract some attention to your question.

I know it's distressing seeing the higher numbers; I promise Gen will eventually come down into nicer numbers; it will just take some time. You're doing your very best for him, and he's so fortunate to have you.
 
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Mary & Jude said:
Hi Allie! You might want to put your "?" prefix up and change your title to say something like "question about dose increase," while leaving the numbers as they are. That will, hopefully, attract some attention to your question.

I know it's distressing seeing the higher numbers; I promised Gen will eventually come down into nicer numbers; it will just take some time. You're doing your very best for him, and he's so fortunate to have you.
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Thanks, I forgot about the prefixes!
 
PXL_20251130_193502125.jpg

My sweet circle of a boy. We're having a sleepy, rainy day.
 
You are absolutely correct, you should have gone to a 0.75 units dose. Going to 0.5 units was not following the dosing method and going up to 0.75 units will correct that. Other thing you are probably seeing is some element of bounce from those brief greens the night of the 27th. That can take 6 days to resolve, so hopefully you'll see some different numbers by tomorrow.

As far as working (get that, someone has to put food on the table and it's not the cats!), see if this post has any tips that might help you:
Is Tight Regulation Possible with a Full Time Job? Yes! Although it's about TR, the tips on keeping a cat safe work regardless of dosing method being used.

BTW, I think we all relate to how emotional starting your journey with feline diabetes can be. :bighug::bighug: I myself had more than a few tears. Helping people get over the shock of the diagnosis and getting comfortable with treatment is why we all like to help others.
 
Thank you all. I appreciate it. I was feeling a bit panicky earlier and like I was getting different advice from different folks (even here) all trying to be helpful, but I feel up against it right now because the next few days at work are going to be pretty inflexible. I need to sort out whatever is going on with my boss before I can feel at all safe with the possibility of needing to ask for time off or flexibility.

All things considered and having heard various people out, I think going up to 0.75 and holding that dose makes sense. I will continue monitoring as closely as I can and while I probably can't be here during the day as much for the next couple, I will certainly be checking in and asking questions! And I appreciate everyone's patience with me trying to get my feet under me.

If anyone has thoughts on figuring out dosing with syringes that don't have half-unit marks, at least for the next few days, I'd appreciate that. I'm struggling with costs and syringes are not cheap at most of the places I'm able to get to easily, but a friend whose kitty passed earlier this year is mailing me some of the half-unit syringes he has left over.

Wendy&Neko said:
As far as working (get that, someone has to put food on the table and it's not the cats!), see if this post has any tips that might help you:
Is Tight Regulation Possible with a Full Time Job? Yes! Although it's about TR, the tips on keeping a cat safe work regardless of dosing method being used.
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Thanks! I had not read that one yet, as TR will require me to wean my cat off dry food entirely and that seems like too many changes for him at the same time. But I see that some of the advice is definitely applicable. (I have chronic sleep problems and struggle a lot with my sleep schedule, but I will find a way to make the scheduling work.)

Wendy&Neko said:
BTW, I think we all relate to how emotional starting your journey with feline diabetes can be. :bighug::bighug: I myself had more than a few tears. Helping people get over the shock of the diagnosis and getting comfortable with treatment is why we all like to help others.
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Thank you, i appreciate it. ❤️

It's hard sometimes when I'm already inclined to be really upset with myself to remember to take advice in the spirit I know it's given, and I admit that when I'm emotionally impaired it's sometimes too easy to see some suggestions as criticism (and even as a little harsh). I am sorry for that (to everyone who might have caught any part of it). I will work on it. I'll admit that reassurances and supportive comments mean the world to me right now, more than I would normally be comfortable admitting to.
 
A couple of Libre-specific questions, @Staci & Ivy , @Brianna & Xander ?

My sensor seems to be working, and I'm wondering if I should just leave it alone and not mess with that, especially since I only have 2 spares on hand and I might mess up a first-time application. (And money is unfortunately always on my mind as a concern too; I don't want to waste something if it's still giving me worthwhile data.)

Here's something I'm noticing, though - it seems to be experiencing signal issues when my boy has a more active interlude. It seems to be backfilling okay, but with little gaps:

Screenshot_20251130-170324~2.jpg


There often seems to be a little gap right before current readings, also.

What do you think? Is this acceptable? Ever run into anything like it before?

Also, how do you deal with the fact that the sensor and the phone app don't communicate well with walls in the way? I won't be here to move "Gen's phone" around tomorrow. I think it should be all right if I leave it in the living room, where his food and water are as well as a couple preferred sleeping spots, but he might decide he wants to hang out in my bedroom for a bit, and if so I won't be able to get realtime updates for awhile.

Thank you thank you. ❤️
 
I'm not saying you need to follow TR, but the tips in that post can help people following SLGS as well.

What brand of syringes are you using now?
 
Allie & Gen said:
A couple of Libre-specific questions, @Staci & Ivy , @Brianna & Xander ?

My sensor seems to be working, and I'm wondering if I should just leave it alone and not mess with that, especially since I only have 2 spares on hand and I might mess up a first-time application. (And money is unfortunately always on my mind as a concern too; I don't want to waste something if it's still giving me worthwhile data.)

Here's something I'm noticing, though - it seems to be experiencing signal issues when my boy has a more active interlude. It seems to be backfilling okay, but with little gaps:

View attachment 75432

There often seems to be a little gap right before current readings, also.

What do you think? Is this acceptable? Ever run into anything like it before?

Also, how do you deal with the fact that the sensor and the phone app don't communicate well with walls in the way? I won't be here to move "Gen's phone" around tomorrow. I think it should be all right if I leave it in the living room, where his food and water are as well as a couple preferred sleeping spots, but he might decide he wants to hang out in my bedroom for a bit, and if so I won't be able to get realtime updates for awhile.

Thank you thank you. ❤️
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If the sensor is working leave it on 🙏
Yes the data won’t come to you via the app if he’s hanging out and there are walls in the way to read the sensor.
It sucks when you want to know how he is.
Can you keep him in a room where he has food/water/litter while you’re away?
Otherwise nothing you can do.
Yes, sometimes gaps never fill in (you can check on his phone and sometimes you can see the part of the chart that never got submitted to your phone and sometimes it just never fills in on either phone).
Walmart has the cheapest 1/2 unit syringes Relion brand (around $11) for the box of 100 I think.
💖
 
Staci & Ivy said:
If the sensor is working leave it on 🙏
Yes the data won’t come to you via the app if he’s hanging out and there are walls in the way to read the sensor.
It sucks when you want to know how he is.
Can you keep him in a room where he has food/water/litter while you’re away?
Otherwise nothing you can do.
Yes, sometimes gaps never fill in (you can check on his phone and sometimes you can see the part of the chart that never got submitted to your phone and sometimes it just never fills in on either phone).
Walmart has the cheapest 1/2 unit syringes Relion brand (around $11) for the box of 100 I think.
💖
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Would you believe there are no Walmart locations accessible to me except by mail? 😅 There are none in Boston or any of the immediately surrounding towns. Maybe mail would be worth it, though I don't know how much the shipping cost would add -I'll have a look.

Thank you for sharing your Libre wisdom, as always. 🙏

My apartment has an open floor plan apart from the bedrooms and bathrooms, and I think I'd rather not pen him up in any case, not just for my peace of mind. He'd hate it, and he's always going to wander back into the room where the food and water are anyway, so I think that's my best bet. I could close the door to my room to keep him from curling up there, I guess. (He won't be thrilled, but he can't yell at me when I'm not home!) I might try that. He's unlikely to spend a lot of time in the kitchen or bathroom (apart from using the litterbox in the latter).
 
Allie & Gen said:
Would you believe there are no Walmart locations accessible to me except by mail? 😅 There are none in Boston or any of the immediately surrounding towns. Maybe mail would be worth it, though I don't know how much the shipping cost would add -I'll have a look.

Thank you for sharing your Libre wisdom, as always. 🙏

My apartment has an open floor plan apart from the bedrooms and bathrooms, and I think I'd rather not pen him up in any case, not just for my peace of mind. He'd hate it, and he's always going to wander back into the room where the food and water are anyway, so I think that's my best bet. I could close the door to my room to keep him from curling up there, I guess. (He won't be thrilled, but he can't yell at me when I'm not home!) I might try that. He's unlikely to spend a lot of time in the kitchen or bathroom (apart from using the litterbox in the latter).
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My pleasure always. Happy to help 💖
 
There's a WalMart in Quincy.

Lots of people buy their half unit marked insulin syringes online. Amazon doesn't require a prescription.

I have those same syringes but in half unit markings. CVS should have half unit marked syringes. The prescription might have to specify that. And 3/10cc not 1/2cc. All you need are 30 unit marked syringes for a cat.
 
squeem3 said:
There's a WalMart in Quincy.

Lots of people buy their half unit marked insulin syringes online. Amazon doesn't require a prescription.

I have those same syringes but in half unit markings. CVS should have half unit marked syringes. The prescription might have to specify that. And 3/10cc not 1/2cc. All you need are 30 unit marked syringes for a cat.
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Yes, but I live in Brookline and can't drive. I get around by bike and the T. While I can technically take the T to Quincy, that would wind up being tantamount to a day trip.

Thanks, that's helpful! I'll see what I can find online. But I am stuck with these for at least the next two doses (tonight and tomorrow morning), and probably a couple more than that.
 
Thanks for the photos of the syringes. I was wondering what was causing the problems. You have syringes that hold 50 units (0.5 ml) instead of 30 (3/10cc) and none of those have 1/2 unit markings. From our Sticky Note on Insulin and Syringes:
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That Sticky Note contains links to some you can get online. I think a number of people shop at Buy Insulin Syringes and Needles for Diabetes | ADW Diabetes. Or even Walmart online.

In the Sticky Note again are some pictures of what half unit syringes look like:
49823063143_3437e9e997_o.jpg
 
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