1 Month in and now a serial poker

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Susan G & Jimmy G

Susan G & Jimmy G

Member Since 2017
Preface: I'm not seeking dosing input or advice. I think I've become a serial poker. It's as if I'm hoping to see changes throughout the cycle and am testing frequently throughout the day to "catch the blue" - it's only happened three times since starting a month ago. The piece of the puzzle I'm missing is the 11pm-5am numbers. Jimmy's very patient with me and is fairly patient while I test. Do I dare pull an all nighter to get those numbers? Should I reduce tests during the day and increase frequency of tests at night? I understand their numbers tend to be lower at night - but Jimmy has been anything but typical during this journey and honestly wouldn't expect a vast difference and not sure it would even effect dosage at this point. If he doesn't respond to the current dosage, I plan on contacting the vet and see what else may be going on. His amalyse was high upon diagnosis - I've ordered PB in anticipation. It may be time to look more in to that if I don't see an improvement over the next few days with this, what I am considering high dose, for a cat that has been diabetic for a relatively short time.
 
Re night testing: you don't have to do an all-nighter. Set an alarm for mid cycle to get a test at different times in that range - eg. +5 one night, +6 another, +7, etc. Over a week or so you'll have a fairly good picture of what he's up to at night.
 
I've been there! I used to poke allllll day. Any time I was home and all weekend long I would check, check, check. I had to find the balance between checking him and staying sane. I have pulled all nighters before but usually only if there was an issue (BG dropping too low, too quick). What works for me is checking him throughout the day on pre determined days (for example, I might pick the 10th of the month and the 25th of the month). Then I'll pick one night every month to stay up with him and check hourly through the night just to get an idea of where he stands.
If the insulin dose changes at all I don't do any of this until he has been on his new dose for at least a week (although his vet requests no hourly testing until 2 weeks). These are techniques that work for me and for my guy's situation- I can only share with you what I've found to help. I found myself getting swept up in testing and obsessing so I chose to take a step back and I think it worked out for both myself and Dennis. Find what works for you!
 
I'm a serial poker too! I actually started poking LESS when I switched to lantus. He was on ProZinc before and it has a much faster drop than Lantus so I was afraid he'd bottom out without me knowing. I'm starting to poke more again since we seem to have found a dose he really likes. Chuck handles the pokes like a champ. He is use to them by now (but always seemed ok with them from the beginning) and enjoys his tiny snack. He has started to make sure I have the snack in hand before coming for his poke though. haha brat!
 
I know I am a serial poker, too (love that moniker, btw!) but I can't help it; Squallie's BG runs so low now, I'm always terrified he'll suddenly drop too low and have a hypo, so I test him constantly. I feel bad for his poor little ears! On days when his numbers are a little higher I force myself to not test as much, but it's hard!
 
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