judy and squamee said:
It is not that you should let up on the dose and the numbers go down, it is that you should let up on the dose when the PS to PS drop is too much and numbers go down where that sort of drop is unacceptable. Not sure if that is making any sense?
OK I really apologize, I was getting pressured to get that off quickly and did not type things right. What I think I meant to say was:
It is not that you shouldn't let up on the dose as the numbers go down, it is that you should let up on the dose when the PS to PS drop is too much and numbers go down where that sort of drop is unacceptable.
judy and squamee said:
What drop from PS to PS is unacceptable? If the BG is in a safe range , let's say above 70, is there still a drop that is too great? In other words, are you saying that you can be at a "good" BG reading and still have too much of a drop? If that is what you mean, then what is too great a drop?
In a perfect world I like to make changes to the PS in about 30 points when the BGs are under 300. When under 200 then it would be nice to make changes in about 20 points. That is just my preference and is very conservative. A change in 50 points from PS to PS between 200-300 is acceptable - but clearly one does not want to keep driving the dose down by 50 points from PS to PS indefinitely. The key is to have a good idea what that "magic" does at that time might be that will keep the PS to PS even so hopefully you can back off to that number if needed. One should not get worried if the changes happen outside what my preference is [unless the changes are huge]. For instance a 100 point drop from PS to PS when the PSes are under 300 is pretty significant and would indicate that you need to back off a bit for the next dose. How much that bit is, has many inputs. Also an important note is that from my experience the "magic" dose tends to change a little as the numbers go down, but that is something you will have to really divine for yourself. I guess what I'm trying to say is that different doses work different at different PSes. That's why I said in one of my much earlier topics to you that it is a about what X dose you give for a Y change at a Z PS. But this is not a crucial point when you are just simply trying to hone in on basic "magic" dose and keep kitty out of 300+ type PSes. I would say, once you can get PSes under 200 that's really when you start fine tuning.
judy and squamee said:
I have not met many people in my life who are able to take that attitude.
You're preachin' to the choir. :smile:
I'm happy to tell you about my way and advise you in my way. If you don't drink the kool aid I can't control that.
I'm going to be really honest with you here. *I think* you are moving faster with this approach than you might with another approach. I cannot promise that though. Maybe I just have this self-deluded idea that I was able to adapt to things quicker when I was doing it and I have to be careful not to try to extrapolate that idea to other kitties. You have been aggressive about upping the dose which has helped. And you have to look at when you do a BCD dose as beneficial in gathering data. BCD doses give you confidence that the next time you decide to dose a little higher that it will work out OK for you.
IMHO it wasn't even slightly clear until 2 days ago that you were having a new dose reality going on and now just one day ago you were beginning to try to adapt to that reality. You've had one BCD [*maybe* two] dose in there. I'm not sure how much faster you could be going here. The normal advice for consistent dosing is to hold a dose for at LEAST 2 days - that's 4 cycles [some here swear that with ProZinc it should be held for 5... or more days]. So with variable we do a little more fiddling that eats some time, but we learn and get even faster down the road. And you've only been trying this variable type dosing for a couple weeks maybe? Maybe I'm lacking some distance/perspective on the topic but *I* think you are doing fine [but maybe I'm the wrong person to judge that].
BTW new dosing realities can happen in a downward trend too so you do have to stay open to things all the time. You just kind of have to stay on your toes and await the next punch.
Did the vet have any input on what you are doing wrong and why and why his/her approach would be better in this instance? I'm sorry, I get very frustrated with vets [they have caused me and my kitties so many problems] - I'm being on my best behavior here and trying to avoid unnecessary comments. :smile: I'm trying to approach it in a matter of fact way - and I'm honestly very open to constructive input from any source.
Here in PZI we are a little short on resources - limited people with limited time. Sort of by accident, we've ended up just kind of pair or split off. This is good because at least you get one consistent set of eyes on you - a "buddy" who's got your back hopefully. This is bad because others may not really be reading all of your topics. So if you feel it might help you, you should post something obvious like "seeking everyone's input/other eyes" or something like that in PZI to attract other eyes and you might want to link back to this topic. Maybe some others will be able to point where the variable is not working right for S - I lack the proper perspective/knowledge to really judge how another approach might work better.
Keep asking questions and I'll keep trying to answer them. And again [at any time], please ask me to clarify anything that I say if it's not clicking. I'm also open to talking real-time with you [PM me] - but I do also feel it is important to address things here so that others can see what I'm advising and correct me if they feel needed [the informal and highly beneficial peer review system here :smile: ].
I like to be part of the party.