12/15 - Gen, AMPS 354, +8 65, +11 353 PMPS >400 Libre

Allie & Gen

Allie & Gen

Member Since 2025
Yesterday

Good morning, folks. I'm a little freaked out, because I'm at work for the day and Gen appears to be dropping rather quickly. He's gone from 279 to 218 in 20 minutes. I'm wondering when I should contemplate telling my boss I have to run home, if it seems likely to come to that ... it would be a big deal if I did, and could cause problems. Also it would probably take me at least 30 minutes to get home because the temperatures are low enough that I took public transit instead of my bike this morning.

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The Libre app is now showing an error, which probably means it's recalibrating. So it could be that he's not dropping as fast as it was showing, or it could be that he's dropping fast enough that it's getting confused. I won't know for sure until it sorts itself out. That's fun! :rolleyes:😬
 
Gotcha, oh boy, on the one hand I like that you can see data, but on the other, you aren’t the first one here with Libre sensor dilemma. If he has food you know he will eat, it’s possible that he’s just having an early nadir, then he’ll pop back up again. Easy for me to say don’t panic just yet, but I understand. Maybe see how the Libre reads at +2.5?
 
Yeah, the Libre is definitely a mixed blessing in this specific way! And I'm learning not to panic about it, but things at my job have been tense enough that the combination is particularly rough.

I'm happy to say that it just finished recalibrating, and it now says that nadir was 222 and he's heading back up now. So ... he's probably okay! I will of course keep an eye on it, at intervals (I try not to stay glued to it since that can be unnecessarily stressful, but I was backfilling last night's data when I started to see the drop).

Thanks for hand-holding my early freakout, Christie. I really appreciate it. ❤️
 
Doing great, Allie! I know that was a stressful am cycle, but at least you have something to see instead of being totally in the dark 💖

Be a good boy Gen, eat your snacks and surf steady today 🏄‍♂️🌊
 
I noticed our libre sensor doing similar things last night....it would cut out after a quick drop and then be back and be fine. What's going on libres???
 
Well ... a few minutes ago the low glucose alarm went off. It then self-corrected a few minutes later to 81, but that's still a huge drop from where we started this cycle, and we're just past +5. I think ... I'm going to take my lunch break, go home, and check on him. I suspect I'll be able to ride my bike back (it's not warm out, but it's not 14 degrees anymore), which will cut some of the travel time.

I guess that increase is really starting to kick in!

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... and now he's trending back up. If that was the nadir, that's fine (though I imagine we'll see a bounce). I will save my "possibly running home" for if there's another scare; I do really need to get some work done if I can.

Whew. Active cycles are a trip.
 
Jessica & Indy said:
I noticed our libre sensor doing similar things last night....it would cut out after a quick drop and then be back and be fine. What's going on libres???
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I think the Libres struggle with big changes, it's a known issue. Mine is going to drive me mad today, though. (Since my posts above, it has now backed off and is showing the "no recent data" error again - this is the LibreLinkUp app, it doesn't show all the same specific messages that the main Libre app does - and the most recent value it's willing to commit to is 105 at 12:57PM. My blood pressure doesn't need this!!)
 
Allie & Gen said:
I think the Libres struggle with big changes, it's a known issue. Mine is going to drive me mad today, though. (Since my posts above, it has now backed off and is showing the "no recent data" error again - this is the LibreLinkUp app, it doesn't show all the same specific messages that the main Libre app does - and the most recent value it's willing to commit to is 105 at 12:57PM. My blood pressure doesn't need this!!)
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They do recalibrate after a steep drop (sometimes) and then show the higher number.
You are correct that when you see the error message, it's likely falling or rising quickly, then needs to recalibrate.

I've even seen it happen for several hours when a few times I installed a brand new Libre and Ivy happened to be under 100 on the Libre. So it gave me a 9 hour error message (now that was super stressful, not knowing if it would come back). Shockingly, it DID come back at 9 hours.
Lucky I was able to blood test Ivy just to see where she was, but what a day (had a few of those days).
Sigh.
Luckilly, it's not too often, but if they are LO for several hours, you can see "sensor error" messages with no reading :bighug:
 
This is, in fact, extremely stressful, I am not going to lie. If I'd realized it would take this many cycles for him to start having a big response to the increase, I would have timed it sooner, SLGS be damned. I might need to do that if we take another one, to try and time these shenanigans for a weekend.

After I posted last, he dipped again, and this time the Libre told me he was at 55. Well, I didn't want to mess around, so I took a lunch break and went home. He was, of course, fine, and by the time I got there the Libre had readjusted its data and the lowest point was now 87.

Still, I checked him over, made sure he was walking okay (remembering his symptoms from his hypo crisis) and eating. And then I got on my bike and rode back to work, with his BG steadily climbing in the mid-100s.

... guess what just went off AGAIN about two minutes ago? (It said he was at 67; I have the alarm set to go off at 70.) Now it has readjusted to 108. I swear, this thing is trying to kill me today.

If I get any work done today at all, it'll be an actual miracle. :banghead:
 
Aaaaaugh.

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So at one point about half an hour ago, it said he was at 57. It has readjusted that low point now to 65. What is going on with this cat?

(A friend suggests that maybe the cumulative effects of the antibiotics and the new insulin dose are hitting him all at once?)

I can go home again in half an hour. It would be nice if we could avoid any more alarms until then ...
 
Allie & Gen said:
This is, in fact, extremely stressful, I am not going to lie. If I'd realized it would take this many cycles for him to start having a big response to the increase, I would have timed it sooner, SLGS be damned. I might need to do that if we take another one, to try and time these shenanigans for a weekend.

After I posted last, he dipped again, and this time the Libre told me he was at 55. Well, I didn't want to mess around, so I took a lunch break and went home. He was, of course, fine, and by the time I got there the Libre had readjusted its data and the lowest point was now 87.

Still, I checked him over, made sure he was walking okay (remembering his symptoms from his hypo crisis) and eating. And then I got on my bike and rode back to work, with his BG steadily climbing in the mid-100s.

... guess what just went off AGAIN about two minutes ago? (It said he was at 67; I have the alarm set to go off at 70.) Now it has readjusted to 108. I swear, this thing is trying to kill me today.

If I get any work done today at all, it'll be an actual miracle. :banghead:
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I get it. I really do 🫂
It seems he’s fine. He’s not lingering in very low numbers. So that’s good.

Did the vet do a spot check of his BG when you had him at the vet recently to compare what the Libre said?
Just curious.
It’s good you’re seeing action on the increase.

I try to give increases when I know I’ll be home (which is easier since I work from home).
But, if I know I have to be out on a Saturday night (our norm) then I will wait until Sunday am to give an increase.

We just do the very best we can to keep them safe 😘
 
I know this is good, it's just nervewracking that I can't be home to make sure he doesn't go too low. I tried to time things with this in mind (started the increase Saturday morning with the whole weekend ahead of me), but I just don't have enough of a baseline for him to really be able to predict what his timing is going to look like. Nevermind how the abscess and medications may have played into it all.

But he's okay, and I can go home soon and make sure he stays that way.

When we were at the vet last week, she got a reading of 427 (using an AlphaTrak). When I checked the Libre later (we didn't have the connection to get realtime readings from it while at the vet, which I'll try to amend in future), it said he would have been at about 340 at the time she tested. I expect that it's reading a little low, though when it keeps adjusting itself like this it kind of makes my head spin.

Anyway, I'm genuinely glad we're in the blues and greens today (though not looking forward to the bounce we'll probably see from it). I just wish it could be a little gentler!
 
Oh, and ALSO. According to SLGS, dipping below 90 would mean we've earned a reduction, but we just did this exact thing (he had one day where he dipped low, we reduced, and he went a week on the lower dose with super high numbers the entire time - so we increased two days ago, and now this).

I don't think I should reduce again. That 1u was barely getting him out of the pinks, and not even that some days. Unless the antibiotics have changed the situation? (But he won't be on the antibiotics forever, either, and they aren't going to fully clear up his dental situation.)

Looks like I could use some advice for this evening's dose. 🫠 @Wendy&Neko @Christie & Maverick @tiffmaxee
 
Well darn, Gen sure is making things interesting today! You did mention that some readings were in the 50s again, and I wonder if you are actually seeing some benefit of removing the Hills m/d dry along with perhaps some improvement of the tooth infection with the antibiotics. My other thought is that today did seem to cause you a lot of stress, so I guess SLGS works for you in that context? I understand the frustration in holding a reduction for 7 days, but there may be factors this time around that might make it different (like no more m/d dry) if you do reduce.
 
I’ll also add, perhaps how he fares the rest of the cycle might provide you with some more insight, especially if he continues to come down to preshot, you may be asking a different question :)
 
He's going up again a little now, although he's had some ups and downs all afternoon, so it's hard to say.

I had a long talk with my vet at the end of the work day (about plans for dental surgery mostly), and her instructions were: if he's above 150 at shot time, give him his full 1.25u dose. If he's under 150, give him a half-dose (so .75u). Not as an official ongoing reduction, but as a safety measure, and then we can see how he fares overnight. This advice makes sense to me, but I'd be interested in additional opinions.

On another note, he had some looser stool today (not diarrhea, but definitely a bit soft), so thanks once again to @Mary & Jude for the probiotic recommendation! We're going to try that tonight. He wiped his butt on my bedsheets, which I would like to avoid repeating. 😝
 
Well, he's hopped back up into the mid-300s at +11, so it looks like I'm going to maintain his dose. (I remain disinclined to do the mandated SLGS reduction. Yet.)

It's hard to say, but it does seem to be a pattern with him that when he decides he's going to go for the green, he does it (at least at first) in one biiiig downward slide, and then he climbs all the way back up just as quickly. This is the third time I've seen this, though the circumstances which caused it have been somewhat variable.

How to get him to stay low is a whole other question, it seems.
 
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Allie & Gen said:
Well, he's hopped back up into the mid-300s at +11, so it looks like I'm going to maintain his dose. (I remain disinclined to do the mandated SLGS reduction. Yet.)

It's hard to say, but it does seem to be a pattern with him that when he decides he's going to go for the green, he does it (at least at first) in one biiiig downward slide, and then he climbs all the way back up just as quickly. This is the third time I've seen this, though the circumstances which caused it have been somewhat variable.

How to get him to stay low is a whole other question, it seems.
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I know when Karamelle drops low, its always follow by a "bounce" up high, so thats what it could be doing maybe. Then I have to wait till the bounce clears before I can see the real numbers.
 
Yes, I think it is a bounce! But because SLGS says that you reduce by .25u anytime your cat goes below 90, I reduced, and he never really came back down. I want to see what happens if I hold the dose this time.
 
I remember reading someone (can't remember) who is a Libre user commenting that their cat's numbers dove down if he slept on the sensor. However, this time Gen stayed below 100 for a good period of time so I don't think it's that. This is cycle 5 after an increase, not uncommon to see action then. I am interested in seeing if he can get into blues/greens again on this dose.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
I remember reading someone (can't remember) who is a Libre user commenting that their cat's numbers dove down if he slept on the sensor. However, this time Gen stayed below 100 for a good period of time so I don't think it's that. This is cycle 5 after an increase, not uncommon to see action then. I am interested in seeing if he can get into blues/greens again on this dose.
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I'm quite sure it wasn't that - his sensor is placed on his shoulder, and it doesn't tend to get slept on (and I think we would have seen it before now if it were). Also I came home for an hour from roughly +5.75-+6.75, and he was up and active for most of that time.

Tonight should be interesting! I mean, even without a reduction I won't be surprised if the bounce holds for a bit, but ... well, we'll see.
 
WHAT A WILD DAY! As a person who works 30 mins. away from home, GAH! I'm so sorry for you!! If you're a drinker, pour a double! If not, deep breathing exercises can do amazing work in lowering the blood pressure.

You might consider switching to TR. You're testing enough for it, and it does allow you to hold those doses for a bit longer. You can always switch back to SLGS if you want.
 
Hey there Allie! Many congrats on those amazing numbers! I can't give the advice, but just wanted to come and say how awesome it is to see those! Nervous I'm sure, especially with the wonky libre. But wow! Hoping for continued greens and less scares. 😍
 
Mary & Jude said:
I forgot about the dry food!!! Sorry. As Christie said, once you ditch the dry food...then consider TR :p

Definitely have a drink, though.
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I am seriously considering TR for the future! But I am sticking with the dry food probably through the end of the year, since when we go away for a week to stay with my folks I want to give him as much consistency as possible. Once we've readjusted to home, that's probably when I'll start reducing how much dry he gets every morning.

(I mean, I have already started taking away whatever is left in the evening, which is definitely a reduction on the dry already. But this is where we'll keep that metric for the timebeing.)

And LOL, I don't think I have anything single-serving in the house, I don't drink at home all that often. It's a shame; this would be the night!
 
And we're back in the red for the first time in nearly 24 hours for PMPS. I held the dose. Here's hoping he doesn't stay so high for long, although I really have no idea when he's likely to break his bounce, since it wasn't really noticeable last time.
 
Cats whose usual numbers are higher don’t need greens to bounce, might have been a bounce break today from those blues on Dec.13th which can also account for a later nadir today.
 
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