12/24 Emmyb

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jennyb

Member Since 2012
Hello, Lantus land peeps, my name is jennyb and I was encouraged to make my post over here in Lantus land. So I don't have to re write everything thus far here is a link to my already started post on the main forum:

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=85598


So,I'm trying to switch Emmy from a 1 2unit does to a twice a day 1 unit dose, and having a little trouble with low numbers in the AM. She use to eat a 5Am then i'd take her food up and I'd test,feed,shoot at 7Am that was on the once a day dose. Now that she is on twice a day she has discontinued eating at 5Am, which is good in a way I guess cause it can mean that her sugars are more level, but she's having low numbers preshot and it's freaking me out a little, and I would just like support and monitoring as we bumble thru this.

So, at 9AM she gave a 9.4(169) so I gave her 1 unit, and fed her a little more. Just did her now at 10AM 9.1(163) this does not look good :cry: fed her a few more crunchies.
 
Re: having trouble with low numbers

Welcome to Lantus Land!

FWIW, most of us shoot low on this board. We encourage new members to post and ask for input if you have a preshot that's below 150. On Health, they use a slightly higher number.

Personally, I think these are great numbers! I can understand you're being uneasy, though. We recommend that you do not feed 2 hours prior to shot time. You don't want to artificially influence your preshot numbers with food. You also want to pick a shot time and stick with it. Lantus does best if you are consistent both with shot time and dose.

For today, I'd get a +2 and see how Emmy's numbers are looking. You can always give her a teaspoon or two of low carb food to see if that keeps her numbers in this lovely range.

When you have a chance, take a look at the starred, sticky notes at the top of the board. They will help to get you oriented to Lantus and this board. And please ask questions. The people here are very generous with their information and time.
 
Re: having trouble with low numbers

There you are :smile:

Here's your link to the post on Health: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=85598 you have to use the URL button to make it clickable.

I see you decided to shoot the full dose. That was brave of you, and she will be okay, because you are testing and you have the supplies you need. I notice you mentioned crunchies. We try to get all of our cats off the dry food and onto a full wet food diet.

Anyway, Welcome to LantusLand as we call it :-D
 
Re: having trouble with low numbers

Hello and welcome!

I noticed that Emmy was diagnosed around the same time as mine -- I've learned so much here in Lantus Land! Amazing, supportive people. You're in a good place!

~Josie
 
Re: having trouble with low numbers

Welcome to LL! So glad you are here and there are so many people to help you here, ask away! Hope you are doing ok and we all can help! Take care!
 
Re: having trouble with low numbers

Sienne and Gabby said:
Welcome to Lantus Land!

FWIW, most of us shoot low on this board. We encourage new members to post and ask for input if you have a preshot that's below 150. On Health, they use a slightly higher number.

Personally, I think these are great numbers! I can understand you're being uneasy, though. We recommend that you do not feed 2 hours prior to shot time. You don't want to artificially influence your preshot numbers with food. You also want to pick a shot time and stick with it. Lantus does best if you are consistent both with shot time and dose.

For today, I'd get a +2 and see how Emmy's numbers are looking. You can always give her a teaspoon or two of low carb food to see if that keeps her numbers in this lovely range.

When you have a chance, take a look at the starred, sticky notes at the top of the board. They will help to get you oriented to Lantus and this board. And please ask questions. The people here are very generous with their information and time.
Click to expand...

she's now 142 as of 11AM
What now?
 
EmmyB AMPS 169, +1 163, +2 142

You can go ahead and change the Subject Line in your first post (by using the Edit function), so we can see how Emmy is doing throughout the day.

You're doing fine ;-)

We're here to support you and answer any questions you have, and you can post how she's doing, and such and so forth.
 
EmmyB AMPS 169, +1 163, +2 142

jennyb said:
she's now 142 as of 11AM
What now?
Click to expand...
Her numbers are looking good. You can give her a little meal if you like.
 
Re: having trouble with low numbers

In order to change the subject line that's visible on the Board, you have to edit your first post in the thread. It's only that subject line that's visible.

It looks like Emmy is "surfing" in blue numbers. That's great!! If she were my kitty, I'd give her a teaspoon or two of her usual, low carb food and re-test in an hour.
 
Re: having trouble with low numbers

Sienne and Gabby said:
In order to change the subject line that's visible on the Board, you have to edit your first post in the thread. It's only that subject line that's visible.

It looks like Emmy is "surfing" in blue numbers. That's great!! If she were my kitty, I'd give her a teaspoon or two of her usual, low carb food and re-test in an hour.
Click to expand...
thanks, I feel better that you said that was a good thing, and I did give her a little snack and I'll re-test in an hour. Her poor little ears, she's not liking me today.
 
Re: Emmy

Give Emmy a treat each and every time you test. It doesn't matter if it's a successful poke or not -- she gets a treat regardless. She'll start to associate testing with treats, hugs, praise, etc. A lot of our cats will go to their test spot spontaneously, purr during tests, and otherwise not mind the poke.

When you have time, start reading other people's condos. (We call our threads "condos." It makes more sense to visit a condo than a thread and people here do visit and comment. We're very social!) Take a look at our spreadsheets, as well. You'll see how people are handling numbers that are similar to Emmy's.
 
Re: Emmy

Yay 10.5(189)

o.k. just wondering...today I was home all day, but there are days I'm busy running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

how do I get to a point where i'm not freaking out and having to babysit her and poke her every hour, some days it's not possible, what do I do then?

Also wondering if is should back off on the PM insulin since her mornings are lowish.

Also wondering how to get back to a 7Am dosing....just thinking that I leave it at 9Am like it is until Tuesday, I won't be home that evening, should I skip that evening dose the back it up to 7Am the next morning since she won't have pm insulin in her?

sorry for so many questions
 
Re: Emmy

Emmy is doing great and don't worry about the questions. That's why we are all here....to help.

Many members have auto feeders that they use and can set up so their kitties will eat during the day and help keep the numbers stable. Do you think that would work for Emmy? You just want to be sure that most of her meals are prior to her nadir; if you feed after nadir, it slows the effects of the insulin down. Since nadirs can jump around, you might just want to be sure her last feeding would be at about +5.

Don't back off the PM dose. We shoot consistently every 12 hours, same dose. It's good her AMPS are what they are the last two days but that can change. We dose on the nadir, primarily, with only some consideration to the PS so concentrate on those nadirs. Most members complain that the AMPS is always the highest number and it often is and it's also often the last number to come down. If it worries you a lot, you can skinny the dose just a tad but, really, she's doing awesome and I personally would not reduce her dose at this point.

We make time changes in 15 min increments each cycle or 30 mins one cycle/day until she's back on her normal time. I guess I'm not totally clear but are you saying you are leaving Tuesday during the day and won't be home at all to shoot? If that is the case, then yes, you can skip tomorrow night and then get back to your 7 AM time on Wed. It should have very minimal effect on her and she'll get back to her nice numbers.

Edited to add (eta): And I also think you should pull the food and not be feeding her within two hours of her shot time. At AMPS, you want to test, feed, shoot but many of us feed and shoot at the same time.

Do you put Neosporin Ointment with Pain Relief on her ears? I think they call it something else in Canada. Here is a post I did on Testing and Shooting Tips which might help you.
We're glad you are here! Merry Christmas!
 
Re: Emmy

You'll get used to her trends as you get more testing. That's why we encourage doing as much testing as you can on the days you are home. Eventually, you will feel more comfortable about where her BGs are likely to go during a cycle.

A lot of us have automatic feeders and we leave them scheduled to open at certain hours, when we think our cat should have a meal. Some of us will freeze wet food and leave it out to slowly thaw in their bowls, while we're gone.

Lantus works best on a 12/12 schedule and the same dose each cycle.
You can move the shot time by 15 minutes per cycle, without much affect on the BGs, or by 30 minutes once a day.

If you shot at 9:00am this morning, then you can shoot at
8:45pm tonight,
8:30am Tuesday morning,
8:15pm Tuesday night,
8:00am Wednesday morning,
7:45pm Wedensday night,
7:30am Thursday morning,
7:15pm Thursday night,
7:00am Friday morning.

OR in half hour increments:
8:30pm tonight,
8:30am Tuesday morning,
8:00pm Tuesday night,
8:00am Wednesday morning,
7:30pm Wednesday night,
7:30am Thursday morning,
7:00pm Thursday night,
7:00am Friday morning.
 
Re: Emmy

Marje and Gracie said:
Emmy is doing great and don't worry about the questions. That's why we are all here....to help.

Many members have auto feeders that they use and can set up so their kitties will eat during the day and help keep the numbers stable. Do you think that would work for Emmy? You just want to be sure that most of her meals are prior to her nadir; if you feed after nadir, it slows the effects of the insulin down. Since nadirs can jump around, you might just want to be sure her last feeding would be at about +5.
We're glad you are here! Merry Christmas!
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how that would help, she's a free feeder. Eventually I would like to feed her twice a day and then make her transition to wet food right now she's on dry and won't even get near the wet.

Marje and Gracie said:
Emmy is doing great and don't worry about the questions. That's why we are all here....to help.
I guess I'm not totally clear but are you saying you are leaving Tuesday during the day and won't be home at all to shoot? If that is the case, then yes, you can skip tomorrow night and then get back to your 7 AM time on Wed. It should have very minimal effect on her and she'll get back to her nice numbers.
Click to expand...

Tuesday day I'm home but in the evening when she should get her pm shot at 9 I won't be home till 10 or 11, so I was thinking of skipping the evening one so I can get back to 7AM. Does this sound reasonable. I'm thinking that cause her numbers are lower in the mornings now it might be better this way instead of trying to back up every 15 min. might be harder cause her numbers are lower in the Am
 
I just want to be sure you understand that this might not be a trend for her....lower in the mornings. I only see it on the last two days. Cycles change constantly until the kitties are tightly regulated and fairly flat. So don't get attached to lower AMPS :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yes, you can skip tomorrow night. You can also shoot an hour late but that will put you even further behind so if you need to get back on the 7AM schedule for work, then skipping makes sense. The other option is if she is really high tomorrow night by 7 or 8 and you are home, you can shoot her early. Especially since you will be home within a few hours. If you are leaving before 7, then just skip. If you are leaving at 8, you'd only have to shoot one hour early (which is less aggressive than shooting two hours early) but she would need to be up in pink for you to do that.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
I just want to be sure you understand that this might not be a trend for her....lower in the mornings. I only see it on the last two days. Cycles change constantly until the kitties are tightly regulated and fairly flat. So don't get attached to lower AMPS :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Click to expand...

understood, thanks so much for coaxing me thru it, I feel much releaved and will continue to monitor her lol this is more expensive than I had planned, eating up strips like they were candy :lol:

how much do folks tend to spend a month on supplies, any idea ruffly how much a person goes thru?
 
I don't think about it.

I do save on strips though. I used to buy them from EBay, as I was using a OneTouch meter and those strips are very expensive, but I was able to get some great deals using EBay. You just have to be patient and keep searching for what you want. Now I buy my strips from American Diabetes Wholesale and use the Arkray Vital meter and strips. I think they work out to be about 18 cents each. There is a link to ADW on this site that if you click on it from here, the FDMB gets a percentage of what you buy.
 
I don't think about it either and we test Gracie alot. I have a One Touch, like Dyana mentioned, and I also buy in bulk on ebay. By in bulk, I mean at a minimum, 400 strips at a time but more if I get a good price on them.
 
I just wanted to say welcome to Lantus Land! I know this is crazy overwhelming at first and you just want Emmy to get better as soon as possible. But, as has been told to me more than once: it's a marathon, not a sprint. You'll find a rhythm, Emmy will settle in and it will get easier, but give yourself some time to get it all together. Strive for consistency and remain diligent.

You're doing great! Hang in there! :YMHUG:
 
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