12/31 Pumbaa says "Happy New Year!"

[Pumbaa]

Yesterday's thread is here: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=86000.

Pumbaa, Larry, Beck and I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year, filled with nothing but good health (for you and your furry friends), good luck, good news and prosperity! And may all bouncing cats just stop, immediately!

I'm not happy with this prolonged bounce of Pumbaa's, I know I should be patient and give it 72 hours to clear, but I just can't stand seeing him with numbers this high. He was clearing bounces so much quicker on the 2.75U dose. Then again, maybe he went low again late last night and I missed it because I didn't test after his 272 at PM +3. Depending on what he does tonight, I might just take him back up to either 2.75U or a fat 2.75U in the morning. I just don't know. It took him 16 cycles on the 2.75U dose to settle down into blues and greens, and earn a dose reduction...so maybe I'm being impatient. *sigh*

As Carl has mentioned previously, maybe Pumbaa's ideal dose is between 2.75U and 3.0U.

I should start a new thread with this question, but I've been wondering what everyone using Levemir has been using for injection times. Then again, due to nadirs shifting and Pumbaa sometimes having his nadirs at PS time, I don't think there is any ideal time for the injections. Even if I changed to 10 am and 10 pm, and went to bed pretty quickly after his 10 pm injection, and got up in the morning at 5 am for a +7, that would mean that, when he had a low PMPS, I would be dragging my butt after getting up at 5 am and having to stay up to test. There just doesn't seem to be an ideal injection time, from what I have determined. Not if you are trying to balance working, and testing, and other life commitments that take you away from home. Not to mention having any sort of a social life.

Input is very welcome on the ideal injection times for Levemir, to balance life and work and testing.

Again, Happy New Year, everyone!

Suze

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

Have a happy new year to you and Pumbaa too!

 

[Dale 'n' Chip]

...As Carl has mentioned previously, maybe Pumbaa's ideal dose is between 2.75U and 3.0U.

I think he speculated it would be a *little* higher than that. ;-)

...It could be that his "right dose" is somewhere between 3.0 and 3.25? Something to maybe consider if it happens that he needs an increase?
Carl

At the time I did agree, although I suspected it would have been better to nudge down to that dose rather than up. :idea:

May whatever *approach* you settle on for Pumbaa meet your goals for him for the new year. party_cat

 

[Pumbaa]

Chippendale's: you have a better memory than I do. ohmygod_smile I think I've tried obliterating the 3.25U dose results (and when the shed kicked in on 12/17) from my mind. :lol:

I did raise Pumbaa back up to 2.75U this morning, even though I didn't wait 72 hours for the bounce to clear, and even though it took Pumbaa a long time to settle into the 2.75U dose reduction before this. I just couldn't stand to see him with such high numbers anymore.

And thank you...my immediate goals for Pumbaa are to get him regulated and get his bouncing to stop without killing myself via a lack of sleep in the meantime. Long term would be having him go OTJ.

May you and Chip also meet your goals, or even exceed them!

Suze

 

[Dale 'n' Chip]

...my immediate goals for Pumbaa are to get him regulated and get his bouncing to stop without killing myself via a lack of sleep in the meantime.

There you go.

Perfect New Year's resolution!

No more magic shortcuts to *bypass* the green. The green should be a goal in and of itself. Regulation: 50-200 or even 40-200 is the goal. :mrgreen:

...I did raise Pumbaa back up to 2.75U this morning, even though I didn't wait 72 hours for the bounce to clear, and even though it took Pumbaa a long time to settle into the 2.75U dose reduction before this.

You don't wait for much before promptly returning to the last good dose. Usually not considered an increase, although by now you will surely see NDW again. And I'm not sure how good 2.75 was, so in this case it may be just another step on the way back on track, or a standard increase. You have plenty of data which shows Pumbaa has never truly "settled" back to sufficient green after a reduction. And I think you have waited around almost forever at times, for the elusive miracle which never came. I'd love to be wrong, but I don't think reducing the dose is ever going to *productively* stop the swing for Pumbaa after the numerous times it has been given *more* than the college try. ;-)

...I think I've tried obliterating the 3.25U dose results (and when the shed kicked in on 12/17) from my mind. :lol:

I don't know why that is. :?

Those were stellar results and exactly what you want: perfect green numbers 40-200 all cycle long. Just test plenty and be ready to add even more carbs if it ever gets out of hand. And be ready to start nudging down while maintaining the green, leveraging the momentum and increased sensitivity from all the mid-green numbers. The liver training is invaluable from keeping him in the zone.

It is overwhelming when they first see that much green, but it gets easier once you get accustomed to it. When Chip first snapped green, I stayed up testing every hour for something like 35 straight hours. That was crazy, but after all that time and struggle, I was just waiting around fearfully (in disbelief?) for it all to end. It didn't actually end until weeks later when I messed it up. Then I had to work forever to get it back.


What we always hear around here is that the low numbers always win out. Of course but that is primarily for the sake of the newly diagnosed. Once you have proven yourself, one of my favorite quotes from Sienne is:

...As long as you're around to monitor, any increase (well, any increase within reason), is safe.

In my opinion there was nothing at all unsafe about that standard increase to 3.25. You handled it perfectly right up until you just freaked out. One must have a healthy respect for the mandatory reduction. But by the same token for a cat that has been through as much as Pumbaa has, with such copious amounts of data, one needs to be more flexible about those iffy reductions between 40-50 which you know are going to fail. The goal is never the reduction in itself. The goal is regulation and keeping the cat between 40 and 200 for as much of the day as possible. Once you get there, the rest of it kind of falls into place, such as the lack of sleep and overwhelming stress. It's no longer all for nothing, once you finally see the light at the end of the long dark tunnel. :smile:

 

[Pumbaa]

Chippendale's:

I didn't "freak out" during the 3.25U dose increase. Pumbaa earned a dose reduction the second cycle at 3.25U, by hitting 44 even though he was getting higher carbed food at the time.

And I didn't "freak out" on 12/17 when it appeared that the shed for the 3.25U dose kicked in, but his numbers that morning were NOT "stellar results", and, if you read the notes on each cell of the SS that morning, you will see what a struggle it was to keep his numbers up. Even feeding him higher carbed food every hour, and 19% carbs at that, he still dropped to 51 at AM +6. If you have to struggle that much to keep your cat's numbers in a safe range, the dose is simply too high.

You forgot the last part of my goal, which is "without killing myself via a lack of sleep in the meantime." My work has suffered tremendously in the last nine months, as has my overall health, due to dealing with Pumbaa and the sporadic sleep I've been getting. Keeping a roof over our heads, and money coming in to pay for the added expense of insulin and supplies is number one, not keeping Pumbaa in constant green numbers. Healthy numbers, yes, constant greens, no. I can't take care of my business, myself, my house/yard, my mom, and devote 24 hours a day to Pumbaa as well. That's just reality. :smile:

 

[Dale 'n' Chip]

If you didn't then you are doing a lot better than me, because I sure did with Chip. :smile:

Of course Chip dropped below 50 numerous times on a regular basis, and I decided for that time those just weren't reductions, after all we had been through. Looking back now, that was definitely the right move then to get over that hump. When Chip dropped below 40, which he did despite my best efforts, those were mandatory reductions.

BTW I can relate to the insurmountable stress and lack of sleep and money spent, and being on the verge of losing it all. You are preaching to the choir on that reality.

All that said my only point is (I wish I could be wrong) I just don't see how you get to where you are going to solve that multitude of problems without passing GO and collecting lots of green on that spreadsheet. That's all.

I fully believe you can and will. Pumbaa is sooo close.. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Pumbaa]

Chippendale's, I didn't "freak" with Pumbaa on the 3.25U dose because of our looooonnnnnggggg history of him diving low, unexpectedly.

I'm actually much calmer/in control of his low numbers now than I was months ago, because I have a big assortment of higher carbed foods to choose from in order to steer him before he gets too low and I have to pull out the honey, and test him every 15 minutes.

Last night, when he hit 87 at PM +3, I knew it was time to start steering since we had a long way to go to nadir. I selected 13% carbs hoping to keep him up above 50 and maybe prevent a bounce today, while not wanting him to go too high, either. I guess I picked correctly since he hovered in the 80's for hours, as long as I kept giving him 13% carbs food after each test. And that at least allowed me to get short naps on the sofa in between tests. Not ideal for my back and my ability to concentrate on work today, but I have found if I go to bed to "nap", I am much less likely to get up and test him because my body is too comfortable and too relaxed in bed.

I'm just saying that my health and work are coming first this year, and I'm not willing to stay up 24/7 to test Pumbaa. I refuse to allow Pumbaa's diabetes to continue to control my entire life, and have everything else take a back seat, especially when I am the sole bread-earner and have an elderly mom with major health problems that I need to do an awful lot for, as well. I'm not Super Woman, and I'm not going to continue to try to be Super Woman. My Super Woman bra has been retired!

(Yes, this is an actual bra that I own. *LOL*)


Suze