2/18 Chianti amps 64 broken meter or cat or what???

Status
Not open for further replies.
itzj

itzj

Member Since 2014
(I need to update Chianti's SS, I will do that when I go downstairs, posting this first from my laptop)

I'm not sure how to proceed here, at this point we are 2 hours past shot time due to a lovely little situation. Last night DH tested him before bed and he was 60, after having been in the 200-300s for 2 days. He fed, tested him 15 minutes later and he was 64. He test him this morning, he's still 64. Starts to question meter. Changes battery, tests himself gets 89. So then he decides to try to go to the closest store and buy a cheap backup meter. Can't get out of the driveway because of the snow. Spends an hour shoveling the driveway. Goes to Harris Teeter, testers are 100 and strips are another 100 so he doesn't buy one. Tests him at +2 and he's now 122.

What do we do? Is there anything we should do? Should we give him a half dose to not screw up the depot so much?

I am so frustrated with this cat. He cannot seem to hold any real progress. Once every week or two he acts like he's going to improve, and then nope.

Ok, I will go get dressed and update his ss. It's been neglected because we had a nasty cold/flu type illness blow in over the weekend and it took even me down.
 
I'm not one to give dosing advice but if you are home, have plenty of supplies and food and will be able to monitor I would shoot. The depot is already drained so you shouldn't have to worry about him going too low. I can't tell from a quick look at your ss why you have taken some of the reductions that you have taken as it doesn't look to me like any were earned but that has no influence on whether to shoot now.
 
Those reductions were because we increased stupidly because of the vet with little testing, then had a scary 2 cycles and reset to work back up slowly. We have a very busy home life so relaxed is as good as it gets around here unless he throws low numbers.
 
itzj said:
Those reductions were because we increased stupidly because of the vet with little testing, then had a scary 2 cycles and reset to work back up slowly. We have a very busy home life so relaxed is as good as it gets around here unless he throws low numbers.
Click to expand...

I can imagine. Relaxed is fine. I still think you should be fine to shoot today. What do you think?
 
Well we are at +3 now. He'll be fine and dandy by pmps. I'm just having really big feelings about skipping a shot and messing up his depot. I'm giving up hope of ever even thinking about remission. He can't even stinking hold blue numbers. I'm sorry I'm needing to vent, I'm just so frustrated.
 
itzj said:
Well we are at +3 now. He'll be fine and dandy by pmps. I'm just having really big feelings about skipping a shot and messing up his depot. I'm giving up hope of ever even thinking about remission. He can't even stinking hold blue numbers. I'm sorry I'm needing to vent, I'm just so frustrated.
Click to expand...
:bighug::bighug: It is way too early to say that. Max bounced around for a whole year and I'm doing the tight protocol. He won't reach remission probably due to having chronic pancreatitis for 4 years before diabetes but there is no reason to think Chianti won't. You are still very new. While I've seen many go OTJ quickly they say that the best chance is in the first year and you are only 3 months here. The only suggestion I have is to try not to skip shots which could mean lowering the dose as you have done in the past.
 
Thank you for your kind words too. I do appreciate them. I think I'm getting green with envy looking at all the other green around here. :D
 
itzj said:
Thank you for your kind words too. I do appreciate them. I think I'm getting green with envy looking at all the other green around here. :D
Click to expand...

Yes, it's too late because your new shot time would be 12 hours from when you shoot. I'd get back on track tonight. If a different time works better for you, you are now free to pick a new time since you skipped this morning. Whenever you shoot your next time will be 12 hours later.

I get green from envy as well when I see cats go OTJ within weeks or a few months. Have a look at Max's ss and you will see how long it took to just avoid big bounces. :bighug:
 
Thank you for encouraging me to look at his sheets. That made me feel a lot better. That must have been really frustrating to go back and forth in his dose so much.
 
I always freak out when I get a reading with Sami that I don't expect. The first thing I do is re-test to see if I get the same or a similar number. Sometimes it is just a bad strip.

If I get a similar number when I retest then I test myself to see what my own BG is. If I get a number that I expect I am typically under 100 then I assume the meter is fine and go with it. If I get a number that I don't expect when I test myself then I test my husband. LOL!

If all readings are unexpected that I assume it is the meter and trash it. But if my reading or my husbands reading is normal then I assume that the reading for Sami is also fairly accurate, remembering that there is a 20% meter variance. I do try to keep a back up meter on hand if for some reason the meter decides to stop reading accurately. I usually keep the same type of meter on hand so I don't have to worry about having different strips.

Hope that helps.
 
Frustrating. Absolutely! I have a mantra that I use whenever Polly goes ka-flooey with her numbers (mid 300's today!). We'll just keep plugging along.

You know, that's all we can do. Relaxed? Tight? Whichever. Just stick to the protocol...even when that seems so hard to do. Neither you nor your cat is orchestrating this dance. Those freaky hormones (insulin) are. So take a breath; take a step. And then another and another. That's all we can do.

Marilyn and Polly
 
Good plan on the skip today. Since you are following the Start Low Go Slow Method where reductions are earned for a number under 90, I'd try 3.5 units again and see how he does with it this time. I wouldn't be surprised if he snuck under the TR reduction point of 50 somewhere last night.
 
Jenny --

I don't think the cat is "broken"!

Here's my spin...
Even with SLGS, you want to increase the dose after 5 - 7 days if the numbers aren't where you want them. If there's any way you can get more spot checks, that may help you to have a clearer sense of what is actually going on with Chianti's numbers. If there's a possibility of doing a curve on a weekend or when you're home, it will help to clarify when onset and nadir fall. You're routinely testing at PM +5 but it looks like Chianti's nadir might be earlier. If this is the case, you may have missed dose reductions.

I'd also keep in mind that holding on to a dose that isn't getting the numbers where you want them can lead to glucose toxicity. That's a technical term that means that you cat's body begins to treat those less than desirable numbers as the new "normal." It makes it harder to bring the numbers down.
 
Thank you for all the responses.

Is there anywhere I can read more about the glucose toxicity?

We did 3.75 tonight to offset the skip damage. Will move to 3.5 in the am and see if he does better this time. Will also push the 2nd night test to +4.

What I'm having a hard time understanding is why he every once and a while has a good day and then he's just not. And he is so hard to get wet food into.

Going to talk with dh about where we can add in more monitoring. To be honest we are just overwhelmed with life right now.
 
Chin up :) It gets better. I promise. I was completely overwhelmed when Sarge was diagnosed last year. I was working 6 days a week with lots of other commitments and suddenly had a whole new world of things to learn to handle. But in time you find a new groove. Actually, I have wanted to break the snooze button habit for years. FD did it! The "dance" isn't a piece of cake but it's totally doable. Especially with the FDMB. You will see :)
 
It will get better, Jenny. The first few months can be difficult but as you learn Chianti's patterns, you'll be more comfortable with what is going on and learn how to respond.
 
itzj said:
To be honest we are just overwhelmed with life right now.
Click to expand...

Yes, in the beginning it is very overwhelming, but I does get easier. I can't say that it gets less stressful, but as you learn the ropes it does get easier. I can tell you that once I started relying on everyone here for support it make life so much better for me.
 
Tina & Sami said:
Yes, in the beginning it is very overwhelming, but I does get easier. I can't say that it gets less stressful, but as you learn the ropes it does get easier. I can tell you that once I started relying on everyone here for support it make life so much better for me.
Click to expand...

I think I'll stop feeling overwhelmed when my last child is 18. Then I'll just feel stressed. ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top