4/1 Jack AMPS 193; +4 84; +5.5 98; +6 147; +8 396

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Jack and Jenell

Jack and Jenell

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Yesterday's condo viewtopic.php?f=24&t=116428

4/1

AMPS 193 ----- 2.5 units
+2 ------ 183
+3 ------ 121
+4 ------ 84
+5 ------ 67
+5.5 ---- 98 (after food...I can't help myself...)
+6 ------ 147
+8 ------ 396 Jeez quite a jump. I didn't give him that much high carb...

I am prepared for hypo :/ My fault. But I can be here to check him.

I know he is lower now than at +7 after his PMPS, but I didn't want him to rebound too high if I held it and he was starving. So I fed him a big meal and shot anyway. If I had to work today, I would have stalled and rechecked but I'll be home all day, so I wanted to see what he would do. Hope I don't kick myself later...but 193 is so close to 200!

Jenell
 
Re: 4/1 Jack AMPS 193

Are you going to be able to monitor? I'd get a +2 to see if he's dropping.
 
Re: 4/1 Jack AMPS 193; +2 183

Sorry about that! I just now saw Jack's updated +2. Editing a post doesn't bump it up to the top, so I didn't see it.

It's possible Jack might "surf," but I'm a little concerned he may drop quickly from that +2.

I'm going to be driving home from work now, but will be back on shortly. I'd suggest getting a +3 to see how fast he's going to drop.
 
Re: 4/1 Jack AMPS 193; +3 121; +4 84; +5.5 98

You two hanging in there? Looks like a pretty steep/fast drop. Good job getting tests.
 
Re: 4/1 Jack AMPS 193; +4 84; +5.5 98; +6 147

Tell Jack not to follow Lucian! :lol: He's dropped like a rock a couple times lately. Hang in there! :YMHUG:
 
Re: 4/1 Jack AMPS 193; +4 84; +5.5 98; +6 147

You did a nice job keeping an eye on those numbers.

Can you let us know what you fed before the 5.5? Just curious if it's something that might have caused him to pop up a bit at +5.5. There's nothing wrong at all with feeding throughout the cycle. :smile: Really, the only two tests that should be fasting are the pre-shot tests. Other than that, lots of us spread out smaller meals throughout the cycle to avoid a big food spike at the beginning and to smooth out the curve a bit. Many of us will limit food intake in the latter half of the cycle (or make them smaller snacks/meals) after mid-cycle so you're not feeding as the insulin is waning. Lots of ways to use food throughout the cycle. :smile:

It looks to my eye like Jack may be a good candidate for a sliding scale. I'm thinking that for pre-shots in the high 100's (for now I'd suggest a cut off of 190+), and low 200's, 2.5u may be a little much. That fast drop early in the cycle may cause Jack to have an earlier nadir and a bounce back up before the end of a cycle. The challenging part of a sliding scale is finding a dose that's in the "ballpark" for a given pre-shot value and working around that. :smile:
 
Re: 4/1 Jack AMPS 193; +4 84; +5.5 98; +6 147

Yeah I think 2.5 is too much too. Maybe take him down to 2 units tonight? I fed him some gravy pate at the +5 mark.
 
Re: 4/1 Jack AMPS 193; +4 84; +5.5 98; +6 147

Jack and Jenell said:
I fed him some gravy pate at the +5 mark.
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Ah ha. That makes sense. :-D

What I will often do if it seems like Eddie's dropping too quickly is to feed a small amount of his regular low carb or slightly higher medium carb food to slow him down a little without spiking him up.

Maybe let's see where Jack's at a little closer to PMPS? I think if he's in the 400+ range, the 2.5u might be OK for now. If his pre-shot comes in in the lower ranges, maybe a 2.0 might be worth trying. What do you think? I think you're getting closer to a better dose. :smile: Maybe for now something like 350+: 2.5u, and under that 2.0u?

Hopefully some others will chime in as well.
 
Re: 4/1 Jack AMPS 193; +4 84; +5.5 98; +6 147

I think a sliding scale would be a good idea too. Little more at 300+, little less at 200+
 
Re: 4/1 Jack AMPS 193; +4 84; +5.5 98; +6 147

bunni9 said:
Maybe for now something like 350+: 2.5u, and under that 2.0u?
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I think that's a great idea! And ditto to Sue.

Today I messed up. I should have given 2 units or less (or nothing?) What do you all think? And then when he was dropping I bumped him up too much. Do you think that jump was all from his food or a little panicky liver??
 
There is no "messing up". It's all about data gathering. Each dose/test gives you more info.

I'd guess the bounce is a combination of both - low number + higher carb food.
 
Re: 4/1 Jack AMPS 193; +4 84; +5.5 98; +6 147

Jack and Jenell said:
Today I messed up. I should have given 2 units or less (or nothing?) What do you all think?
Click to expand...

Don't fret about it at all! Some of these kitties are complicated! :smile: There have been times where I've been frustrated by high numbers and shot too high. It happens. You figure out what went wrong (or right) and incorporate that into your understanding of how Jack does his own "sugar dance." :smile: You did just fine! {{hugs!}}

I think with the pre-shot of 193, you were really close to 200, so I think you did right by shooting some insulin. Just for future reference, what you might want to try if you have that situation again is to wait, without feeding, maybe 20 to 30 minutes, test again to ensure that Jack's rising, and assuming he is, go ahead and shoot! There's been a couple times with my guy Eddie that I wasn't positive whether he was going up or still going down, or just "surfing" at PS time. As you get more data, and Jack (hopefully) evens out in his patterns a bit, you can shoot lower numbers with more confidence. :smile:

Jack and Jenell said:
And then when he was dropping I bumped him up too much.
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No worries! I think we ALL have done that when we were first getting started. :-D I freaked out the first time I saw a number under 100 with Eddie. :oops: There's so much information to absorb, and different cats respond differently to different techniques. A lot of this process is trial and error. :smile: What I think most of us do is usually start with small amounts of low carb, and move up to medium carb and then high carb and/or Karo/honey, etc., kind of on an escalating scale. If the low carb isn't getting him to slow down or come up, then it's medium carb, and so on. You'll start to get a feel for how Jack reacts to different carb levels, too.

I think the bump up could be due in part to the food - some kitties really jump up from HC food, and also maybe a combination of liver panic in response to the quick drop.

You're doing a great job with Jack! Hang in there!
 
You're doing a great job and it can be tough. Every Sugarcat does their own dance. The problem is, they are the only ones that can hear the music, you just have to follow his lead.

Hang in there hon, you have great help here. :YMHUG:
 
Hey Jenell and Jack,

Wondering how things are going. He has had some interesting numbers lately - diving early and then bouncing back. I see on the 4th and 5th you did a bit of a sliding scale. How is that working?
 
Hi Sue. We are doing ok...still have not been able to find a good dose on Jack yet. On the AMPS for 4/5 and 4/6 he was lower than usual so I did shoot 2 units. But on PMPS he was back up in reds and pinks, which is discouraging. I would settle for consistent yellows at this point!

It's hard for me to see patterns. But what I think I've picked up on, is that in the AMPS when he is in black, it looks like he had a pretty steep drop off in the +3 area. Perhaps he is dropping even lower when we are sleeping and boucing up high? His PMPS are pretty consistent reds and pinks...I dunno where to go from here as far as dosing.

I'm home on Thursday, so perhaps I will try another curve and post his condo here. It's hard to do on work days because I can't consistently check his nadir. So I just try to come home for my lunch and spot check him then.

I can say that he is gaining weight and eating well. He seems much happier and active...I just wish his numbers would reflect it :(
 
I definitely think he is bouncing. And the flat cycles you see may still be a bounce. He seems to take a while to clear them. A curve would help, but in the meantime, maybe try 2 units on the yellows and pinks and 2.5 for the reds and blacks. Does he eat several small meals day and night? If you can mange that, it might help too.

The more you can post, the better advice we can give.
 
Ok, I'll give it a shot :) Yes, I try to feed him several times a day. A big meal with his AMPS, then a smaller meal a few hrs later before I go to work. Then I come home on lunch (between 4-6 hrs after last meal) and check/feed him another small meal. Then another larger meal with hims PM shot. And then around 3 am before I go to bed. The longest time he goes without eating is at night between 3-11. And actually most of the time he wakes me up mid point and wants food, so he usually gets a small meal then. He's a hungry boy :)
 
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