The bouncing of the past few days has cleared and we may get some green numbers again today. I thought maybe I should increase the dose but I think the yellow numbers may have been bounces. I have been able to dose consistently at this dose with only one delay of a few hours to get back on schedule a few days after my surgery a week and a half ago. I have been reading about feeding the curve and wondering if this would be a useful approach for us to minimise bouncing or whether it is simply that patience is needed to wait until the bouncing stops. In terms of symptoms though I can see that despite yellow numbers that Lucy has no symptoms of diabetes now. Her eating and drinking and peeing are normal and she is happy and much brighter in herself too. I am very happy about all of that. So I think it is not just about the numbers as many members of this board have said.
What a great report on Miss Lucy! it does look like she may be headed for greens today!
I think feeding the curve can definitely help bouncing. Have you been reading Jill's advice in the "Feeding the Curve: Tashie" link that's on the bottom section of the "Where Can I Find?" post?
Feeding the curve has 2 parts - one is to feed in order to slow down fast drops in blood sugar. Some people feed "mini-meals" at the time the cat typically drops in anticipation of the drop.
The second part is that by raising the nadirs by using food/carbs and keeping a cat above 50, you can increase the insulin dose a little bit. Sometimes doing that just for even a few cycles can cause a great benefit to the cat's blood sugar. Just like shooting low can really flatten out the blood sugar, so can getting enough insulin in. It can bring down those high numbers surrounding the nadirs.
What that means in practice is that you're seeing green nadirs sometimes now, about every 2-3 days. The Tight Reg Protocol allows for increasing the dose, even with green nadirs:
Hold the dose for 3 - 5 days (6 - 10 consecutive cycles) if nadirs are less than 200 before increasing the dose by 0.25 unit.
if your cat is new to numbers under 200, it is recommended to hold the dose for at least 8-10 cycles before increasing.
when your cat starts to see nadirs under 100, hold the dose for at least 10 cycles before increasing.
After holding Lucy's dose for at least 10 cycles past fur shots or early/late shots, if you want to increase her dose you can. Then it can be beneficial to feed the curve and use enough carbs to have her nadirs stay over 50. The goal with Tight Regulation is to get all the blood sugar into normal numbers - not just the nadirs. The additional insulin can bring more of the cycle into normal numbers, which then can help her body "remember" that green is normal. As that happens the bouncing will lessen too. It also provides an opportunity for her pancreas to heal if that is possible, and begin putting out her own insulin again.
Something for you to think about anyway. Ask if it seems confusing!
Thank you Julie very much and that is clear and not confusing. I will look at increasing the dose next week. I will also read all the feeding the curve link too. Everything you wrote makes sense.
I will look at increasing the dose next week. I will also read all the feeding the curve link too. Everything you wrote makes sense.