Mike&Buddy
Member Since 2011
This may require an increase shortly. I just can't see why he has started to hover around the 300's again.
Previous:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=45911
Previous:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=45911
6/22 Mike's Buddy PMPS#300 ~dose increase question
- Thread starter Mike&Buddy
- Start date
- Status
Iorwen & Tray
Member Since 2010
Re: 6/21 Mike's Buddy AMPS#336
Buddy, you're being threatened with an increase. You don't want that do you?
Hope you see better numbers soon
Buddy, you're being threatened with an increase. You don't want that do you?
Hope you see better numbers soon
Mike&Buddy
Member Since 2011
Re: 6/22 Mike's Buddy PMPS#300 ~increase question
OK, forgive me it's 2am here. I was reading this part about cycles...
Increasing dose......
Hold the dose for 3 - 5 days (6-10 consecutive cycles) if nadirs are less than 200 before increasing dose....
When it's stated "Hold the dose", does this mean stop all together or maintain present dose or do not increase? confused_cat
Sometimes I am one of those people who sees what I read but the brain is blind to the words. :roll:
OK, forgive me it's 2am here. I was reading this part about cycles...
Increasing dose......
Hold the dose for 3 - 5 days (6-10 consecutive cycles) if nadirs are less than 200 before increasing dose....
When it's stated "Hold the dose", does this mean stop all together or maintain present dose or do not increase? confused_cat
Sometimes I am one of those people who sees what I read but the brain is blind to the words. :roll:
Stephanie&Willy
Member Since 2011
Re: 6/22 Mike's Buddy PMPS#300 ~increase question
It means that you maintain the "current" dose that you are on.
For example, you just started insulin at 1u. You shoot that dose (1u) for 5-7 days, making sure to get nadir tests in to see how kitty is responding to the insulin. Kitty's nadir is still quite high, over 300, so you would increase the dose to 1.5u. You would hold that dose for 3-5 days (while making sure to test). Now kitties nadir is over 200 but less than 300, you would increase the dose to 1.75u and hold that dose for 3-5 days... so on and so forth.
To my understanding (I may be wrong): One reason we do this is because cats' livers can become accustomed to BG being in a higher, unhealthy range, which makes it much more difficult to get them to come down into a normal, healthy range on the "same" dose. By doing quicker increases (3-5 days), you're not allowing them time to "get used to" being high.
One thing to NOTE: Many cats experience a "bounce" when they dip into lower numbers initially, even if they are in a normal range. This is because their bodies interpret those "new" low numbers to be harmful. The liver dumps insulin-reversing (hormones? chemicals?) and stored glucose to counteract these numbers, causing a spike in BG. These "bounces" can take up to 3 days to "clear" and the process may get repeated until the cat's body gets used to being in the new number range. Some cats are very sensitive and they bounce very easily--- new number that's only slightly lower than normal or even their BG dropping TOO quickly. Some cats can clear a bounce in a cycle or 2 others take significantly longer. It is generally not advised to increase the dose until AFTER the bounce clears because you don't have a clear picture of how the insulin is working until then. The readings are a reflection of the current bounce-- not so much the BG from that dose.. if that makes sense! It can get very very frustrating at times!!
If you take a look at Willy's spreadsheet, I marked all his increases. If you look at 5/7 and 5/8 you can see that he (most likely) experienced a bounce off of some yellow numbers sending him into the 400s. Once they settled back down, I increased his dose. On 5/11 and 5/12 he entered the blues and experienced a bounce once again. 5/20 he was in the greens and sure enough, later that day 300-400 range (he earned his first dose reduction that day)!
I hope that makes sense and that my information is correct. It is also late here!
One thing I found that really helped me learn a lot is to look at/study everyone's spreadsheets. If you can find cats that are sorta "similar" to yours (similar reaction to insulin, similar bounces, similar reaction to reductions, similar size/age/weight, similar diet/feeding schedule, etc), keeping in mind that every cat is different and works for them may not work for you, it can really help you learn a lot about making decisions, putting information into practice, interpret numbers, etc. It's also useful to look at some of the experienced beans' spreadsheets to see how they handle various situations, even though you will most likely handle yours totally differently it can be very informative in really understanding what you're reading and how it's applied.
Mike&Buddy said:
It means that you maintain the "current" dose that you are on.
For example, you just started insulin at 1u. You shoot that dose (1u) for 5-7 days, making sure to get nadir tests in to see how kitty is responding to the insulin. Kitty's nadir is still quite high, over 300, so you would increase the dose to 1.5u. You would hold that dose for 3-5 days (while making sure to test). Now kitties nadir is over 200 but less than 300, you would increase the dose to 1.75u and hold that dose for 3-5 days... so on and so forth.
To my understanding (I may be wrong): One reason we do this is because cats' livers can become accustomed to BG being in a higher, unhealthy range, which makes it much more difficult to get them to come down into a normal, healthy range on the "same" dose. By doing quicker increases (3-5 days), you're not allowing them time to "get used to" being high.
One thing to NOTE: Many cats experience a "bounce" when they dip into lower numbers initially, even if they are in a normal range. This is because their bodies interpret those "new" low numbers to be harmful. The liver dumps insulin-reversing (hormones? chemicals?) and stored glucose to counteract these numbers, causing a spike in BG. These "bounces" can take up to 3 days to "clear" and the process may get repeated until the cat's body gets used to being in the new number range. Some cats are very sensitive and they bounce very easily--- new number that's only slightly lower than normal or even their BG dropping TOO quickly. Some cats can clear a bounce in a cycle or 2 others take significantly longer. It is generally not advised to increase the dose until AFTER the bounce clears because you don't have a clear picture of how the insulin is working until then. The readings are a reflection of the current bounce-- not so much the BG from that dose.. if that makes sense! It can get very very frustrating at times!!
If you take a look at Willy's spreadsheet, I marked all his increases. If you look at 5/7 and 5/8 you can see that he (most likely) experienced a bounce off of some yellow numbers sending him into the 400s. Once they settled back down, I increased his dose. On 5/11 and 5/12 he entered the blues and experienced a bounce once again. 5/20 he was in the greens and sure enough, later that day 300-400 range (he earned his first dose reduction that day)!
I hope that makes sense and that my information is correct. It is also late here!
One thing I found that really helped me learn a lot is to look at/study everyone's spreadsheets. If you can find cats that are sorta "similar" to yours (similar reaction to insulin, similar bounces, similar reaction to reductions, similar size/age/weight, similar diet/feeding schedule, etc), keeping in mind that every cat is different and works for them may not work for you, it can really help you learn a lot about making decisions, putting information into practice, interpret numbers, etc. It's also useful to look at some of the experienced beans' spreadsheets to see how they handle various situations, even though you will most likely handle yours totally differently it can be very informative in really understanding what you're reading and how it's applied.
- Status