6/6 Leo AMPS 351, PMPS 211, +2 351, +5 194

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Tracy & Leo

Tracy & Leo

Member Since 2011
Yesterday:
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=44832

Gooooood Morning LL,

Well it was a very exciting night last night. Leo was in greens for most of the night, i kept him surfing by giving him LC, at one point i gave him 9% FF and it brought him up almost 20 points so now i know that he's a lil carb sensitive. He was such a trooper through all the pokies, purring throughout, plus he was feeling really good which surprised me, i thought he would be all sleepy and not feeling good but we played with his toys and he was alert and awake until bedtime. I haven't poked him yet since his AMPS, i'm assuming he's high because he's dragging his feet pretty badly this morning. I had a heck of a time this morning with bubbles in the syringe, i must have spent a half hour getting his insulin ready and trying to get those darn bubbles out.

Anyway i'm off to the doc for allergy meds, tis the hay fever season, have a great day all!
 
Re: 6/6 Leo AMPS 351

I'm glad Leo gave you good numbers yesterday after you got home! Blah on the bubbles. Is it a new pen? I haven't had many problems with bubbles, but I know others have.

Now you know on the carbs. Hopefully Leo will come down for you today. I hope you have a wonderful Monday!!
 
Re: 6/6 Leo AMPS 351, +4 252, +7 113

Yeah, i always seem to have problems with bubbles! Nope its not a new pen, same ol pen and i swear i must have reloaded it with 5 units at least 3 times, so there goes 15 units wasted on darn bubbles.

My lil fart decided to come back down into blue territory.....he threw me for a loop, i thought for sure he'd be bouncing HARD after all those greens last night. Makes me wonder what he was up to at +5 and +6. I'm a testaholic i think :oops:
 
Re: 6/6 Leo AMPS 351, +4 252, +7 113

I am becoming one! We did a 24 hour test this weekend, poor Tarragon. He is ready for me to stop! It is way too tempting to try and find out what is going on every 1/2 hour or so! Of couse, Tarragon never seems to have the same day twice so I'm not sure what the data is doing for me.
 
Re: 6/6 Leo AMPS 351, +4 252, +7 113

No kidding they never do the same thing twice, i lucked out with Leo all i say is "its test time!" and he assumes the position and immediately starts purring, he knows he's going to get some of those delicious chicken treats at the end :lol: I seem to think he really enjoys testing.....or maybe i'm just hoping he really enjoys test times.

Plus you just never know when that data might come in handy!
 
Re: 6/6 Leo AMPS 351, +4 252, +7 113

what a sweet boy - we appreciate it when they're all cooperative on the testing! he came in for a very nice +7, didn't he!

Testers Anonymous - most of our people should be members! :lol: i'm definitely there.

re punkin's tail - i posted a video of him in yesterday's 6/5 condo and he was flashing his fluffy tail around to make sure everyone noticed it! :cool:
 
Re: 6/6 Leo AMPS 351, +4 252, +7 113

I actually had a problem with the bubbles last week (it may have been the week before) from the pen. I will dig up the link and edit-add it in because I received a lot of very very helpful tips. The BIGGEST thing that helped was to reprime the pen (which was NEW). We did this by doing air shots using the needle tip that human diabetics use until the needle started to leak insulin on its own (I lost track of the airshots but it at least 40 units of only air before this happened). The pen has been working appropriately since we have done this and it's making it a lot easier to get rid of the bubbles because we're only getting a small one initially.

The other things that have been helping are BEFORE putting the syringe into the pen, move the plunger up and down a few times. It was pointed out that the inside of the syringe is lubricated (never knew that!) but it needs to be spread out then to push the plunger down hard and insert the syringe into the pen and gently twist the plunger while pulling it back to create pressure (the twisting while pulling has been the biggest bubble remover by preventing them in the first place). The twisting/pulling motion took a lot of practice. What I do is I hold the bottom of the pen (where the syringe is) in my left hand with my pinky, ring finger, and middle finger against my palm with my palm facing downward. I hold the syringe barrel with my forefinger and thumb so it doesn't come out of the pen. I use my right hand to pull/twist the plunger. I am not sure if this makes any sense but I know my biggest problem with this method was having enough hands to do everything (when I started I needed my DH to hold the pen so I could do everything else, lol). I hope this makes sense!

Someone else said if they leave it for 10seconds or so the bubbles disperse because the pen forces additional insulin into the syringe (negative pressure) but we haven't noticed this, personally (though it could be our elevation which was the cause of our issues in the first place).

I draw an additional unit of insulin, remove the syringe from the pen, flick the syringe pretty aggressively, and then using my left finger/thumb to gently grip a part of the plunger (to create some resistance so I don't get over zealous and squirt out ALL of the insulin) and I do a very abrupt, dramatic, movie style squirt straight up into the sink (usually about half a unit). I then slowly squirt the remaining, unneeded insulin into the sink in a more controlled way.

Here's the thread!!
 
Re: 6/6 Leo AMPS 351, +4 252, +7 113, +8.5 92

Awesome.....thanks Steph, i will try your tips out tonight and hopefully it works! I'm thinking i'll probably end up going to buy the needle that goes along with the pen just to expel the air. Last night before i went to bed i took a syringe and got the biggest bubble out, but there is probably more in there.

My man is in green again!!! :o :mrgreen:
 
Re: 6/6 Leo AMPS 351, +4 252, +7 113, +8.5 92

Getting the air out of the pen helped A TON. We had several large bubbles before we ever used it. We're at 7,000ft so... interesting things happen everyday (jello and baking come to mind :lol: :lol: :lol: )

What a beautiful number for Mr. Leo!
 
Re: 6/6 Leo AMPS 351, +4 252, +7 113, +8.5 92

No kidding they never do the same thing twice, i lucked out with Leo all i say is "its test time!" and he assumes the position and immediately starts purring, he knows he's going to get some of those delicious chicken treats at the end I seem to think he really enjoys testing.....or maybe i'm just hoping he really enjoys test times.
Click to expand...

Hi Tracy, your Leo sounds like he was a very good patient for you with all the pokes and purring the whole time. They amaze me that they put up with us. Maggie purrs thru it too, even though lately she flinches. I love it when they just know it's time and assume the position. You asked me in my condo if I use the Neosporin with the pain relief, and I checked and yes, it is the one with pain relief. It's almost all gone so I need to pick some up tomorrow. Leo is coming down so nice. Hope you are having a nice day.
 
Re: 6/6 Leo AMPS 351, +4 252, +7 113, +8.5 92, +9.25 103

hey tracy - here's the link i posted on stephanie's when she was having trouble with bubbles. http://www.lantus.com/solostar-insulin-pen/how-to/step-by-step.aspx

apparently you're supposed to get rid of the bubbles before every shot. you would only need 1 of those pen tips because you're not going to use it on anything, i think.

the other thing i mentioned i had trouble with - the vacuum was so ridiculously great that if i didn't have an iron grip on the plunger as i was filling the syringe, the suction would pull the insulin back out of the syringe into the pen. grrr. that also puts the lubricant from inside the syringe back into the bottle, contaminating the insulin. really be careful about that one.
 
Re: 6/6 Leo AMPS 351, +4 252, +7 113, +8.5 92, +9.25 103

Hi Tracy: Glad to see that Leo is doing so well and look at him giving you another lovely curve today. I hope his legs are ok as he comes back down. You give him methylcobalamine? Sorry, I haven't kept up.....

I've never had any problems with bubbles in my pens or in my syringes since I switched to Monoject syringes. I don't know why so I'll just count myself very lucky!!! I used to have a heck of a time with bubbles in the syringes with the Relion and BD syringes. I draw my doses very slowly and I twist to get the excess insulin out. Since I don't get bubbles in the syringe, I don't have to flick which I think causes more problems.

I think we all have to figure out the method that works best for us and then stick with it. I think you've been doing a great job. I hope your allergies are not too bad and the doc visit went well.
 
Re: 6/6 Leo AMPS 351, PMPS 211

Well i tried all the tips i just got, and IT DIDN'T WORK :evil: Well it must have worked a little bit, since i didn't have quite as many bubbles as i normally do. I tried lubricating, twisting, etc. It seems like the more vigoriously i flick the bubbles the more it doesn't work, the bubbles end up sticking to the sides and are a B to get out. I'll figure something out as i go. I use the BD syringes, and i only have maybe 20 or so left, so maybe a switch to a different syringe is in order. So you say monoject Marje? hmmmm might have to buy a pack a try them out.

Marje, yes i do dose Leo with methyl B12, but so far it hasn't done anything so i upped his dosage to 6 mg/day up from 4 mg/day. Caryl mentioned that she dosed Alex with 6 a day until she saw an improvement. It's worth a shot.

Well it looks like i might have another busy PJ party tonight. I gave Leo some 9% for supper so hopefully that slows him down a little bit. I gave him 3% last night for supper and he went down in a hurry. I'm so happy he's finally coming down for me :-D

Thanks everyone for the bubble tips!
 
Re: 6/6 Leo AMPS 351, PMPS 211

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....stupid bubbles. I have them too. I hate them. It seems that the longer I do this the worse I get. ohmygod_smile

Hoping your insulin doses become bubble-free soon. Keep tryin'.
 
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