7/19 Miss Kitty AMPS 407 PMPS 310 Another Increase??

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april925

Member Since 2011
Yesterday: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=47896

Good Morning everyone, should I increase her a little bit more??
 
Re: 7/19 Miss Kitty AMPS 407 Another Increase??

Good morning. I have not posted in your condo very much but I have been following along. :smile:
It does look like Miss Kitty could use an increase but let's see what other's think.

Just wondering how old your insulin is since I did not see anything noted on your ss.
 
Re: 7/19 Miss Kitty AMPS 407 Another Increase??

Hi Miriam

The last 2 vials have been 30-day vials, but I think I will go back to the ones that last 3 months. Really the cost comes out to about the same and now I have to get a new vial every month instead of every 3 months.
 
Re: 7/19 Miss Kitty AMPS 407 Another Increase??

I'm not an expert on doses, however, it could be the insulin that you're on is turning. Hopefully, someone with more experience than I have can help you very soon. Good luck with the increase, if there is one. :)
 
Re: 7/19 Miss Kitty AMPS 407 Another Increase??

Maybe that is it. I think I will call the vet and ask for a prescription for the 3 month vial again.
 
Re: 7/19 Miss Kitty AMPS 407 Another Increase??

Hi guys .. no dosing advice here but hopefully the new insulin will start giving out better numbers for miss kitty .. have a great day guys!
 
Re: 7/19 Miss Kitty AMPS 407 Another Increase??

Thanks, I got the new prescription called in, so hopefully, I can pick it up today or tomorrow. Now the vet wants me to bring her in soon. She is probably wondering why I have not been calling her lately.
 
Now she is down about 100 points from this morning. I couldn't get the +11 today. My husband picked up the new prescription and I gave her the 1 unit of the new insulin, so I'll check her later and maybe at least once in the middle of the night.
 
If you use Lantus in the pen (3 ml) or vial (10 ml), as long as you keep it refrigerated, they each stay viable for the same length of time, you'll just probably use all of the pen, but you'll probably have to throw away a good bit of the vial. It would take forever to use up 1,000 units which is how many units are in a vial versus 300 for the pen. That's the reason people use the pens versus the vial...less waste. Also, the old way of thinking was that you needed to start a new pen or vial after 28 days. It's been shown that if Lantus is kept refrigerated, is not shaken, stays nice and clear, and doesn't get any floaties, it's perfectly safe to use and still works. I used my first vial of Lantus for almost 80 days, started a pen to see if Champ's numbers improved, and they stayed the same. That tells me my vial was still good. Since I had already started the pen, though, I went ahead and threw out the vial. Looking at your SS, I think I would increase. With numbers that high, you can increase the dose after six cycles (three days). Also, since Miss Kitty's numbers are mostly in the 300's, you can increase by 0.5u if you wanted. According to the protocol, with numbers that high, you should increase by 0.5u every six cycles, but increasing by 0.25u isn't going to hurt, I don't think. Personally, I'd want my kitters out of the pink as quick as possible. This, of course, is only my opinion and what I would do. You have to do what you feel comfortable doing.

Good luck with whatever you decide!! :-D
 
Thanks Patty, I'm going to increase her tonight. I wanted to see if the new insulin made a difference. I don't use the pens. It seems that most people here do. When Miss Kitty was first diagnosed, I started searching the internet for information and I read a bit about the pens and thought I would like to try that, but my vet knew nothing about getting or using the pens, so I went with the vials and syringes. It seems the pens are way more expensive though. Is that just initially? I'll have to look into it again.
 
When you use the pens you still use syringes and draw from the pen the same way as you would the vial.
I would also suggest that it is more economical in the long run to use the pens.
 
The pens cost about $210 for five pens (300 units a pen=1,500 units altogether) and the vial about $110 (1,000 units) so they do cost more per unit. However, the countdown on the expiration date of the pens (noted on the pen...usually sometime in 2013) doesn't start until the first time you put a syringe in it. Therefore, you will be able to use just about every drop of every pen, even if you use a small dose, because going through 300 units will only take a couple months (it took me 34 days to go through my first pen at an approximate dose of 3.75u b.i.d. ). The countdown on the vial's expiration date starts the first time you put a syringe in it and it's very hard to get through 1,000 units before the effectiveness of the insulin just goes downhill, unless you have an acro cat who needs a large dose. No matter how well you treat your insulin (keeping it refrigerated, not in the door of the refrigerator, don't shake it, etc.) it will lose its potency before you use it all up. You may be able to find a pharmacy who will sell you one pen at a time. Here in Las Vegas, I only found two pharmacies who would sell me one pen at a time. One wanted $67 for one pen!!! The other pharmacy, believe it or not, was a Kmart. But not the Kmart closest to my house. I've found out that pharmacies within a chain (all Walgreen's, Rite-Aid, etc.) can make their own rules so you have to call each individual pharmacy to find out if they will sell you an individual pen. Some people have been successful getting a hospital pharmacy to sell them a pen, but all the hospital pharmacies here in Las Vegas will only sell to their hospital patients. Some people also have luck with Sam's Club, Costco, or Target selling them one pen, but they won't do it here. You just have to call around. My vet didn't know about the pens either. Just ask your vet to write a script for the Lantus Solostar pen, but have him give you two scripts, one for the five-pack and one for the individual pen with refills p.r.n. That way, if you can't find a pharmacy who will sell you a single pen, you'll have the script for a five-pack. Some people have been successful buying from Canadian online pharmacies which is half the price for a five-pack of pens than it is here in the States, but you have to decide if you want to take the chance of them shipping it in the summer and them not staying cool. Personally, I'm not going to order that way until the cool weather comes back in the fall, but then I'll have a five-pack that will last me a year!! Geez....I hope my Champers gets to the falls before that!!
 
Hmmm, $210.00 doesn't seem too bad to get started on the pens and especially if they last a long time. I have to take her into the vet before she needs insulin again, so maybe I will try it then.

Thanks!!
 
As Patty et al said, the pens are more economical in the long run for low-dose kitties. Just an FYI...my local Target pharmacy will sell me the pens one at at time for $43.00. It would be even cheaper if I could buy all 5 pens at once, but at this point I'm barely keeping ahead of the cost of test strips :lol: , so I've been going the one-pen-at-a-time route.

Some people also order the pens from the Canadian mail order pharmacies for an even cheaper price....just something else to consider!

Have a great day!

Amy
 
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