8/23 Zeus AMPS 450 WTH?

[knolet]

Zeus' Bg just keeps getting higher and higher... We had only one red number between May when he was diagnosed and Aug 14th. Now we've had 5 since Aug 14th and the reds just keeps getting higher. I am frustrated and poor Zeus vomitted again sometime overnight. The new Vet that we saw last week has a couple of ideas... First, she doesn't like my meter - relion ultima, she said it's ok, but not great. She suggested maybe the one touch ultra. She did every kind of test last week, and everything was great, but now she wants to do one more blood test to test the pancreatic function. We have already started to switch his diet from fancy feast classics to evo 95% (which Zeus seems to like). And lastly, she said that Lantus might not be the best insulin for Zeus and said she might want to switch to Lev. I had questioned whether I should get a new vial of Lantus.

I just want Zeus to feel better. It seems the higher the number, the more mess he makes in the litter box too... There was litter everywhere this morning, and I mean everywhere. It seems to stick to his paws much more- very sticky, so he had kicked it up on the side of thr dryer. Then more stuck to the refrigerator in the kitchen, and he left some on my bed this morning as well. Ugh.... Thorough cleaning is in my future after work, lol.

Thanks for letting me vent for a minute :smile:

 

[MommaOfMuse]

Okay a couple of things first are you still using the same vial of insulin that you started out with back in may? If you are part of your problem is that your insulin could be no good, especially if you are using a big 10ml vial rather than what most of us use a 3ml pen. The reasoning is that with the vial you are getting air into the insulin by the very nature of the vial, and it is that exposure to air that degrades the insulin. So that is one variable that could be causing Zeus's numbers to be on the rise.

Now if it isn't that the insulin has just gone south, it also could be rebound...because when I glanced at your spreadsheet it looks like the more you raise the dose the worst his numbers got. When dealing with insulin sometimes less is more, and just throwing more insulin at the problem of higher numbers is a kin to throwing gasoline on a bonfire. But with old insulin it is hard to tell which scenerio is the correct one.

Now personally if Zeus was my Autumn I would get a set of Lantus solostar pens (not the vial) and basically start over at .5u while monitoring for ketones and see where that get you. Hold the .5 for 3-5 days run a curve, and base a dosing decision on that. But that is just how I would handle it based on what I know from my own sugarcat, with her she doesn't tend to give me ultra lows when she needs less she shoots higher. Zeus's pattern maybe completely different from Autumn's.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang

 

[knolet]

I am using the same vial. I have been wondering if I should get a new one. I haven't been able to get a script for the pens. Our original vet said that it would be good for 6 months, but the new vet says 4, so it would be almost time. I really like this new vet, she has been super responsive, and she has been consulting with a FD specialist on our behalf. She has lots of suggestions for us, and she is going to let us borrow their alpha trak for a curve this weekend, she wants to compare it to my meter. She said she is comitted to helping Zeus get better... I sure do hope so!

Thanks for your advice :smile:

 

[MommaOfMuse]

While I have never used the vials I know even with the pens I only get about 2 1/2 -3 good months out of my pens, and really after about 2 months I notice that I'm not getting quite as good responds for the same dosage, and end up having to fatten up the dose a little as time goes by to get the same dose. So yeah I would try a new vial and really if you can convince this new vet I would try for the pens so that you will be throwing away less when it does start going bad, by the time I really need to pitch one of my pens I'm almost down to a point where I couldn't draw it out with a syringe anyway.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang

 

[knolet]

Thanks! I'll try again tomorrow to see if she'll let me try the pens and write a new script for me. On the plus side, we were talking about what I feed Zeus, currently fancy feast, but I thought I was going to switch to evo 95%.... She was really against FF. Anyway, she referred me to the Binky's list of canned food. It was funny... Yup, I have already been there. She couldn't find Ff on the list, and I told her where to find it, she laughed and said that I must have done my research. In the end when she saw that The FF that I feed is less than 3%, she was fine with it. :smile: