charliesmom
Member Since 2012
yesterday
Hi guys,
Sorry I didn't get a chance to reply and chime in on all of the interesting debates yesterday.
Simple excuse: I was EXHAUSTED, and still am.
If you look at Charlie's spreadsheet, you can see that for the past 30-35 nights, I have been getting up throughout the night to test.
A month of broken sleep finally got to me, and I hit the fatigue wall HARD.
I fell asleep at 8:30 last night and woke up only when Charlie jumped on top of my belly this morning and gave me the restless pounce that SCREAMS "I want food"!
Just for the record, I, too, am still curious about the possibilities that something non-traditional (somogyi or other) happening with Charlie. I understand the sensitive and polarizing nature of this topic, and for the time being I am obviously trying to follow the majority's thinking and see if that works. In general, our vet also supports the idea that we should keep following the protocol methodically until we find that "magic dose" that begins to get her regulated.
The thing is, it has been 3 months with very slow progress from our perspective, and I can imagine if the trend continues for a certain period of time, I'll want to try an alternative approach (at least temporarily for a few days) to see if it has a positive impact. To date, I have not done so as I also understand the risks involved in taking Charlie off insulin. However, I am not one who believes in absolutes. Even in medicine there are grey areas, and sometimes what works for the majority does not work for the minority. Perhaps it's only a slim chance that Charlie is in fact overdosed, but even that means it's still a possibility.
So while I HOPE that Charlie can just be more like the average old bear, I have to wait and see what happens before I can exclude any new ideas on dosing (especially if they come from a specialist in the field like Dr Rand). We will see how it goes. I have taken nearly every piece of advice that I've ever been given from the generous, wonderful members of this board, and if I ever get to the point where I decide to test out an alternative theory, I also know there will be support in the background of us making those decisions.
Thank you to Melanie, Jill, Jane, Sienne, Libby, Marjorie and everyone else who directly or indirectly contributed their thoughts on this topic yesterday.
I am hoping that we are getting quite close to the theoretical ideal dose for now. Then again, every time I think that, Charlie does something to keep me guessing. What I AT LEAST have learned in the past week is that 2 units of insulin is too much for Charlie and 1.25 is not enough. Between those 2 is a small space. So I am VERY VERY hopeful that we're nearing the corner towards getting one baby step closer to our long-term, marathon goal of being off the juice.
Tonight there is another major storm in Amsterdam. Charlie is NOT liking it. Interesting that she's also coming down quite quickly on her first test after PMPS. Bounce finally clearing? Who knows?
Have a great day everyone. I for one may soon be retiring for another long nap on a cozy, romantic, rainy evening.
There is a positive in every theoretical negative. Even in the rain!
Even in diabetes (we have gotten closer to our kitty, and I have met all of you people). Something positive again. See!
Thanks again for your help,
Jill
Hi guys,
Sorry I didn't get a chance to reply and chime in on all of the interesting debates yesterday.
Simple excuse: I was EXHAUSTED, and still am.
If you look at Charlie's spreadsheet, you can see that for the past 30-35 nights, I have been getting up throughout the night to test.
A month of broken sleep finally got to me, and I hit the fatigue wall HARD.
I fell asleep at 8:30 last night and woke up only when Charlie jumped on top of my belly this morning and gave me the restless pounce that SCREAMS "I want food"!
Just for the record, I, too, am still curious about the possibilities that something non-traditional (somogyi or other) happening with Charlie. I understand the sensitive and polarizing nature of this topic, and for the time being I am obviously trying to follow the majority's thinking and see if that works. In general, our vet also supports the idea that we should keep following the protocol methodically until we find that "magic dose" that begins to get her regulated.
The thing is, it has been 3 months with very slow progress from our perspective, and I can imagine if the trend continues for a certain period of time, I'll want to try an alternative approach (at least temporarily for a few days) to see if it has a positive impact. To date, I have not done so as I also understand the risks involved in taking Charlie off insulin. However, I am not one who believes in absolutes. Even in medicine there are grey areas, and sometimes what works for the majority does not work for the minority. Perhaps it's only a slim chance that Charlie is in fact overdosed, but even that means it's still a possibility.
So while I HOPE that Charlie can just be more like the average old bear, I have to wait and see what happens before I can exclude any new ideas on dosing (especially if they come from a specialist in the field like Dr Rand). We will see how it goes. I have taken nearly every piece of advice that I've ever been given from the generous, wonderful members of this board, and if I ever get to the point where I decide to test out an alternative theory, I also know there will be support in the background of us making those decisions.
Thank you to Melanie, Jill, Jane, Sienne, Libby, Marjorie and everyone else who directly or indirectly contributed their thoughts on this topic yesterday.
I am hoping that we are getting quite close to the theoretical ideal dose for now. Then again, every time I think that, Charlie does something to keep me guessing. What I AT LEAST have learned in the past week is that 2 units of insulin is too much for Charlie and 1.25 is not enough. Between those 2 is a small space. So I am VERY VERY hopeful that we're nearing the corner towards getting one baby step closer to our long-term, marathon goal of being off the juice.
Tonight there is another major storm in Amsterdam. Charlie is NOT liking it. Interesting that she's also coming down quite quickly on her first test after PMPS. Bounce finally clearing? Who knows?
Have a great day everyone. I for one may soon be retiring for another long nap on a cozy, romantic, rainy evening.
There is a positive in every theoretical negative. Even in the rain!
Even in diabetes (we have gotten closer to our kitty, and I have met all of you people). Something positive again. See!
Thanks again for your help,
Jill
