9/1 Yahtzee PMPS 288 Need Dose Advice

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Deb & Yahtzee

Deb & Yahtzee

Member Since 2012
Hello everyone. I need some dose advice going forward.

Profile and spreadsheet are current, but here's a quick recap:

FD DX 6/15/12
Pancreatitis DX 6/22/12
Started to home test BG 8/15/12 (this was a learning process because Yahtzee was not very cooperative and getting blood was difficult)
Previously BG curves at vet every 2 weeks since DX (included on spreadsheet)
Currently 0.5 unit Lantus SID (started 1.5 units BID, increased to 2 units BID, then gradually decreased to 0.5 unit SID)
Wet food only since DX; only FF Classics for past 5 days + freeze dried chicken treats after BG tests

The past 2 days we've had a nice flat BG curve mostly in the 200s for the 12 hours post shot. The #s seem to rise into the 300s in the next 12 hours but then decrease back to high 200s PMPS. I'd really like to see the flat curve in the lower numbers though. The vet is hesitant to recommend changing the dose, but I think BID is the next step before increasing the dose. We had a green # of 85 on 8/29/12 at +7.5, which I thought was great but this scared the vet from recommending switching back to BID.

With all the info I've learned from this site and other research, I'm starting to realize the vet is being too "careful" with recommendations. I'm aiming for remission here (with lots of luck and prayers) and am fully prepared (hypo kit ready) to do whatever it takes, especially since we are in the early months of DX. I could really use some advice from the experience of LL before I increase to BID. Should I change the dosing schedule to BID and continue testing for reaction? Or do you all think the BG numbers warrant more testing before switching?

Any and all advice is MUCH appreciated!!
 
Hello Deb and Yahtzee,
Welcome. You will find help here.
Many vets are indeed conservative and only trying for regulation. It sounds to me like you have one of those.
Many vets also aren't very familiar with Lantus and try to use it like the older insulins which isn't how it works. Nor or they always familiar with the microdosing that goes on here.
It is intended for 12 hr cycles so I'm sure you will be told here by the advisors it will be 2 x a day but they will tell you the dose.
I can't give dosing advise.

So welcome. I am going to pm Sienne but it may be a while. She's not online visibly at this very moment.

I would work on some of those earlier cycle tests like +3 and +5 in the near future. You are missing some key information.
 
I would definitely go with the BID dosing, especially if you can test during both cycles (day and night). It is a very rare cat that does well on an SID dose, and those usually are just about ready to get off the juice (insulin). Let's see how tonight's numbers play out. You can start a new condo (thread) tomorrow and ask for more advice about shooting in the morning, but it looks to me like it would be good for her.
 
I agree that you need to shoot twice a day. Sienne has often pointed out that a cat's metabolism is twice as fast as a human's, so most will need insulin BID. No vet can provide the dosing advice that you can get here, either in timing (within 30 mins of posting, usually faster) or the expertise that comes from looking at hundreds of cats and living with FD 24/7. Good choice to drop the alphatrak and go with the relion micro. That alphatrak is expensive and no better than a good human meter.
Liz, Zener's other mom
 
Rhiannon, thank you for the feedback! You are all so wonderfully quick to respond here in LL.
I am trying my best to get BG tests every 2 hours post shot. Yahtzee finally started cooperating and bleeding well the past couple of days so I've been trying to take advantage of it (poor little pin cushion). Insulin shot is at 10 pm so that makes it a bit interesting for an appropriate curve, but I am prepared to sacrifice sleep to get more BG readings, so definitely more to come in the future!

Dyana, thanks for seconding my thoughts! I AM able to test during both cycles for the short term future, so I will definitely be testing regularly as I make changes. I'm just so relieved that Yahtzee has started to accept the testing process :-D !! We will provide more info to come...

Thanks again!
 
Anne & Zener said:
No vet can provide the dosing advice that you can get here, either in timing (within 30 mins of posting, usually faster) or the expertise that comes from looking at hundreds of cats and living with FD 24/7.
Click to expand...

Exactly my thoughts!! I've been reading this board since DX in June and I have come to know where the "real" experts are.
Thanks Liz, for the advice and the reassurance! I think we'll be starting BID tomorrow morning, as I will be home to monitor. We'll be back with more results and probably looking for more advice ;-) .
 
Good morning, Deb and welcome to Lantus Land!

I've asked for some input from a few other experienced users regarding your switching to BID dosing. Here's my thinking. When we've had people switch to an individually tailored dose schedule (e.g., going from twice a day to three times a day dosing), we keep the total daily amount of the dose the same and divide by 3. So, in Yahtzee's case, you would switch to 0.25u BID rather than shooting 0.5u BID.

Alternatively, you can stick with the 0.5u dose. This would be a more aggressive approach. If you stay with your current dose, you will need to monitor carefully in the AM and PM cycles.

A couple of other items. Have you stopped using the VitaKitty treats? They were recalled.

Have you given any thought to switching from your Excel spreadsheet (SS) to the Google spreadsheet we use? Not everyone here can open Excel.
 
Thanks for the well wishes tortie58!

Sienne, thank you for your advice! I did not end up shooting again this morning because Yahtzee was still in the 100s at +8 and +10.5 and I was a bit nervous. Switching to BID will wait until tomorrow. That aside, I'm so proud of all the blue through the night :-D ! That's the most blue we've ever seen in a row!

Thanks for the tip on the Vitakitty recall. I haven't even opened the package yet. My code and dates are prior to the recalled batches but it's going in the trash anyway, better safe than sorry.

Now I know why my spreadsheet looks different, duh! I will research the board to figure out how to set up as a Google spreadsheet instead of Excel.

Thanks again for all the tips! Your advice is very much appreciated!
 
Spreadsheet is now in Google Docs! I just had to go in and export the file I had into a Google Docs format. Piece of cake.
 
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