9 Feb New Member - Check my modifications to spreadsheet?

[Liz & Minnie]

Hi!

Thanks to all the wise people helping us all out. Could someone review the modifications I made to Minnie's spreadsheet so I can track both AlphaTrak and Relion Prime readings together? I'm doing my first BG curve today with both (when I can get enough blood for the Relion).

Full history:
Minnie was diagnosed back in April - not eating, sweet-smelling breath - and was on 4 units Lantus 2/day until a DKA in August - when released, the hospital internal medicine vet re-started the regime and we got up to 3 units 2/day but it was never really under control, BG in the 300s.

We monitored with Freestyle Libre for a month then vet said to revisit in December. She developed terrible allergic reaction to the Libre adhesive; it was clear to me that Lantus wasn't working so I decided to forget a second round of 4 units Lantus and go straight to Levemir. Vet started us on 1/2 unit 2/day (2 days), 1 unit 2/day (2 days) and then 1.5 units - then the Libre stopped working, she made herself bleed trying to chew it off and the next day I could smell ketones on her breath, decreased appetite. Vet said continue with ketostIx and bring her in if levels increased. Admitted to hospital 3 days later, DK and [another!] 3 day stay.

In hospital they got her to BG 68 on 2 units Levemir but that's not at all what I'm seeing! Going to talk to vet when the BG curve complete. She's eating Purina wet DM and was getting Hills WD kibble as treats but no more. Trying to find a new treat she'll eat (zero interest in freeze dried chicken).

In between the blood tests today, I modified your excellent spreadsheet so I could track data from both Alphatrak and Relion on the same page. I can't consistently get enough blood yet for Relion though ideally will switch to that long term. In the meantime this approach lets me compare.

Could one of the moderators take a look at my edits/formatting and let me know if it's ok (in case I need to consult with you later!)

This is my first post, not sure the link will come in the signature so including here as well!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...0SxwiY9jHAvhKAfh-yRQ8MWKzOpyHz7E56ERw/pubhtml

Thank you!!!
Elizabeth

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Hi Elizabeth

Welcome to FDMB!

I am not a Moderator but I am curious to know why you are using 2 meters concurrently? They are not really comparable. In fact, even with 2 different brands of human meters, you could get different readings. I would suggest that you pick one meter and stick to it. Most of the folks here use a human meter since the strips are much cheaper than the AT - especially when you test a lot. Our dosing protocols are also written with the human meter in mind.

Rather than test with two meters, I would suggest that you get some tests in the PM cycle? Many cats go lower at night and bounce in the day. It looks like Minnie needs more insulin but we would need to see some night time tests to see how low she is going on the dose. With DKA in the picture, you want to get her to a good dose quickly but safely. Are you testing for ketones every day?

Hopefully the removal of the high carb treats should improve her numbers. Do you have any BG data from before Feb 7th?

 

[Sue and Luci]

Welcome to the LB&L forum...

I was not able to click on your link to get to the last post - did you have a previous post? There are several others meters you may want to try if you're having trouble with the amount of blood on the Relion - I use a OneDrop meter that requires very little blood. It's a subscription service however (strips are sent upon request for a set monthly payment)...Includes a meter - which I think is the best one I've ever used - I started with the Relion and moved on to several others before settling on this one.

It's probably best if you use one meter or the other as your SS is quite difficult to read - I've done meter comparisons previously as well - you'll have to take a look at Luci's SS in 2019 and my columns look like this:

so you can see the values are all in one row

You can color in the cells with the little paintbucket at the top.

I hope this is helpful.

These stickies are very informative: You may want to start here with reading:
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/posting-guidelines-please-read.231511/

and this one, also very helpful for newbies:
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/the-basics-new-to-the-group-start-here.18139/


Again welcome to the group! Looking forward to seeing your follow up and future posts

 

[Liz & Minnie]

Thanks for the replies. Vet wants me to use Alphatrak but welcome message to the Facebook group recommended Relion so I got both. Vet asked me test in parallel if using a human meter to compare data (reliability/accuracy, not values). Ideally Relion will be the long term solution for cost reasons but so far it isn't working as well as the Alphatrak and needs more blood. When I get enough blood with the same stick, I'm getting readings with both. This is only day 3 so I'm still struggling to get blood at all while figuring out my technique!

I was having a problem manually coloring the cells but realized that's because I downloaded it which converted to Excel, which doesn't allow manual coloring to override the conditional formatting when you enter multiple values/"@" into the cell. SO... I recreated the spreadsheet and left it as a Google sheet with separate tabs for AlphaTrak and Relion. A bit of a pain for me while I'm getting used to testing/before I settle on a single full-time tool but cleaner to look at.

I have data going back to April from the ~8 Freestyle Libre sensors but it's downloaded from the Libreview website. I'll look into re-typing the 5 days of Levemir data into the spreadsheet.

I tested ketones yesterday (negative) and can already tell she's drinking and urinating much less than over the last few months. First indicator last week was the smell on her breath before it even showed up in the test strip, then I tested daily til taking her in.

Just got our first blue (192) in the latest test, crossing fingers that removing the WD dry completely was the magic solution!

Thanks again.

 

[Liz & Minnie]

I've added a tab with the January Freestyle Libre data and posted all the Libre reports going back to April, link added to my signature block. Thanks.