after BCS, how early can I shoot & how much?

Jenna Josie

Jenna Josie

Active Member
Hi Everyone!

I have kept Little Miss Sensitive on 2.2u for a loooong time since every once in a while, she does something crazy on it, and I am then waiting on her to clear the bounce . . . and then she drops again, so I don't raise. Rinse. Repeat. (Plus I've been ridiculously busy at work for two weeks and haven't been able to get home for a mid-day, so I don't really know what's going on with her nadir.)

An example: she clearly went low overnight of 1/25 as her +11.5 (just before AMPS; I sometimes pre-test her when I "get a feeling" to be sure that she's on her way up when it's actually time for her shot) was 87. Who knows how low she got overnight? Enter the bounce, which cleared over the next couple of days.

Yesterday was rather lovely . . . until this morning she gave me an AMPS of 98, and I just couldn't get her to come up: 2 hours of stalling with full breakfast and only 118. I had planned on trying 1.5u (cf. 12/31/18, when she did something very similar but came up to 133; I shot 1u then, and it wasn't enough), but since she was essentially within the 20% variance, did a BCS instead and gave 1u.

Which, of course, wasn't enough: 250 at +7.

So I have 2 questions:
1) last time I gave a BCS and she was high like this by mid-cycle (12/31), I gave her PM shot at +9 to get back on schedule. I plan to do that again . . . unless there's something really different b/t that cycle and this cycle that I'm missing?

2) any ideas why she is doing this? :( I feel like I must be doing something wrong. I feel like I should be smidgen'ing her dose up, but then I also feel like 2.2 must be too high otherwise she wouldn't keep giving me these very low PSs at more or less predictable intervals. I'm having trouble distinguishing between a low'ish PS that is just a nice overlap and a low'ish PS that signals she went too low during the cycle.

?
 
Only way to find out if she went too low is to mid cycle test.. I know it’s not fun setting that alarm for 1 am or 2 am etc. but it is necessary for the data. Once you figure her out a bit more you will feel more confident making dosing decisions on lower PS #s. As for what you are going thorough with the bouncing, take a look at littles SS. Same issue and actually same dose. Every time I bring her up to 2.2 which seem necessary at the time. Whammo!
 
I hate to say this Jenna, but I think it might be time to try Lantus. You're over six months now which unfortunately makes Josie a long term diabetic, and she's still spending too much time in higher numbers. The longer overlap on Lantus, and the more stable nature of responses mean that Josie would likely bounce less and stay in good numbers longer.

I do think you can be more aggressive with dosing on the lower numbers and taking advantage of the overlap when you get it to keep her lower for longer. But that can be tricky since prozinc does occasionally surprise you, and when you're at work, worrying about the "what if" isn't easy to deal with.

Lantus isn't the fix-all for every cat, but you've been doing this "right" for long enough that it just doesn't seem like prozinc is going to get Josie where she needs to be for her long term health. If you try Lantus and it doesn't work out, you can always come back, but I think it's worth considering at this point.
 
*sigh* Thanks, @Djamila It does seem like one of the Ls might be worth a shot (so to speak!), I'm just not sure I have the bandwidth for learning a new protocol right now . . .
 
Maybe take a little read through the Lantus dosing guidelines and see what you think. It’s much easier than dosing prozinc. Not as much “art” and clear guidelines for “if this...then that”

That being said, if you’re feeling overwhelmed right now, it’s okay to wait until you have a little more brain space/emotional energy to take it on.
 
Jenna Josie said:
*sigh* Thanks, @Djamila It does seem like one of the Ls might be worth a shot (so to speak!), I'm just not sure I have the bandwidth for learning a new protocol right now . . .
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Hi Jenna I understand completely the feeling of being overwhelmed by a potential switch as it may be something I have To consider as well. I read a bit in the Lantus forum and yes it freaked me out a bit just and will certainly take some getting used to.. just when we’ve gotten “used” to Prozinc.!! Im going to stick it out a bit longer here as even though my numbers don’t reflect, Littlr is doing fabulous from a behavior standpoint. Just wanted to let you know I feel your brain pain and Anxiety :bighug:
 
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