amps 282....+5~462 ??

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Gosh Marci, if if makes you feel any better, I can't make heads or tails of them either. Just want to say I'm thinking of you two and hoping some of the more experienced dosers have some sage advice.
 
I really think you have rebound going on in spades. High flat numbers with a sudden dip is classic rebound on long acting insulins. Having much higher numbers mid-cycle si also a sigh of rebound. You have high, and higher, numbers with the exception of that 88 on the 25th. He was getting down to 30s, 40s and 60s a month ago on the same does - and bounding in to the 300s and 400s afterwards.

I think I keep posting this same thing and suggesting that you drop the dose and you are either afraid to try it or don't want to let it settle for 5 days to see if his numbers get better. To be honest, they can't get much worse so I don't think you have anything to risk by trying a much lower dose for a full 5 days. I would suggest .5u for five days and then run a curve. That would be Sunday if you start tomorrow. Be sure to test for ketones while you are trying this.
 
Sheila- I know you know your FD stuff so i take every word you suggest to heart, but i feel like i've tried the lower doses and get better results with more insulin. i didnt stay at .50 because he was too high, i know the #'s haven't been better on more -so far- but i'm hopeful they will be. I increased to 1.25 and got some blue today. Poor guy, i just wanted him to have some relief.
 
Oh no-- please don't, nailbite_smile ..you've been one of my greatest sources
of help here and i've come to rely on you. you know ECID, and my motherly instinct tells me that for now i need to try 1.25u, but i value your input tremendously and would miss it .
 
Marci and Buddy said:
Oh no-- please don't, nailbite_smile ..you've been one of my greatest sources
of help here and i've come to rely on you. you know ECID, and my motherly instinct tells me that for now i need to try 1.25u, but i value your input tremendously and would miss it .
Click to expand...

Hi Marci...just a couple of comments and observations here.

I understand going with your motherly instincts. Boy do we all do that at one time or another. Sometimes that is all we can go on.

I just wanted to point out though, up until this past month, each time you started back to raising the dose Buddy would go low and you would end up backing off the dose again. It is like you can't really go up the dosing scale without running into this problem.

But that hasn't happened recently, at least not yet. If it does though (a number in the 40's) you are just going to have to reduce again and be back where you started.

I wonder if the reason he hasn't gone low is because it looks like you have started him on Prednisone or Prednisolone recently - which one is it? And why are you giving this to him now? I don't remember it being mentioned before that you are giving this to Buddy?

Also, I know changing shot times doesn't help, but life gets in the way sometimes. :(
 
Hi Pamela- thanks for pointing that pattern out -Buddy is so unpredictable lately that i am hoping it wont happen, but if it does i guess i'll lower less than i previously did. Also, he is not on any meds ,or Pred, that was a one time thing(a mistake).i thought it was an anti histamine but he stopped itching anyway.
 
Marci, I say this with the utmost love and respect:

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".

I think that you would get better results with some patience at holding doses and looking at his SS for what caused low or high numbers in the past, how he responded to dose changes, how any given set of high numbers compares with other periods of high numbers. What I am getting at is that I don't think the highs he had when you tried .5u for a few days (not long enough, IMO) were not any higher than the highs he got last week. Yet they scared you into raising the dose back up. But you will let him sit at 1.25u for weeks with the same bad numbers.

You are spinning your wheels based on a fear of low doses and high numbers, but not higher doses and high numbers.

It can't be that he needs more insulin when he has gotten 30s and 40s on smaller doses. If you scroll back up through his SS for the "pretty" blues and greens with a few yellows, he was on .5u and .75 with a few days at .25u. I just don't see that more insulin is doing him any good. Yeah, I'm talking about numbers from two years ago, but there haven't been nearly as nice numbers since then and I can't see why you started to raise the dose.
 
Marci and Buddy said:
Hi Pamela- thanks for pointing that pattern out -Buddy is so unpredictable lately that i am hoping it wont happen, but if it does i guess i'll lower less than i previously did. Also, he is not on any meds ,or Pred, that was a one time thing(a mistake).i thought it was an anti histamine but he stopped itching anyway.
Click to expand...

So your vet prescribed it for his itching? It actually can be used for that (I would think in an extreme case), but there are other things you can do if Buddy has an itching problem. Not a steroid drug like this that can aggravate his diabetes. I know this would be my last resort anyway. I would try a diet change first, for instance. I don't think you mentioned the itching before? How bad is it?

I think you tried a raw diet with Buddy before?

Just for your info, here is a link on prednisolone and it uses and precautions:

http://www.1800petmeds.com/Prednisolone-prod238154.html
 
Hi Marci,
Sorry I've been AWOL for a while. Also sorry to see you struggling for Buddy. I hope we can help.

I noticed on his S that there are times when you are giving late shots or early shots, and by as much as 3 hours either way. That could be a reason for his unstable BGs. He is getting good responses from those doses around 1U, but still climbs unexpectedly, which says to me that Levemir isn't able to work properly. Working properly means maintaining those lower BGs more level. Since the shed is sometimes wonky, it's not able to do that.

I'm not telling you you have to hit his shot every 12 hours on the dot. I know how hard it is to manage insulin shots with life. But when you know you have to give a later shot or an earlier shot there are things you can do to help maintain the shed better. Split doses extend duration for those late shots and lowering the dose by 10-15% can prevent the shed from causing a low when you have to give earlier shots.

Tonight is the perfect example. We need to extend duration tonight, so a half dose should be given at the normal shot time, then another half dose an hour later, so that when you change your clocks back, the time until the next shot is due will be 13 hours from when you actually gave it but the clock time will be the same time as before.

You can do similar to get him to +15 when you need to. Just don't change your clocks, that might cause a problem.

If you want help understanding what to do, let me know. I agree with Sheila that changing doses too much can be another issue, but that is what I'm telling you to do in essence! Really it's manipulating the shed is all, a bit different than going back and forth by .25U or so.

And I believe we've discussed his need for a dental. Bacteria load can also make BGs hard to manage.

Are you getting ketone tests in? Those are essential when you've got these numbers going on and the possibility of an infection could be there because of his teeth. Don't mean to scare you, just want to keep Buddy safe.
 
Thank you Sheila -you really give me something to think about with the points you make.Do you think I can restart him at .75? or do i need to go as low as .50, which didn't give him as good results as .75.
It's true I am spinning my wheels and very aware of the internal damage being done to my dear Buddy.
Pamela - the Pred was old- he doesn't itch anymore, and he eats only raw rabbit .
Thanks sooo much for all your help and support.
 
Hey Vicky-great to hear from you.
You said he is getting good reponse from th 1u, i agree, but it doesn't hold...which is where i am stuck -so i went up , but i guess it looks like i should have gone down. do you think i should try the 1u agian? Buddy really doesn't need dental at this time . and no keytones.thanks for your help.
 
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