BG out of whack

[Hine87]

Just when Jasper's numbers started to seem to be under control they went crazy on me again. Especially these last few days I have been getting really really high readings (I made an appt with the vet this morning for Wednesday). I don't know if maybe his insulin could be going bad (I've had the vial since December) or maybe it could be the meter? I haven't caught Jasper using the bathroom so no recent ketone testing but he is eating fine and no signs of DKA although a few times it appeared he was drinking a little bit more water than usual. Currently I am feeding him different flavors of Wellness (GF), Simply Nourish (GF), and Friskies-he has been such a picky eater lately that I just want him to eat something. The vet in January wanted me to try giving him 1 unit a day in the morning and nothing at night because he had some low numbers in December. Gave it a shot for about the first month until one night I remembered to check his numbers with no insulin in him, about 11PM I think it was and he was over 400. I gave him insulin and had been back to 1-1.5 units twice daily. But his BG seems to be on a steady increase and I don't know where it's coming from. =( Anyone have any idea what could be going on with him?

Thank you!

Sarah

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Can you add the units given for the past few days, Sarah? It's be nice to know on 3/18, for example, how much was given as that cycle is an improvement over other ones. It is hard to make any assumptions without knowing the doses.

His numbers are very high. Are his teeth okay? No sign of any other infection? That is what I would have the vet concentrate on.

 

[Hine87]

Sorry yea I've kept it blank since I've changed the dose a couple times and couldn't remember the days I had changed them on. I had tried I believe Saturday morning or evening upping his dose by .25 from the 1.5 units and resulted in 500+ bg which never happened before although his numbers seem to keep staying really high regardless. So I thought maybe I needed to lower his dose so since yesterday I've given him 1.25 units of insulin. I know we are supposed to give it a couple days on the new dose but these numbers are scaring me. His teeth have been fine, I actually brushed them this morning and looked great. I am going to look at a new meter today to compare my numbers and see if their is any difference there.

 

[Olive & Paula]

Do you have another vial or pen of insulin? I think I would check that first. Could be the one your using is getting weak.

 

[Hine87]

I don't sadly, I never realized to have extra insulin on hand until I read an article on it the other day. =( I will be bringing it up to the vet though. Normally I never get to use insulin for that long since my husband had a tendency to drop the vial.....=P

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

I agree it is possible the vial is old and I'd get a new vial first..

Another option is to lower the dose as some of the increases seem to give you inverted cycles, with the higher number for nadir. If you do that, just lower it for a few cycles, getting ketone tests, and if you don't get better numbers, go right back up. If you get a new vial, you will probably want to lower the dose a little anyway, so that may give you some insights.