BG rollercoaster, how much insulin do I give tonight?

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Marvin's Mama

Marvin's Mama

Member Since 2014
For the past two days, Marvin's BG has been 322 (+6) with 2 and 2.25 units insulin.
This morning I increased his dose to 2.75 units and I did not test his blood before giving insulin. At +2.5 hrs after the insulin, his BG was 88 (hmmm???) and at +6 was at 104. Now at +12, his blood glucose level is 176.
Do I give him a small dose tonight, like 1 unit? If I don't, I'm sure his BG levels will be back up to 300 by the morning, but I'm also concerned about the huge drop in his levels this morning with the tiny increase of insulin.
 
If you can monitor, I'd go with 1 unit.

Better too high for a day than too low for a moment.
 
Hi Marisa and extra sweet Marvin!

Has anyone asked you to get our spreadsheet up and working so we can easily see how Marvin is doing? It's really a great tool we use that will help us when we're trying to help you!

Here's How to set up your Spreadsheet .

On tonight if you have all the supplies you need, strips, high carb food and know you're able to stay awake as long as necessary, you could go ahead and shoot 1 unit as long as he's eating normally too. You'd also want to get a +2 to compare to his pre-shot number.

If that +2 is lower than the Pre-shot number, that's a good "crystal ball" telling you to set an alarm to get up and test again later in the cycle. If the +2 is about the same as the pre-shot, you can expect a normal cycle, with the numbers dropping until about +5-+7 and then trending back up. If on that +2 test the number goes higher than the pre-shot, that can mean he's starting a bounce.

We do need to help you find a dose you can give him every 12 hours that doesn't take him below 50, so if you give 1 unit, let's just stay at 1 unit until we can really see what's going on with him....and you do as much testing as you can so we can start filling in the "picture" that your spreadsheet will be.
 
Hi Chris and BJM,
I ended up not giving him any last night, I was so worried about his levels making a fast dip. This morning he was at 300 and I went with 2.5 units.
I have not been able to create a spreadsheet for him, testing has been slightly difficult up to now, but this week Marvin hasn't minded and I've been successful every time (!). I will plan to do this the upcoming weekend, and I would really appreciate any help reading it!
Thanks!
 
Once you get your spreadsheet set up or when you look at someone else's signature link, this'll make more sense!

Understanding the spreadsheet/grid:

The colored headings at the top are the ranges of glucose values. They are color-coded to clue you in as to meaning.

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning pre-shot test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +7 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening pre-shot)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.
 
Thank you - this actually makes perfect sense in terms of how it is organized. Is there a blank template download to begin the spreadsheet, or should I just set up my own copying someone else's? I can't find a link anywhere on the boards.
 
If you click on the blue words in my comment above "How to set up your spreadsheet" there's information there that includes the link to our spreadsheet.

If you still have problems, let us know...One of us can set it up for you and then transfer it to you
 
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