Do We Shoot a Reduced Dose This Evening?

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Blamethecats and Hannah

Blamethecats and Hannah

Member Since 2014
Hannah's AMPS was at 308 at 7:50 AM. Her numbers have been slightly rising throughout the day. (Please check her Spreadsheet.) Tonight, her PMPS was down to 277 at 7:30 -- almost 12 hours later. I am now thinking, with her numbers finally dropping, but still above 200, do I shoot a reduced amount? Maybe 0.2? Do I wait a while to do so, as she may drop more, or can we be on schedule with her shot due at 8:30 PM? Wow, this is all so very hard for me to figure out! I wish I could get the hang of it on my own! Suggestions and guidance, PLEASE!
 
Can you stall? Wait 20 minutes without feeding and retest. The number could be shootable with a tiny dose IF she is rising, not falling.
 
Sue, she has already eaten and her BG is now 320 -- maybe from her meal, she ate well. Should have waited on the food, but my skinny little girl was actually hungry and begging for food. That hardly ever happens. I will wait a few minutes and see how she goes.
 
It's hard. The food will likely have elevated the number, but we can't know whether by a lot or a little. I guess, if you can test at least once tonight, .4 if you are feeling brave, .2 if you're not.

If she was still dropping, it's a gamble. If her pancreas is helping and you add insulin, she could drop. Her earlier long cycles (when she was too low to shoot at preshot) were lower than 277, so it could be okay.

There's no perfect advice here. Go with your gut?
 
At 8:30 PM, Hannah was at 320, following food at 7:45 PM. At 9:30 PM, she had risen to 326 -- only 6 points higher. Considering all the food she ate, I would have expected a greater increase. So, I went with the 0.2 U at 9:30 PM. Guess I'm not much of a gambler, especially when it comes to something so precious. Probably will change my way of thinking when I see a red or black number tomorrow morning. I hope she will be okay. On top of that, for some reason, had trouble making a tent for her injection. Have noticed that issue more and more, lately. What's that all about? Anyway, she flinched when I injected, and I noticed some pink fluid (blood) in the syringe after it was withdrawn. That scared the heck out of me and now I am worrying about that, thinking her dose won't be effective enough, or may even be harmful. And after all of that, she is still sitting here by my feet, content, and acting like I did everything right. She is just the best kitty and I love her so much. Wish I had what it takes to make this right for her. Thankful she doesn't know it isn't working out.
 
It is working out! She is on a tiny bit of insulin and is in safe numbers. Think about what you have learned in the past few days. You are testing at home and that keeps her safe every time you give insulin. How is she feeling? Is she is playing, pooing, peeing? Is she drinking less water and peeing less?

You and she have come a LONG way in little time. I know it is overwhelming and scary, but you are doing amazingly well.
 
If you are concerned about your shooting technique, start a new topic asking for help with that specifically. Describe how you do it, step by step.
 
See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for 2 ways to check for dehydration, which is something that might make it difficult to tent the skin for injection.
 
Yes, I think what we have here is an "operator problem" -- the operator, here, being me. Checked for dehydration, and her skin snaps right back and her gums are very moist. She wasn't happy about me prying her mouth open to test, as it likely reminded her of the days we had to assist feed with my finger. Anyway, think part of the issue is that her fur is quite a bit silkier than it was when we began shooting back in June. Add that to the big-old band-aid on my left thumb (accident involving a storm door window dropping on it -- Ouch!) and the result was the improper tent. It seems to be going better, now, as remove the band-aid to get a better grip, then put it back on after we are finished. She is such a patient kitty... thank goodness!
 
Glad it's easier to shoot without a band aid! Some people shave a tiny spot if their kitty has longer hair.

Checked out your spreadsheet. Hope the .8 will get her back down into lower ranges. Hope you can get a test in that +5-7 time frame to see.
 
Sue, she has very dense fur. Guess shaving a spot would be an option. Will decide after my thumb heals.

I am also hopeful that .8 will get her back down into lower numbers. I will be testing this afternoon to find out. It did get her number a little lower, yesterday afternoon at +5, but only to 290. Was hoping for better. Then, of course, at PMPS, it had gone back up to 331 (no food for 2 hours, prior). She is so unpredictable. She had a good day yesterday, otherwise. Followed me around most of the day, as I was cooking Sunday dinner and she likes to supervise. She also ate well, yesterday, and showed more enthusiasm for her food than usual. She is a picky eater, so I was glad for that. It didn't last. Guess she got filled up. Prior to her PM shoot, she wasn't interested in food at all. Supervised her feeding to be sure she ate at least something... and she finally did.

Thanks for keeping an eye on her spreadsheet. You are our guardian angel! wings_cat
 
Good morning Carole and Hannah,

I wanted to check in before I left for a few hours. I agree with the comment on your spreadsheet - either too little insulin or a bounce last night. It could have been either. We call this beginning time "data gathering" all the numbers you get help you make decisions down the road. So yes, if you'd gotten a midcycle last night, you would now know whether .2 is a little too little insulin on a yellow or that it caused a bounce. But I understand perfectly the need for sleep :mrgreen: just showing you how the data helps.

It's great that DH is getting into this - some guys really like the science of this dance.

Another day. Looks like a good dose this am. Hoping for a blue somewhere today.
 
Hi, Sue. We appreciate your comment. Again, thanks for keeping an eye on us. I am just going to have to make myself get a few numbers during the night, every now and then. It would definitely tell us something, one way or another. Keep watching. One of these nights, I'm going to surprise you with a mid-cycle number. Can't guarantee when, but I will definitely do that. Have already warned DH not to worry if he hears me up in the middle of the night -- only to be concerned if he hears me screaming. :lol: Like you said:
Hoping for a blue somewhere today.
Click to expand...
We had one yesterday, so guess it's possible.
 
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