Dora’s curve - so discouraged

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Dora the Explorer

Dora the Explorer

Member Since 2020
A link to the thread when she was so low that I considered skipping: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...stall-2-227-am-9-16-300s.235373/#post-2636325

Her curve is in my signature in the spreadsheet. I thought she might be a little higher yesterday due to lowering the dose the day before and giving her some dry bits (Dr. Elsey’s) and she was, but she stayed very stable all day. This morning she had a decent AMPS and I expected her to go to a good place but instead she’s sky high! What is going on?

I’m supposed to report the curve numbers to the vet. I was going to report her levels today since I thought they’d be better.

Last curve, she increased her to 2 units and it was too much, because she doesn’t really get my whole story; I have to leave a message and the vet tech calls me back. They act like I shouldn’t test her as often as I do but they make decisions based on only the information from one day.

Every time she goes low she then goes high and I can’t get her back. Whether it’s my reaction to it, her body’s response, or if I missed with the insulin today (I saw it go in!) I feel like I’m just not getting this right! I don’t want to call in these numbers. They don’t feel representative.

The vet wants to do the Libre. Should I just do it? Although that won’t help with these swings, or will it? It’s so annoying having to leave a message on a machine and talk to a tech. Very disheartening when I feel like I’m not getting good help from her. But I feel like we need that partnership.

Thank you for any words of wisdom or encouragement.

Jane and D
 
thebigfuzz said:
Hi! I usually email the entire SS to my vet. That way they can see the trends. I send her a link :)
Click to expand...

Is your vet taking new patients?

I once sent her a screenshot in the early days of pandemic when she used a chat app but I have no way to email her. It frustrates me to no end that I have to go through the tech. It appears to be their business model. The only time I’ve experienced that level of deflection with a vet. My regular vet always calls me when I have a question.

We just saw a 100ish point drop in two hours so I’m still not going to call the vet. I want to see what tonight brings. I don’t know why she’s still so high. I did feed different food this morning but it was still FF classic and it was listed as about 3-5 carbs on the chart (I forget which). Chicken and Beef.
 
Does your vet office have an office email? Most do, and that would go to the tech or office assistant. As long as your vet tech is ok with it being emailed :)

it’s possible your kitty was in a bounce cycle from numbers Dora isn’t used to yet. Bouncing is the liver’s protective mechanism to what it perceives as a threat - lower numbers than the body is used to or a sharp, fast drop - so the liver releases its stores of glycogen into the blood stream to raise BG. The numbers don’t necessarily have to be dangerously low, just lower than ‘normal’ for Dora. Bounces can take 6 cycles (3days) to clear at first.

I also noticed you aren’t always shooting the same dose am and pm which can affect the depot effectiveness - especially when it’s possible to shoot as per SLGS. It is good that you got some insulin in though, even if it was reduced.

I hope that helps a little?

Do you post at all in the Lantus forum? You’ll get lots of peer advice there if you post daily. Check out the stickies on that forum for posting guidelines :bighug: There are specific formats for the title and linking the previous post for continuity, if you like.
 
Not sure how low she went last night...it looks like she was on a downward trend with that 241 PMPS number. She may have hit a blue or green, so could be bouncing today. I would always try to get a +2 or +3 just to see where she would be heading. I usually tested Jones just as I was going to bed.
 
Thanks very much for the replies. First, the reason I did the lower dose was because under the SLGS guidelines, her preshot was low enough that I didn’t want to do a full dose. That happened two nights in a row. Perhaps that is the reason she’s gone back up. I just wouldn’t have expected that very high 400! Although I looked back and saw she did something similar a week or so ago.

We didn’t test overnight since she’s just had the curve done and I thought we’d get an am test and a few hours later and she’d be blue by then. Guess not

I like the idea of a bounce. Here’s hoping...

the vet is only in Monday, Tuesday, Thursday so I think I’ll ride it out till Monday unless we see a good number this evening. Then I’ll see if I can catch her. I just don’t see the value she can add if she isn’t interested in seeing the spreadsheet - which of course I can ask her when I do finally call - unless I am getting the Libre.

Jane and d
 
Dora the Explorer said:
We didn’t test overnight since she’s just had the curve done
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I usually did the +2/+3 - I didn't test often overnight. You can see Jones' sheet. That +2/+3 can help tell you where she is headed - if a big drop...more testing maybe required if a small bump - that maybe a normal cycle and you can go to bed. You learn your cat and their patterns and then you will know when to worry and when not to.

Great job on the curve!

Dora the Explorer said:
The vet wants to do the Libre.
Click to expand...

Not a bad option...you can get a lot of information until it falls off. But it will have to be reapplied. Do some research, get your questions ready and be prepared to tell the vet your opinion.

Dora the Explorer said:
But I feel like we need that partnership.
Click to expand...

The best tool is a good relationship with your vet. Wish more vets were open to that when it comes to FD.

:bighug:
 
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