Dosage for tonight?

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Jennifer and Katie

Jennifer and Katie

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So, I just tested Katie's BG, because I've been trying to decide if her dosage needs to change. As it says in the subject her +4 is 65. Do I need to worry about her going lower in the next hour or so, since her nadir seems to be at +5? Also, should I decrease her dose? 1 U didn't seem like enough, but maybe 1.5 U is too much? Please help! I have work all day tomorrow, and I don't want her to go hypo while I'm not at home!
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. First time double digits!!

She could still go lower; I'd check again until you know her numbers are rising. Don't worry unless you see symptoms or much lower numbers (Cassie was fine at 45-I think the rule of thumb is 50).

I can't give dosing advice, but hopefully someone else will.
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. First time double digits!!

Re-test at +4.5. BG= 62.
I'm just really worried that if she's going this low today, that she might go hypo while I'm at work tomorrow or Monday.
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. First time double digits!!

If she usually nadirs at +5, I'd check then an 15-30 min. later. If she doesn't go much lower she'll be fine today. They told me to check every 15 until I got 3 rising numbers in a row, but Cass was lower. 60 is a normal cat blood sugar.
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. First time double digits!!

+5 = 65. I got her to eat some food between the +4.5 and the +5, so maybe that helped. I know 60 is a normal number for a cat, but I haven't seen numbers below 100 in her, so it's a bit nerve-wracking.
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. First time double digits!!

Jennifer,
You're doing great! In case Katie drops lower, you know what to do, right? If not, let us know asap.
I think she's fine, like Lisa said, 60s are a good thing. I would check her every 30 minutes until you get a couple of rising numbers in a row.
What time would she be getting her shot tonight (is Utah 2 or 3 hours behind the east coast?).
You want to make sure before tonight's shot that her BG is going upward. Please post any numbers you get up until then, and someone will be here to help you out on tonight's dose.

Double digits are super, aren't they?

Carl in SC
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. First time double digits!!

Yeah, I know what to do if they drop lower. I just re-read the Hypo sticky, to remind myself, actually.
Katie will get her shot at 8:30pm tonight. Utah is 2 hours behind the east coast, so that would be 10:30pm there.
Double digits ARE great, but it sure scared me, because I didn't expect it to happen.
So, do you think her dose is too high, or do you think I should keep doing the 1.5 U?
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. First time double digits!!

I think she might be earning a dose decrease, but let's see what she does the rest of the day. If I were to decrease, it wouldn't be by too much, maybe .25u. Do you use u40 syringes, and can you eyeball a 1/4 unit on them?

Carl
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. First time double digits!!

Yeah, I use the U 40 syringes. I can probably eyeball 1/4, since it would just be half of the half, but it might not be entirely accurate. But I could try.
Her +5.5 number is 71, so she is going back up, yay!
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. +6=59!! Worried!

There's roughly 20% variance in your numbers just due to the meter. So, your 71 is in the middle of a range from 57 to 85 (71 + 14). Like Carl suggested, get a test every 30 min. You can feed about a teaspoon of low carb food. Small amounts of food will help your cat continue to surf in a number range that is very good for her pancreas. It is a bit unnerving at first but you are doing great.

If her numbers should drop below 50, give about a teaspoon of high carb food and test again in 20 - 30 min. If numbers are still low, repeat the process.
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. +6=59!! Worried!

+6.5= 61. *sigh*
Her numbers haven't been this low before. Any idea what could have caused it? Is it possibly her body is trying to right itself?
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. +6=59!! Worried!

LOL, yes Jennifer,
Welcome to the wonderfully wonderful world of "kitty is trying to get better!". What I hope is going on is that her pancreas (which is where her natural insulin is produced) is healing, and her liver (which tends to not like low BG numbers and will dump "sugar" into her system) is beginning to stop fighting against you and the pancreas.
Just breath a few times, and check her every 30 minutes, and follow Sienne's instructions if she goes lower. Use low-carb food first, and just a little, so you don't "push" the BG too much higher.

Carl
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. +6=59!! Worried!

The 132 is very nice.
During the low part of the day, did you need to feed her to get her numbers up at all?
Carl
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. +6=59!! Worried!

I convinced her to eat a couple bites of the wet food between +4.5 and +5. Other than that, unless she ate something while I was gone (which it didn't look like it), she hasn't had anything else to eat.
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. +6=59!! Worried!

OK, either way is fine. It just helps us to know if any of the BG increase is due to food or not. What you can do now is check her around +11, and then once again just before "dinnertime" so we can figure out her dose. She doesn't need to eat before then. Give her little ears a rest for an hour or so. :smile:

Carl
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. +6=59!! Worried!

Well, so much for low numbers. Her +11 was 450. I even re-tested to make sure that was an accurate reading. She hasn't gotten into anything to make the number go up, so her liver must have freaked out. :YMSIGH:
 
Re: AMPS +4= 65. +6=59!! Worried!

Jennifer,
Don't be discouraged by the high number. Katie had a breakthrough day regardless. Probably liver panic pushed her way back up, but that is okay. At least you saw it happen and now understand more about how this whole dance works. ;-)
Stick with the plan, test her just before dinnertime, post the number. Most likely you can stick with the 1.5u tonight, but we'll see what Katie says in a little while.

Carl
 
Jennifer,
How much longer will you be up tonight? Did you say you have to work tomorrow?
I am inclined to say "yes" to keeping her at 1.5
Carl
 
Yeah, I have work tomorrow. But we have company coming over tomorrow, so we are currently cleaning house. It will probably be a couple more hours before I go to bed. Are you inquiring because you want me to test after I give her insulin?
 
Yes, that's exactly why I'm asking. ;-)
I really think you have nothing to worry about. I just want to see how fast she starts dropping from that red number. Probably not too quick, given she'll also be getting a sugar boost from dinner. But if you could get a +2 or +3, that would be great.

Carl
 
You're very welcome! Remember Jennifer, everybody here has been in the same place you and Katie are in today. And somebody was always here to help me out. Some day soon it'll be you helping out the newest sugardancers.

I'll check Katie's numbers as you post them!

Carl and Bob in SC
 
Hey Jennifer, Welcome!

Carl's been giving you great advice, and I only have a couple things to add:

Looking at your SS, there are not a lot of mid-cycle readings, so it's hard to tell what is "normal" for Katie. If you just look at the AMPS and PMPS from today, it would not really jump out from other days. It looks like Katie may drop quite a bit in some of her cycles...

For dosing, the protocol says that because you stayed above 50, you should stick with the same shot. In fact, you may be seeing high numbers for 24-72 hours as she "bounces" off of the lows of today. You want to make sure you don't up the dose in response to that bounce. In fact, your "count" of cycles at 1.5u should get reset to zero because of the low numbers today. She may be telling you that she is starting to heal, and doesn't need any more help, thank you very much.

I can empathize with the fear of dosing and leaving for work. Those of us in that situation try to get extra measurements in the evening, and try hard to get 1 extra reading in the morning if at all possible. I liked seeing the "+11" reading in the morning to see where he was coming from. If you get scared one morning, just go with a BCS dose (big chicken sh#t) that is way down from your normal dose, but try not to do that too often.
 
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