FurBabiesMama
Very Active Member
Hi. I'll be as concise as I can, but it will be long, sorry. Mia stared at 1u dose and got up to 2.5u, but we started having some pretty low nadirs then low pre-shots, so her dose was reduced. It got to a point where she was dropping pretty far on just 1.75 (example, 341 down to 69) and even on 1.5 (408 to 89). She has been a bouncy girl from the beginning, so the drops kept us in a cycle of low then high, then flat, and so on.
We got a new vial, dosing was 1.75 then but was gradually increased. She started staying high regardless of dose, and when I got to 2.75, I was concerned that something might be going on to keep her so high (as in staying over 250 pretty much all the time). So, we went to the vet. Bloodwork and urinalysis were okay (except for +3 glucose in urine.. no surprise). She had gingivitis, so we scheduled dental cleaning/exam, and she ended up having 5 extractions. Vet asked that I just stay at 2.5u dose for at least two weeks to see how things went.
Started new vial 11/28. Started getting better nadirs.. finally blues! But, she was still saying too high too much of the time. So, talked to vet about it being time to up dose. He seemed almost hesitant, especially since she has not been urinating or drinking excessively, but I pointed out that she is staying above the renal threshold the majority of the time and her urine is still full of glucose.. not good. He said to 'be careful' but that to go ahead and go to 3u. I mentioned maybe doing 2.75, but he was concerned about the dosing not being exactly accurate since I have to eye it (which bothers me some, too, even w/the syringes w/1/2 u markings). Still, I just could not bring myself to jump that far with her, so I did 2.75 but just for a day (2 cycles). She certainly did not drop hard from it, and I did not want to linger at that dose based on his concern and someone here commenting that dose increases that are too gradual can also cause issues.
That brings me to yesterday. I gave her 3u in the AM, and it was a weird cycle. By +6, only down to 278 from 384 PS. So, in light of that and the history of her numbers staying high no matter what for what seems like forever, I went ahead with the 3u dose in PM even though PS was only 276. By +3, she was 109; 30 mins later, 82, 20 mins later 78. The dropping was scaring me since I had already started introducing carbs after the +3 to slow things down. So, I brought out the big guns and gave her a good bit of Karo syrup for fast impact and some 18% carb kibble for longer-lasting impact - I knew I was probably over-doing it but we were hours from mid-cycle, and I was not going to risk hypo. By +4 she was 135, +5 205, +6 181.
So, what in the world am I supposed to do with her dosing. I have been very gradual, very patient. 2.5 clearly is not enough, but 3 seems to be too much. This morning, she was 335 and I gave a skinny 3. (I am expecting a bad bounce after last night.) At this point, I would love your input. I am not sure if her good dose is somewhere between 2.5 and 3 or if Prozinc is just not her insulin.
We got a new vial, dosing was 1.75 then but was gradually increased. She started staying high regardless of dose, and when I got to 2.75, I was concerned that something might be going on to keep her so high (as in staying over 250 pretty much all the time). So, we went to the vet. Bloodwork and urinalysis were okay (except for +3 glucose in urine.. no surprise). She had gingivitis, so we scheduled dental cleaning/exam, and she ended up having 5 extractions. Vet asked that I just stay at 2.5u dose for at least two weeks to see how things went.
Started new vial 11/28. Started getting better nadirs.. finally blues! But, she was still saying too high too much of the time. So, talked to vet about it being time to up dose. He seemed almost hesitant, especially since she has not been urinating or drinking excessively, but I pointed out that she is staying above the renal threshold the majority of the time and her urine is still full of glucose.. not good. He said to 'be careful' but that to go ahead and go to 3u. I mentioned maybe doing 2.75, but he was concerned about the dosing not being exactly accurate since I have to eye it (which bothers me some, too, even w/the syringes w/1/2 u markings). Still, I just could not bring myself to jump that far with her, so I did 2.75 but just for a day (2 cycles). She certainly did not drop hard from it, and I did not want to linger at that dose based on his concern and someone here commenting that dose increases that are too gradual can also cause issues.
That brings me to yesterday. I gave her 3u in the AM, and it was a weird cycle. By +6, only down to 278 from 384 PS. So, in light of that and the history of her numbers staying high no matter what for what seems like forever, I went ahead with the 3u dose in PM even though PS was only 276. By +3, she was 109; 30 mins later, 82, 20 mins later 78. The dropping was scaring me since I had already started introducing carbs after the +3 to slow things down. So, I brought out the big guns and gave her a good bit of Karo syrup for fast impact and some 18% carb kibble for longer-lasting impact - I knew I was probably over-doing it but we were hours from mid-cycle, and I was not going to risk hypo. By +4 she was 135, +5 205, +6 181.
So, what in the world am I supposed to do with her dosing. I have been very gradual, very patient. 2.5 clearly is not enough, but 3 seems to be too much. This morning, she was 335 and I gave a skinny 3. (I am expecting a bad bounce after last night.) At this point, I would love your input. I am not sure if her good dose is somewhere between 2.5 and 3 or if Prozinc is just not her insulin.
, and I'm not saying there might not be a point where you'll need to intervene, but I would suggest trying to intervene with as low carb an option as you can unless you really have to do more. Of course the hope is that we can help you find a dose that will keep her nadir closer to....I don't know...the 80's?..... so you don't have to even worry about all of this!
I probably should have just given her more of the moderate carb wet food (although she does not love it so she will not eat much of it), but 78 is way too close to 65 (hypo on AlphaTrak) for my comfort, and it was still so early in the cycle. Also, I was thinking about what the vet had just said about 'being careful' if I raised her dose. He told me this story of someone who brought their cat in that same day having seizures because of hypo. I told him I would NOT let that happen to her because I would be monitoring her and would take action before we were any where near that point.
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