carose said:
i did give elvis his shot last nite but again could the food i gave him be the cause of his bg going so low???? the food had 3 carbs and i gave him 3 units due to when i tested him his bg was 470... i always get high nu,bers when i test him before the injection...
i have never seen a number lower than 450 for 2 weeks now before injections...i guess i am looking at this wrong..i see a high number and i see with 3 units his bg does lower to 80-100 after 4-5 hours (exception of last nite) so i think this is right...also i have been testing him after he eats and minutes before his injection..(feeding him at 5 testing at 5:55 injection at 6) is this too soon ..to late..?? please i am really not trying to get people angry i just want to get this right...
the food isn't the reason for the low numbers last night. you WANT to feed an appropriate diet for a diabetic and that is what you did.
but you have to work the insulin with the appropriate diet. soooooooooo, the appropriate diet combined WITH too much insulin is what caused the lower numbers last night.
and the high numbers you get when you test him before injection are because he's going high low high low high low. he needs to even out. numbers before injection aren't the most important numbers all the time. the numbers in the middle fill in a big part of the puzzle.
yes, the goal is to get lower normal numbers but 400--80--400-80--400 will keep you on 400-80--400--80. that big drop from 400 to 80 is what's causing the 400 the next time. in other words, he's staying on the roller coaster and never getting a chance to get off it.
and yes, testing him AFTER he eats, especially nearly an hour after he eats is wrong. the food causes the glucose levels to spike so you are seeing a falsely elevated number. test him first, say at 5:00, then feed him, wait 1/2 an hour or so and give him his shot. with the insulin you are using, that is the way it should be done.
don't worry. i'll admit, we do get frustrated. because we get so worried about the cats. so if we come across as angry just know that it is because we are scared too. scared for the cats involved. (((hugs))) so be patient with us and we will be patient with you while we help you
now as an example of what i was talking about just above i'll use my cat.
when she was on PZI, i could test her before meal and get a 150. which would make me shoot 1 unit of her insulin. she used to get such a big food spike that if i fed her first and then tested her, i could easily get a 250. if i panicked at the number and shot more insulin, let's say 2 units, then in an hour or so as that food spike wore off and as the insulin started working, she basically would or could go thru an overdose, dropping let's say into the 30's wherein i would have to intervene with syrup and stay up all night making myself exhausted and perforating her ear all night making her pissed at me.
but, if i stuck with the 1 unit because i know she got a food spike, she might have dropped comfortably into the 80's let's say and her and i would have a nice quiet smooth evening
if we respond with panic to each number, we can very easily kill our cats. the goal is to avoid that.