Haven't been here in a bit. need advice on something

[johnt]

Wilbur is currently at the vet getting his third glucose curve done (poor little fella)

I ordered a testing kit and it'll be here today, i've tested myself for years when I had type II diabetes (i got off my butt and resolved it) so i'm familiar with the process.

My question is this. I know i need to test him just before I give him insulin. But my question is, what should I look for? what would the expected result be? i'm assuming it should be climbing since it will have been 12 hours since his last shot. But I don't know exactly how to manage the insulin. i never took insulin, I used pills (metformin).

Any advice here would be good. going to be an exciting night since he's never let me do this before, but I'm determined to get him going.

 

[Jan Radar (GA)]

Good job on deciding to get started with home BG monitoring. I think the thing that helped us the most in the beginning was helping the cat adjust to the testing procedure and always giving yummy treats even if we got little or no blood. A "new" ear also needs to warmed up much longer than you might think to get the blood flowing. We put uncooked rice in an old sock leaving enough room for comfortable wrapping around the ear and then put it in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Always test the sock on your wrist to make sure it's not too hot before putting it on the ear. Once you've poked a lot of times it will get easier as the ear "learns" to bleed for you.

You will want to set up a spreadshhet to keep track of your test results. This simple tool will help you look for trends and patterns and you will learn to read it in time and with help from the experienced people here. Go here for all that you need to get started. If you have trouble, there are lots of tech savy people around who will be happy to help you. Just ask.

As for the management of the insulin, you can get all the help you want from those who are experienced ProZinc users. I am not one of those people, but I know there are people here who do know and will be happy to help you. These knowledgeable people will be able to help you much better once you start testing and entering your results on the spreadsheet.

 

[Ferndoc]

Hi, I see Wilbur is on Prozinc which is what Fern uses.

In general Prozinc is a long lasting in and out insulin which means it doesn't have a depot that carries over like Lantus. Typically it's onset is 2-3 hours after the shot and the nadir (low point) is going to be between 5-7 hours. The overall does lasts between 10-14 hours. Just like with other insulin's try to preshot test that isn't food influenced so no food in the pervious 2 hours. I can do this normally in the PM but not the AM as I'm not getting up 2 hours early to take away food.

In general overall with home testing we are looking for trends and outliners. This way we can spot a problem before it becomes one which could be giving more insulin or maybe if we're lucky spotting when less insulin is needed. Many users here test a lot, more data = a better understanding of what is happening and if it is normal or an outliner that needs to be addressed.

 

[BJM]

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