Help - Low numbers and thoughts on reduction

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Heather & Ducote

Heather & Ducote

Member Since 2020
I switched to Prozinc a week ago and Ducote is getting much better numbers but I am in new and scary territory. I am trying to absorb as much as I can so that I know what to do when he dips down lower than expected.
He started Prozinc at 3.5u and on his second day he earned a reduction so now he is at 3.25. This morning I tested him and it was lower than I am used to (124) so he ate and I held the dose for an hour. His recheck was 165. I did not give him a full dose but did give him 3 units.
I just checked him again (+4) and he is at 56 :nailbiting:! He is currently chowing down on a can of Fancy Feast trout and I will recheck him in about an hour.
My question is: I know that a reading under 90 equals a dose reduction but this morning I gave him a reduced dose of 3 instead of the normal 3.25 due to the low number. Do I reduce from the number I gave this morning that brought him so low or from the normal dose he is at for now (would his new dose be 3 or 2.75)?
 
Now that he is back up over 200 I don't know what dose to give tonight. I know that he earned a reduction but from which number? His normal dose is 3.25 but the dose that I gave him this morning (that brought him super low) was 3. Which number should I reduce from? Should I give 3 tonight or 2.75?
 
That's a good question. I would think the reduction earned is from 3.25 to 3, and the AMPS from today was just clearing a bounce and possibly a bit artificial. But I am not sure. You can always do 2.75u tonight if you don't get a more solid answer. Curious to know what others think.
 
Heather, good call. That high is likely bounce. I would hold at 2.75 (unless he warrants another reduction) for a few days and let the bounce clear.

And I believe Deb mentioned this in another of your threads, but just in case I'm confused, do keep in mind that if you do a stall to see if BGL comes up, do it without feeding. If the number is pumped up by food, it's not accurate, and you risk a low. Always skip or do a token dose if you feel it necessary. Better a day with high numbers than risk a hypo.
 
Juls and Billy said:
Heather, good call. That high is likely bounce. I would hold at 2.75 (unless he warrants another reduction) for a few days and let the bounce clear.

And I believe Deb mentioned this in another of your threads, but just in case I'm confused, do keep in mind that if you do a stall to see if BGL comes up, do it without feeding. If the number is pumped up by food, it's not accurate, and you risk a low. Always skip or do a token dose if you feel it necessary. Better a day with high numbers than risk a hypo.
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Lesson learned :nailbiting: My current routine is to feed him and test/dose as soon as he starts eating so that he doesn't notice that I am messing with him too much. I am used to high numbers so it has never been a problem. I see know that I need to start a new routine of testing then feeding/dosing.
 
Heather IS changing the test, feed, shoot routine up a bit. She knows to hold off on feeding, until after at least 1 retest.
So if she needs to stall, she can retest and know that the BG number she gets isn't food influenced.

We expect other BG numbers during the cycle to be food influenced.
It's usually best not to feed after +6, as they will raise the BG levels in the later half of the 12 hour cycle.
 
I just gave him his PM precheck and he was 146. I did not have food out for him but he sure started looking around for it. I gave him two tiny pieces of chicken breast (like fingertip sized).
I love these blue numbers but they really scare me for precheck numbers. I am holding his dose for now.
Last time I dosed with a blue number it was 165 (right now he is 146) and I gave a reduced dose of 3u (at the time he was on 3.25 but now he is currently on 3). That dose brought him down to 51 at +5. I am scared to give him 3 units in the blue numbers for a pm pre-check because I would just be so scared for him to go way low when I am asleep :eek:
 
Heather & Ducote said:
I just gave him his PM precheck and he was 146. I did not have food out for him but he sure started looking around for it. I gave him two tiny pieces of chicken breast (like fingertip sized).
I love these blue numbers but they really scare me for precheck numbers. I am holding his dose for now.
Last time I dosed with a blue number it was 165 (right now he is 146) and I gave a reduced dose of 3u (at the time he was on 3.25 but now he is currently on 3). That dose brought him down to 51 at +5. I am scared to give him 3 units in the blue numbers for a pm pre-check because I would just be so scared for him to go way low when I am asleep :eek:
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I perfer to err on the side of caution.
 
Heather & Ducote said:
I am starting to worry about my doses being all over the place, almost like he is on a sliding scale. Could this be bad for him?
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Heather, sometimes you have to give the different doses because "Life Happens" and you can't be awake 24 hours a day. No one can. Not even an insomniac could stay up all hours.

The sliding scale dosing is not ideal, but it is what it is. Part of the difficulty with a sliding scale, is that you don't know what a "good" dose is for Ducote and it's so much harder to see if he is clearing a bounce, or is in higher numbers simply because of the lower dose.

You know your schedule and responsibilities and know what is possible for you to do and what is not possible for you to do. So you know you can not stay up all night to test Ducote because you need some sleep.

Ducote may bounce higher, even after that lower 1.5U dose, because he is still rising from the bounce from those low blues today AND part of the increase will be from the food spike, around +2.
 
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