Help - Lowest Preshot number yet, should I skip?

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Heather & Ducote

Heather & Ducote

Member Since 2020
Ducote seems to be getting lower and lower preshot numbers and each one leaves me more and more confused :confused: Just when I think I have a plan for when to shoot or what a good reduction would be, he surprises me with a new dilemma.

I just did his PMPS and it is 107. He has never had a preshot this low. I held his food for now but at this number should I just feed and skip the dose?
 
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I checked him 30 minutes later and he is 175 so I am feeding him and going with 1.5u (I went with this dose last night when he was 178 after an hour stall). I don't like that he is getting in the habit of 3 units in the morning and 1.5 units at night but I don't know what else to do :confused:
 
Heather & Ducote said:
I checked him 30 minutes later and he is 175 so I am feeding him and going with 1.5u (I went with this dose last night when he was 178 after an hour stall). I don't like that he is getting in the habit of 3 units in the morning and 1.5 units at night but I don't know what else to do :confused:
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I’m by far no expert as I’m still learning, but will you be checking his BG a couple hours after his shot? Night time always worries me.
 
I just checked him at +1.5 after his dose and I am so discouraged :arghh: The +1.5 check was in the 500's which was a little weird to me (he was in the 100's 1.5 hours ago and only ate half of his food) so I checked again and this time it was in the 300's. Those two numbers are very far apart so I did a third check and it was in the 400's. The only logical conclusion has to be the monitor. I am so upset because now I have no clue how accurate all of his past numbers have been.
 
I did try two different bottles because I only had one strip left in the bottle I was using and had to go to a second one. I didn't have to milk his ear for any of the readings, he is a pretty good bleeder. I tried to get a reading from his other ear but I never have any luck with that one, it just won't bleed. His first reading was 509, second was 374, and third was 429. I just ordered the Relion Prime from Walmart with two day shipping because these numbers were just too all over the place for comfort (within 5 minutes).
 
I guess I jumped the gun and didn’t do my math. When I think of 10-20% I think of the numbers being fairly close together. The difference in the hundreds place each time threw me for a loop. Well, looks like I’ll have a new meter and a back up meter o_O
 
Ducote just got a +5 of 68 so now we are going to go reduce to 2.75 units. I hope that his am and pm preshot numbers become a little more consistent so that he can stay on the same units for both doses. It's hard to feel fully confident about a reduction when he has been getting 3 units for the past two mornings and 1.5 units for the past two nights o_O
 
Heather & Ducote said:
It's hard to feel fully confident about a reduction when he has been getting 3 units for the past two mornings and 1.5 units for the past two nights o_O
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Not a Prozinc person, so I don't know if this is "allowed", but what about dropping the dose to 2.0U, to see if you can shoot that consistently?

I did look at Ducote's spreadsheet too, to try to get an idea of the patterns he's starting to show, but the dose changes (and the unfamiliar-to-me insulin action o_O ) made my head spin. It did seem that, while he does bounce pretty high when he bounces, he doesn't seem to bounce for very long. But he does seem to like to do it in response to any low at all :rolleyes:.

A lot of times when he's low-ish at pre-shot and you give a smaller dose, he's already on his way back up. One of the reasons I think it might be worth it to try a dose like 2.0U as his new "regular" dose is that I think it would be easier to shoot that on such days. Often, you have info from the stall that he's going up, but it's hard to shoot 3.0U, or even 2.75U, for the first time on those numbers.

Anyway, that's my non-expert take. Hopefully a Prozinc user can weigh in on this too (even if they disagree with my reasoning, I am very interested in the reasons because I am trying to learn the ins and outs of Prozinc myself :bookworm: ).
 
Nan & Amber (GA) said:
Not a Prozinc person, so I don't know if this is "allowed", but what about dropping the dose to 2.0U, to see if you can shoot that consistently?
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If this is "allowed" I would definitely give it a go, I am up for anything right now that might make his numbers make more sense :blackeye:

Nan & Amber (GA) said:
I did look at Ducote's spreadsheet too, to try to get an idea of the patterns he's starting to show, but the dose changes (and the unfamiliar-to-me insulin action o_O ) made my head spin.
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You and me both! Every time I think that we are on a roll he throws a wrench into the mix :p My chicken shots are really messing up the flow of regular doses. If he has a low for his AMPS I am more willing to give a higher dose but those night time lows scare me.

Nan & Amber (GA) said:
A lot of times when he's low-ish at pre-shot and you give a smaller dose, he's already on his way back up. One of the reasons I think it might be worth it to try a dose like 2.0U as his new "regular" dose is that I think it would be easier to shoot that on such days. Often, you have info from the stall that he's going up, but it's hard to shoot 3.0U, or even 2.75U, for the first time on those numbers.

Anyway, that's my non-expert take. Hopefully a Prozinc user can weigh in on this too (even if they disagree with my reasoning, I am very interested in the reasons because I am trying to learn the ins and outs of Prozinc myself :bookworm: ).
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I would like to hear opinions on this as well. He earned a reduction today so his current dose would be 2.75 units. I am crossing my fingers that his PMPS allows me to give the expected dose. I am so ready for readings and doses to be consistent no matter what it takes :bookworm:
 
Nan & Amber (GA) said:
Yes, definitely wait for more experienced Prozinc folks to weigh in. I'm just throwing out ideas!

How is Ducote feeling/acting on the new insulin? We get so focused on the numbers sometimes...
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He is doing great otherwise :) Over the last year and a half he went from 18 lbs to 8 lbs on the day of diagnosis. A little over a week after starting Vetsulin he gained one pound and has held onto it for almost a month. Since starting Prozinc he has gone from 9lbs to 10.5 :) He is looking like his old self again. His shoulder blades, spine, and hips used to be visible and now there seems to be a nice layer of fat/muscle covering everything. His coat is back to looking nice and fluffy as well. He is starting to play with our other cat and come sit on my lap again. When he was really sick he stayed in the kitchen all day but now he only goes in there for tests, doses, and to eat. His potty and drinking habits are also back to normal. If I did not know about his diagnosis I would think that he is a perfectly healthy cat :cat:
 
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Heather & Ducote said:
He is doing great otherwise :) Over the last year and a half he went from 18 lbs to 8 lbs on the day of diagnosis. A little over a week after starting Vetsulin he gained one pound as has held onto it for almost a month. Since starting Prozinc he has gone from 9lbs to 10.5 :) He is looking like his old self again. His shoulder blades, spine, and hips used to be visible and now there seems to be a nice layer of fat/muscle covering everything. His coat is back to looking nice and fluffy as well. He is starting to play with our other cat and come sit on my lap again. When he was really sick he stayed in the kitchen all day but now he only goes in there for tests, doses, and to eat. His potty and drinking habits are also back to normal. If I did not know about his diagnosis I would think that he is a perfectly healthy cat :cat:
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These are the things we celebrate. It takes a bit of a toll on the caregiver but its SOOO WORTH IT. :bighug:
 
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