How fast does insulin work?

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Airway

Airway

Member Since 2013
Orion started Prozinc yesterday. His older brother has been in remission for 18 months, so this is my second with diabetes. We tried a lower carb diet for one week and after no change started the insulin. I'm testing glucose before every shot and will do a curve in one week. We are starting at one unit twice daily. When might I see improvement? We got 314 mg/dl this evening.
 
If you can, I'd start getting tests in now, not waiting a week

If there's any way you can, you should get at least 1 mid-cycle test on the AM cycle and at least a "before bed" test on the PM cycle.....most cats go lower at night, so it's really important to get that test in before you go to bed in case you might need to set an alarm to get another test in later in the cycle

What's important in dosing is how low that dose takes them
 
I'm testing before every shot which is twice daily. Are you suggesting I add a third test? I work 4 days per week so I'm not sure what time I'd do it. The vet suggested doing a curve in one week.
 
If at all possible, I'd try to get at least 4 tests per day.....ALWAYS before shooting, and then on days you can, a test around +5 to +7 (5 to 7 hours after the shot) on the morning shot, and then the "before bed" test on the evening cycle

If this was a child, a pediatrician would never tell you to start insulin and come back in a week....our furkids are no different
 
Ok, i can certainly do at least 3 tests per day on my days off. Overnight might be tough because I take medication before bed that really knocks me out too much to do anything. I'm not sure I'd be conscious enough to know how to operate a glucometer. I can try it tho. We're doing shots at 9am and 9pm right now.
 
You might want to consider changing your shot schedule if it's at all possible

I absolutely hate mornings! And I mean really despise them!! When we first started, I figured, OK....I can shoot at 11/11 (since I'm always up until at least midnight anyway) and I won't have to deal with morning at all!!....well, once China started responding, I found myself having to get tests in at night to keep her safe when she was dropping too low....sometimes ALL night ...and at 5-6am, that makes for a very long night!!

So I bit the bullet and changed her shot times to 6am/6pm.....I still absolutely detest getting up at 6am, but on days when I have to go to doctor appointments or take my mom somewhere, I can get a +2 which can be a really good test to predict what she might be doing later in the cycle and if the +2 is lower than the Pre-shot test, I would know to leave down some extra food for her.....and on days when I don't have to be anywhere, I can go back to bed!!

And on the PM cycle, I can always get a +6 since I'm still up until at least midnight, and by then I can be pretty sure she's going to be safe while I sleep.

We have others who work full time jobs too...it's totally possible if you can figure out a schedule that works for you and Orion (I've seen a few that get up at 4am, test/feed/shoot and go back to bed for awhile, then get up and test before they have to leave for work so they know if they need to leave something higher carb out to keep their kitty safe)
 
If you can't get more tests during the week, you'll want to get curves done on your days off....that's testing every 2 hours for 12 hours or every 3 hours for 18....it's really the only way to know how Orion is responding to both keep him safe and give him the best chance at remission
 
I sleep 10-12 hours because of medication, and I'm completely out of it for those 10-12 hours overnight. I can try setting an alarm but I don't know that it will wake me, and if it does I may not be conscious enough to know what I'm supposed to do. I'm off Wed, Sat, Sun usually so I can get in 3 tests on those days for sure. When the vet talked about a curve, she said to test every 4 hours. It's been a few years since Orion's older brother was diabetic but I thought I tested more often than that. We have moved since then and have a different vet now. Do you suggest the 4x per day all the time or just as things are getting established?
 
I'm a testaholic (which you can plainly see by looking at China's spreadsheet link in our signature below my comments!)

All you can do is the best you can....I'd really try to get at least 1 test somewhere in between the shots...on either cycle

When you get testing down to an art (like we do), you'll find you can test without really waking up!! There have been quite a few times when the only time I knew I'd tested was the next morning because there was a test result on the meter that I had no memory of getting.....LOL
 
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