debrachicago
New Member
Thanks everyone for making this such an informative list. I've been lurking for a little while, trying to learn as much as possible.
My cat Miles was diagnosed with diabetes in late June 2010. He's been on Lantus, currently on 6 units BID. I test him at home, and just switched his food from Purina DM (at his vet's recommendation), to Innova 95% chicken and turkey (all wet food). At some point I'll get his curves into a chart to post. When he was first dx'd I put him on Wellness CORE, first the dry, then the wet. His numbers have gone down considerably with each food change. He's been pretty difficult to regulate -- each time it seems he's in good shape, his numbers get all screwy again.
A couple questions:
1). Tonight I dropped his lantus. It fell in the water bowl. I picked it up right away and cleaned the top off with an alcohol swab. There was a bubbly skim at the top of the insulin. Could it be bad? I've been told you can damage the insulin by shaking it. The bubbles are mostly gone, but there are still a few floating at the top. Any thoughts? The Lantus instructions advise to discard the insulin if you see particles in it --- I wonder if these bubbles are actually particles?
2). Is there anyone on the list from Chicago, and, in particular, the Northeast side of Chicago, who might want to compare notes in person and maybe do a catsitting exchange?
3). I've had bad experiences with the Solostar pens -- twice in a row they seem to have gone bad by the 4th pen (his numbers would start creeping up mid-way through the 4th pen, for the 2nd time in a row. According to Lantus, if they ever exceed 46 degrees F., they expire in just 28 days, whether or not they've been used. I don't know what temperature my fridge is, but it seems likely that either during transportation to the pharmacy or to my house, or even in the fridge, that they would have exceed this temp. Have others had problems with the pens becoming ineffective by the 4th pen in a package? I had Lantus replace my first package since it was so clear the pen wasn't working, but it happened with the replacement package, even though I brought it home in a cooler. I wonder if this is a common phenomenon. Technically, a package should last 6 months.
Thanks for any feedback!
Debra Michaud
My cat Miles was diagnosed with diabetes in late June 2010. He's been on Lantus, currently on 6 units BID. I test him at home, and just switched his food from Purina DM (at his vet's recommendation), to Innova 95% chicken and turkey (all wet food). At some point I'll get his curves into a chart to post. When he was first dx'd I put him on Wellness CORE, first the dry, then the wet. His numbers have gone down considerably with each food change. He's been pretty difficult to regulate -- each time it seems he's in good shape, his numbers get all screwy again.
A couple questions:
1). Tonight I dropped his lantus. It fell in the water bowl. I picked it up right away and cleaned the top off with an alcohol swab. There was a bubbly skim at the top of the insulin. Could it be bad? I've been told you can damage the insulin by shaking it. The bubbles are mostly gone, but there are still a few floating at the top. Any thoughts? The Lantus instructions advise to discard the insulin if you see particles in it --- I wonder if these bubbles are actually particles?
2). Is there anyone on the list from Chicago, and, in particular, the Northeast side of Chicago, who might want to compare notes in person and maybe do a catsitting exchange?
3). I've had bad experiences with the Solostar pens -- twice in a row they seem to have gone bad by the 4th pen (his numbers would start creeping up mid-way through the 4th pen, for the 2nd time in a row. According to Lantus, if they ever exceed 46 degrees F., they expire in just 28 days, whether or not they've been used. I don't know what temperature my fridge is, but it seems likely that either during transportation to the pharmacy or to my house, or even in the fridge, that they would have exceed this temp. Have others had problems with the pens becoming ineffective by the 4th pen in a package? I had Lantus replace my first package since it was so clear the pen wasn't working, but it happened with the replacement package, even though I brought it home in a cooler. I wonder if this is a common phenomenon. Technically, a package should last 6 months.
Thanks for any feedback!
Debra Michaud
