Just got 3 very different readings not sure which one to use

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MaryT & Cocoa

MaryT & Cocoa

Member Since 2012
I've been doing our first curve today with really encouraging numbers but I just tested Coke and the reading had jumped from 199 to 309 in 2 hours. There was still a large drop of blood on her ear so I grabbed another strip and tested again - this time it said 446, so of course I thought one of those is wrong and tested again and got 561! Her BG can't change that much in less than a minute can it?
 
Re: Just got 3 very different readings not sure which one to

MaryT said:
I've been doing our first curve today with really encouraging numbers but I just tested Coke and the reading had jumped from 199 to 309 in 2 hours. There was still a large drop of blood on her ear so I grabbed another strip and tested again - this time it said 446, so of course I thought one of those is wrong and tested again and got 561! Her BG can't change that much in less than a minute can it?
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Hmm. That's odd. I guess I would try testing myself a couple of times. See what you get. 100 to 302 in 2 hours could definitely happen. But it does fall in the 20% variation that can happen. You change dose on the *low* point of the cycle, so I would just consider it the preshot and do my regular shot, unless she has dropped really low. Do you have a spreadsheet? (I know, boring question but it does help if you have more numbers/patterns to look at).
 
Re: Just got 3 very different readings not sure which one to

I'm blind. Yes you have a spreadsheet. This is all really new, so try to get another set of numbers throughout tomorrow and Sunday. I almost wonder if you shouldn't back off a smidge. It doesn't look like rebound, but almost that there is just a huge long curve. Now, the good news there, is that when I have seen other cats do this on lantus, they seem like more likely remission candidates. Let's see if that happens again.
 
Re: Just got 3 very different readings not sure which one to

Are you making sure to make the meter "sip" the blood from the drop? Sometimes, if you just stick the strip in the middle of the drop, and pretty much drown the strip, it'll still go "beep", but it's too much blood. Whenever I did that, I got a higher reading. Same goes when you hit the vein directly instead of the capillaries. The meters and strips are designed to read capillary blood, not venal. That can also give you a high reading.

Just thinking out loud...

Carl

P.S. No, the BG can't change that much in one minute. And it sounds like all three numbers came off the same drop of blood, so you should have gotten three numbers similar to each other (within the 20% range of variance in the meter). I'm the eternal optimist, so if I had gotten those 3 numbers, I would have put "309" on my spread sheet. :smile:
 
Re: Just got 3 very different readings not sure which one to

Good Morning, Mary ~

Dang meters...so frustrating sometimes. Which meter are you using, Mary? I like Carl's optimism. I'd go with the 309, too. As Carl's mentioned, we also seem to get wonky high numbers when we get a large drop of blood from Butters' ear. Heck, you'd think when you get a gusher, you'd be good to go, but I do think too much blood can sometimes flood or drown the strip causing a false high reading. As you start gathering more bg data for Cocoa, you'll have a better idea of which readings seem reasonable and which ones seem off.

Great job getting your first curve yesterday, Mary.

Eva
 
Re: Just got 3 very different readings not sure which one to

Yes it was a rather large drop of blood that I just kept sticking strips into because I found the readings so hard to believe.

She had a really high reading later too but I think that was related to the treats she got. My son wanted to give her some and I found out this morning there was still a bag of Whisker Lickins - (just checked the label and nothing but wheat, corn, gelatin, and brewers yeast! they are in the garbage now) in the cupboard and he gave her those because she likes them better than the new healthy ones.

Good news is her reading this morning was low again (101) and she was able to jump up into her perch which she hasn't been able to do lately.
 
Re: Just got 3 very different readings not sure which one to

That's a nice way to start the morning!!! I've also notice that the larger the drop of blood the higher the reading from too much blood, so now I try to give my meter only as much as it needs to give a reading.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Re: Just got 3 very different readings not sure which one to

"she was able to jump up into her perch which she hasn't been able to do lately." -- That's great to hear, Mary. Sometimes we get so into the numbers (which, of course, we need to do) that we forget to take a good look at our kitties to see how they're feeling and acting. Nice bg recovery for Cocoa after her binge on those Whisker Lickins :-D .

Eva
 
Re: Just got 3 very different readings not sure which one to

WOW, Mary...love that AM 65 number for Cocoa on 1/30! What a lovely nondiabetic number for her. Hope you keep getting numbers like that, Mary.

Enjoy the day,
Eva
 
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