Lantas users help!!

[Robinbirdlady]

This morning I had a little bit of a scare. My cat was diagnosed with diabetes last week. I first did a diet change to see if that helped but he was still in the high 200's so I started on the insulin 1 unit. My first two injections I didn't notice a change in his BG but that could of because I was using the needle that comes with the pen. It was hard to tell if he was actually getting the right amount because after I pulled the needle out it had drops of insulin on it. So I was advised on my other board that most of you pull the insulin out of the pen with normal syringes. So last night that is what I did. I checked his BG prior to the shot but didn't check after before bed because he had just had it with me poking him. I wanted to give him a little break. This morning I checked it pre shot and got 98. So obviously I didn't give him his morning shot. But that is the lowest I have gotten on him. Maybe the first two insulin shots with the pen weren't working after all and now that I used a syringe it actually got in there. Should I be worried about such a low number for a newbie like myself. I fed him right away. Is there anything else I should do?? Two hours after the BG of 98 he went up to 150 which I know is still low for a new diabetic on insulin so I just made sure food was out all day for him. Tonight at what would of been his evening shot of insulin I checked his BG and it was 260. My syringes don't go any smaller then 1unit so I held off on the insulin. I didn't want to try to eyeball a half unit being so new at this. I also am worried he will drop super low again and I have to work tomorrow. I wouldn't be able to leave him if he was too low. Can anyone give me advice? I am going to hold off until I speak with his vet but to be honest she told me not to take is BG prior to insulin which is obviously crazy! If I had don't that this morning I could of killed him. His spread sheet should be attached to this with notes on the side. The beginning of it is his BG before I was giving him insulin.

Robin & Sherman

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Good job starting testing and well done on catching that 98 and not shooting! 98 is healthy blood glucose number. Normal numbers are in the range of 50-120. However, we suggest that new people do not shoot insulin under 200 until they've gotten a lot more data.

See if you can buy 1/2 unit marked syringes tomorrow. I think you should try a dose of .5U instead of 1U to start. You also might want to buy a magnifier to help find those smaller doses.

About the spreadsheet - are you in the US? You've got the World version of the spreadsheet there and for some reason it doesn't seem to be using the color coding that we are used to.

 

[Robinbirdlady]

Good job starting testing and well done on catching that 98 and not shooting! 98 is healthy blood glucose number. Normal numbers are in the range of 50-120. However, we suggest that new people do not shoot insulin under 200 until they've gotten a lot more data.

See if you can buy 1/2 unit marked syringes tomorrow. I think you should try a dose of .5U instead of 1U to start. You also might want to buy a magnifier to help find those smaller doses.

About the spreadsheet - are you in the US? You've got the World version of the spreadsheet there and for some reason it doesn't seem to be using the color coding that we are used to.

I did not realize that I didn't have the US one. I will change that tonight because yes I am in California. Do you have a specific place you get the syringes that go in half units? My cvs didn't have them. My vet told me to just eyeball the .5 but I would feel more comfortable with an exact amount.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

I'm in Canada, where I can only get BD syringes, but they come in 1/2 unit markings at almost any pharmacy. Another place to shop is online. One of the common places people here get syringes is American Diabetes Wholesale. If you go to the Shop page, link on the top of this page, to get to ADW, then this site gets a percentage of the sale to help run in.

What type of syringes are you using? A number of people here have found that the pharmacy assistants don't know that they carry 1/2 unit marked syringes, but that's what people with infants may use.