Lantus 'shed'

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Maresydotes

Maresydotes

Member Since 2011
I never thought about this before, but since there is the 'shed/depot' of insulin under the skin, why does it take 2 hours or so to see the onset of an injection (once the shed is full) and why does the injection 'peter out' towards the end of the 12 hours? Doesn't the body have access to the shed and use it when the shot is dropping off? Just curious.
Thanks!
 
hi marilyn!

i think the shed is probably constantly releasing at a steady rate. you've got 2 factors, as i understand it - the shed and the shot. some of the shot is available right away and some is stored into the shed. so it's not a situation where the shed kicks in after the shot is wearing off.

does that makes sense? think of them as separate actions.

how's missy doing?
 
Thanks, Julie. That does make a bit of sense to me.
Thanks for asking about Missy. She is doing ok.....same high flats with some dipping down into lower numbers. She also has persistent diarrhea. :cry: I had her on metronidazole for 2 weeks and she started to firm up (I love poo talk.....NOT) and you could tell she felt better, go figure! But then she started to loosen up again. I gave her 3 rounds of DiaGel (what my vet planned to do) and she had lower numbers on those days, but is still loose. I am going to take in a stool sample to the vet on Monday. Thinking about using ProZyme or some supplement in addition to the Denamarin to support her pancreas a bit more. Somehow, in my head, the diarrhea and her non-responsive numbers are tied together. Maybe what pushed her out of remission. It is interesting to me that she has also ceased losing weight, altho I suppose kitties can hit plateaus, too. :lol:
I haven't updated her SS in a bit. The last month has not been a good one. My father in law passed away on Nov. 20 after 6 months of going downhill fairly rapidly. :cry: Of course, that consumed an enormous amount of time and emotional energy. And Missy's brother had an abscess on his cheek, so there was all that to deal with......UGH, I didn't want to even LOOK, but DH was gone for most of it, so I had to. He was, however, quite comical on the bupe, as you can see from this video.......I have never had a cat 'squeak' so much when he purrs! He needs oil! It helped lighten the mood, anyway. :roll: (please ignore the baby talk, but he gets so goofy when you do it..... :-D )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZc7db2- ... ata_player


How has it been being back at work? I hope fine. Punkin sure seems to be doing great. I am so happy that he is doing well with the acupuncture and decreasing his dose. That must feel so good!

Thanks for the reply......
 
Hi Marse,

I've missed seeing your condos. I'm sorry to hear of the trauma in your life. I hope it settles down for you. Good luck on Missy's poo issue. That is one funny squeaky kitty you've got there!
 
Gabby went through a couple of extended bouts of poo problems. She ended up on metronizadole for probably a month (at least) and I supplemented that with either FortiFlora or a more intensive probiotic, Renew Ultimate. The latter was suggested by a now nonactive member here and I found it in the refrigerated supplement section at Whole Foods. We did go through a lot of testing (blood and stool) -- all of which proved negative. The next step was a biopsy which I'm grateful was avoided.

The other way you see the shed come into play is with dose changes. In many cases, the effect isn't immediate. You may lower a dose and still have a cycle where the numbers drop or you raise a dose and it takes a couple of cycles for the numbers to improve. In these situations, the shed is either still too full or needs to be topped off, respectively.

If I may, I have a couple of thoughts on your SS. First, you're most likely getting lower numbers at night. There's at least one cycle where you have a blue AMPS. Numbers were very likely lower in the previous cycle. You need to get tests during the PM cycle. You're seeing a good deal of nadirs in the 200s. At the time, you increased Missy's dose by 0.5u. According to the protocol, you increased the dose by too much. It is possible that Missy is over a good dose but it's really hard for me to tell with only a few PM tests.

Just as an FYI - once we see a cat on more than 6.0u of insulin, we suggest that you consider getting tests run for a high dose condition (i.e., acromegaly or insulin resistance/insulin autoantibodies). While is may be that there's an infection/inflammation present (and in Missy's case, IBS should be ruled out given the diarrhea), a high dose condition is something that may need to be investigated, as well. The labs for IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor) and IAA are run at Michigan State. Julie/Punkin, Sandy/Black Kitty, or Lisa/Do Lou or several others can fill you in on the details.
 
ohmygosh - that video was too cute - especially the last moments when we get a close-up of phoenix's purr and face! his large pupils remind me of punkin.

sounds like you've been hit hard with a lot to deal with. seems like it happens that way sometimes, doesn't it? i hope things smooth out for you now.

have you tried the fortiflora that sienne mentioned? we've had great luck with that countering the diarrhea from ABs.
 
Hi Linda,
Good to hear from you. I was sorry about all your meter issues! That is sort of the reason I stayed with the AlphaTrak even though it is expensive to use. I didn't want to give my brain more things to worry about. I can only do so much stress. :lol: Hope Weezer continues to do well.

Sienne,
Thanks for weighing in. I am thinking about starting over with Missy. It has been mentioned more than once that my vet put her on too high a dose, initially, and she is getting too much insulin. I am kind of scared to go there, but it is the only way I can think to prove that she was started too high. And maybe we will see some action. I will have to monitor her more often so I can tell what is happening, but she has been on a 'break' through November so her ears are ready for it. This past month was WAY too busy.

I will check out the supplement you mentioned. I have had her on FortiFlora since we did the metronidazole, so it isn't working for her. Maybe another probiotic will, although I tried live culture probiotics when she was on Clavamox and that didn't do anything either, but they were 'people' probiotics, so maybe not the best thing. My Gastroenterologist told me
live culture works much better than not live. (I have gut issues, too, secondary to the MS.)

I am still pondering the 8 hour dosing my vet mentioned. I know it will be rough, but something has to change. Nothing is working and all I can think about is what all this is doing to her organs. :sad: Poor kitty. I guess that is why I am also thinking about starting over. I may ask my vet to test her for the other conditions, but the last time I asked her about it, she was disinclined to do them.

Julie,
I am so happy to see how well your boy is doing. It must be so gratifying after all you guys went through!
Thanks for saying how cute my brat is. He is so healthy (minus the abscess) and such a brat when it comes to behavior! Missy is his opposite in all ways.... So sweet and amenable. And unlike most females, she honestly HATES the camera. I can never get good videos of her. The bupe was nice for me (weren't his eyes huge on it? ) because he tolerated my
soaking the incisions much better under it than when it wore off! He was so lovable on it. He wanted to groom Missy but she wanted no part of him.....she was like "get off me, you freak!"

I do have one short one of her when she was in remission. It makes me sad, because she felt so much so much better then. :cry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt3iMWSc ... ata_player

Thanks everybody. I appreciate your comments!
 
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Binks gets that "squeaky purr" when he's totally happy (or totally ripped on pain pills)

way too cute...love to see the second video, but you need to re-do the link & eliminate everything in front of & including v= :-D
 
Celi,
I think I made a mistake when I uploaded it to YouTube. I can open it on my iPad, but it doesn't show any views, even though I looked at it several times.
I will have to check on my PC and see what is up. It is really a very short video, but it was just so nice to see her so playful. Poor baby. Wish I could get her back there, now.
I hope all is well with you and yours. I love those squeaky purrs! Phoenix does it when DH rubs his ears. I don't have the right touch.....only DH. It is so funny, because it showed up not too long ago. And he was SO ripped it just cracked me up. He is such a nice boy when he's on pain killers. :o
In any case, I am glad that Binks is still doing well. Did you find a job? I so hated looking for work! My ex was in the military, so I had to do it more than I ever wanted to.
I wish all good things to you and hope you have a great holiday season!
 
i don't think he can be too much of a brat - i saw him bring those gorgeous big leaves to you! he seems charming to me! that must be the "people who don't know me think i'm fabulous" act! :lol:
 
Well, he is mostly sweet.....His biggest failing is he picks on his sister! Meanly. He is so jealous of the attention she gets, you know, ear pokes and shots. He has no idea he would hate it. I try hard to not leave him out, but he resents it....and when he is frustrated, he takes it out on her, poor girl.

I do love the leaves, though. :-D it is such a strange little quirk and it beats the he*l out of the two live moles he brought in the house and lost interest in!! :lol: Some days we get 5-10! It is cute.
 
Oh yes, he gets treats. :lol: There is NO ignoring him. They had a falling out several years back, until then they slept together and groomed each other. (which he still trys on occaision) Don't know what exactly, but were having work done on the house, so I am sure that disruption contributed. And he has always been rougher with her than she likes. But, he really is mean to her. I try giving him extra attention, try waiting til he is outdoors to test, used Feliway, nothing works. I think he is a little ADHD :lol: because he also takes it out on her when he is frustrated, like he is in for the night and wants outside. And devious. The other day he watched me and waited til my back was turned (but I was watching him, cuz I knew he was in that "mode") and then went for her. He wants to eat from her dish, even though they get the same exact food (and I want to monitor who eats what because she needs to lose a lot more weight) he eats a little of his, waits for me to leave then pushes her out of her dish and eats hers....then goes back to his. I worry what the stress of that does to her FD. Sometimes I think I should separate them, but I love them both!!! :cry:
I got the stool sample results back on Missy and she has no parasites. That is good and bad. Good that she has no parasites and bad that we have no answer. When I take her back in for repeat blood work after a month on the Denamarin, they are thinking about testing her for IBS. More fun.
So, now I am waiting to get test strips in for my meter to test ketones (she would never let me get a urine sample.) and then I may try starting her all over. See if I can find out if she is truly over dosed and if not, then time to test for insulin resistance and acromegaly. I had wanted to do a dental this month (although she was good in June) and now, with her brother's abscess and funeral expenses, I think this is all going to have to be postponed until at least January.
Oh well, we all have our problems to deal with. We will see if I can get back on board now that the last month is over and I have enough sleep to start to think clearly again.
 
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