LOW numbers

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vexedgirl

Member Since 2015
Edgar has been bouncing. Tonight I shot half dose because it seemed skipping was making the bounces worse. And now he's super low (58). It's on his spreadsheet. It's midnight and I have to get up at 6 for a new job. How long do I have to stay up and keep testing him? How often? What magic number can I go to sleep after?
Thank you all in advance.
 
I can't stay with you tonight but I'll see if @manxcat419 or @julie & punkin (ga) can keep an eye on you

Are you using a human meter or AlphaTrak?

If human, I'd give him a snack of food and retest in 30 minutes...If you're using the Alphatrak meter, give him a little high carb food and retest in 30

Has he started eating the Stella and Chewys now?
 
It's alphatrak 2. He ate hungrily right after his 58 test at 11:18. I just tested him again at 11:57 and he's 91. I think I can go to sleep, yes?
 
I'm good for a while here yet so, yes...I can keep an eye on you. :) And, as Chris says, if you can let me know what type of meter you're using, that will help me work out what's the best thing to do depending on the numbers you're getting. :)
 
That's fine - I needed to check if it was low carb or high carb food! I think I would get another test in an hour to make sure he doesn't drop back down as the food wears off. I do understand the starting a new job thing (as it happens I start a new job tomorrow too but it's only 9pm here yet).

Oh, and since you're using an Alphatrak and he went under 68, he gets a 0.25U reduction (on his normal dose) from tomorrow morning! :)
 
Ah ok good to know on the reduction. That's assuming my eyes can actually judge .25 correctly!!
Thank you SO much for the emergency guidance, you guys!

Quick q: what I fed him is lo carb, right?

It's hard to keep track of everything. And my other non diabetes cat was shown to have a huge mass on her adrenals, thickened GI and giant spleen. So now there's that too. So much to know and do.
 
Reductions are great!! :D Congrats to you and Edgar on that! :D :D

And, yes, what you fed him was low carb - if it had been high carb we'd have needed you to test him more frequently for the next hour or so because carbs are great as an emergency measure but also wear off quickly, but as it seems he's coming back up quite a bit on his own without carbs, he doesn't have a lot of added glucose in his system helping to boost him up.

When you're judging the 0.25, remember the most important thing is to be as consistent as you can. Your 0.25 will probably be a bit different from mine, or anyone else's...but as long as your 0.25 measurements are as close as they can be to the same, that's what really matters.
 
Oh, and just to add - as he's started coming back up fairly quickly, he might well be heading into a bounce. That could send his numbers much higher than you're used to seeing for anything between a couple of hours and 3 days. But it is fairly normal for cats that drop into green numbers, and especially low numbers, when they've been used to running higher for a while.
 
You're right - he is...I hadn't looked far enough back on his spreadsheet to see the previous green numbers! But at least that does mean you're familiar with bouncing so you know what to expect (until he behaves like a :cat: and does something completely unexpected like not bothering to bounce anyway)! ;)
 
I'm so tired. Can I test now and if it's up, safely sleep? I just passed out for a few minutes in the middle of writing that
 
Let's see where he is now, yes. If he's still rising quickly then he should be OK - it's not as though we're looking for syrup or high carb food to wear off. Let me know what number you get and we'll try and work out a good way to keep him safe and get you as much sleep as possible. :)
 
Hi I'm so sorry I ended up completely passing out. I did test him again and his numbers were over 100 (I don't have the meter with me right now & can't remember exactly). He's good this morning, if finicky about food as always. I'm trying to get him to eat something so I can shoot and leave on time. Thank you all again so much!.,
 
As long as he's doing OK, that's all that matters. :D Good job on handling that low number last night! :) I hope he ate something for you in the end this morning.
 
When you have a moment, could you add a few tidbits to your signature? It will help us give you feedback.

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as
your name,
cat's name,
date of Dx (diagnosis)
insulin
meter
general location
any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.
Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

Always click the Save Changes button at the bottom when you have changed anything.
 
BJM said:
When you have a moment, could you add a few tidbits to your signature? It will help us give you feedback.

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as
your name,
cat's name,
date of Dx (diagnosis)
insulin
meter
general location
any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.
Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

Always click the Save Changes button at the bottom when you have changed anything.
Click to expand...
Huh? Are you talking to me? I already have all that in my sig, including link to his spreadsheet. Did you mean to post this in a different thread?
 
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