Charlie M
Member Since 2016
We did a curve test on Smokey a week ago, his numbers scared us a bit. Not just the numbers, but his body language had been telling us he wasn't feeling well at his mid points as well. We decided to back him off from 2 units of Lantus twice a day to 1.75. We've only been testing randomly, but his numbers seem to be up. It's been a rough week, on top of other changes we've made this week. Trying to decide if we should put him back up to 2units for a while to see if his numbers come back down, or if it's just all the things that have been off this week.
Things that I think are altering test results beyond lowering dose...
1) I've been having trouble with a medical condition of my own this week, my hands have been severely swollen and inflamed, leaving me with a lot of pain and altered sense of touch as well as limited use. My husband did BG tests for me when I was worried about his levels (I wouldn't have been able to test him with the state if my hands), and even had to do a couple of the shots because I couldn't work the syringe (things go much smother for us when I do the shots and test while my husband holds him). Quite a few times when I did the shots I didn't quite get the full dose (just a tiny bit left in the syringe, or pulled the syring out just at the end of the shot and lost a little (just from loss of control and touch in my hands)).
2) We changed syringes this week to make the 1/4 unit easier to hit. We've noticed that it is way easier to hit the exact dose with these syringes. The old ones didn't have 1/2 unit markings, but beyond that the plungers were rounded, but the round was inconsistent, this made it difficult to set the 2 units, and I think we may have been giving slightly high doses before changing syringes. The plungers on the new syringes make it much easier to hit the dose accurately.
3) The medical condition I was talking about above hits more than just my hands, it wakes be up through the night, and leaves me doubly exhausted. I usually give Smokey a 3:00am feeding when I get up to get ready for work. I was having trouble getting out of bed, and by 3:30 he was hitting the dry food before I got up to give him the canned food. So he's been eating a bit more dry food this week. Where he was down to eating almost none until now (we won't remove the dry food, due to extream eating issues we've delt with in the past with him). We also stopped giving him his usual greenies for treats, and had replaced them with freeze dried turkey/chicken instead (but I would put that as a positive change).
Any help making the decision to put his dose back to 2, or try another week at 1.75 would be appreciated.
Oh other info...We talked to the vet after his last curve. She was fine with us making slight changes in his insulin dose. After the last curve results and all the sudden changes in response to the insulin, she has asked us to do random checks around the +6 - +8 hour marks, just incase he's starting to go into remission. We didn't do that this week...we know things are off, and his numbers are up, and it just wasn't possible for me. But did do one today...Yep, it's up. But today ear poke went awesome, so testing is getting easier...this is encouraging to test more, and more!
Things that I think are altering test results beyond lowering dose...
1) I've been having trouble with a medical condition of my own this week, my hands have been severely swollen and inflamed, leaving me with a lot of pain and altered sense of touch as well as limited use. My husband did BG tests for me when I was worried about his levels (I wouldn't have been able to test him with the state if my hands), and even had to do a couple of the shots because I couldn't work the syringe (things go much smother for us when I do the shots and test while my husband holds him). Quite a few times when I did the shots I didn't quite get the full dose (just a tiny bit left in the syringe, or pulled the syring out just at the end of the shot and lost a little (just from loss of control and touch in my hands)).
2) We changed syringes this week to make the 1/4 unit easier to hit. We've noticed that it is way easier to hit the exact dose with these syringes. The old ones didn't have 1/2 unit markings, but beyond that the plungers were rounded, but the round was inconsistent, this made it difficult to set the 2 units, and I think we may have been giving slightly high doses before changing syringes. The plungers on the new syringes make it much easier to hit the dose accurately.
3) The medical condition I was talking about above hits more than just my hands, it wakes be up through the night, and leaves me doubly exhausted. I usually give Smokey a 3:00am feeding when I get up to get ready for work. I was having trouble getting out of bed, and by 3:30 he was hitting the dry food before I got up to give him the canned food. So he's been eating a bit more dry food this week. Where he was down to eating almost none until now (we won't remove the dry food, due to extream eating issues we've delt with in the past with him). We also stopped giving him his usual greenies for treats, and had replaced them with freeze dried turkey/chicken instead (but I would put that as a positive change).
Any help making the decision to put his dose back to 2, or try another week at 1.75 would be appreciated.
Oh other info...We talked to the vet after his last curve. She was fine with us making slight changes in his insulin dose. After the last curve results and all the sudden changes in response to the insulin, she has asked us to do random checks around the +6 - +8 hour marks, just incase he's starting to go into remission. We didn't do that this week...we know things are off, and his numbers are up, and it just wasn't possible for me. But did do one today...Yep, it's up. But today ear poke went awesome, so testing is getting easier...this is encouraging to test more, and more!
