Maggie's new plan

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Kelly Howard

Kelly Howard

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For the last week we've been trying to find the right dose for Maggie now that she's transitioned to Young Again kibble. 1.4 kept her flat, 1.6 left us with only one shootable number. This morning I did a skinny 1.6, as close as I could eyeball. I finally got the mid 200s number I've been aiming for! And now... I don't know what to do tonight. :D She's 110 points lower than this morning. Is it smart to give her the same dose on this number? Maybe 1.4 would be better?
 
Thanks! That's ok, I know west coast evenings are a slow time on the board. I did 1.4, figured I'd much rather have a higher AMPS than another no shot morning.
 
Isn't it exciting? I don't know why she started reacting so strongly to the Evo after doing ok on it for weeks, but she seems to be doing great on the Young Again. The other cats have adjusted too, although they don't like it much. That's ok, saves me money ;)

Maggie, if you're looking for Christmas present ideas... regulation would be perfect! :D
 
Kelly Howard said:
Isn't it exciting? I don't know why she started reacting so strongly to the Evo after doing ok on it for weeks, but she seems to be doing great on the Young Again. The other cats have adjusted too, although they don't like it much. That's ok, saves me money ;)

Maggie, if you're looking for Christmas present ideas... regulation would be perfect! :D
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Hurray for you and Maggie! You're figuring out how to traverse this low dose (ssshhh ... maybe regulation) territory. I'm glad she's on board with eating the YA.
 
Maggie has needed a slightly higher dose this week, but we managed to get back in the yellow last night. This morning, she's 195. This is right on the edge of my no shoot number. It's really +11 because her shot was late last night, but I have to leave in 30 min. I'm thinking I will give her a smaller dose, I don't want to lose momentum. My husband will be home today so even though he won't test her, I'll ask him to keep an eye out for her acting oddly.
 
Well, if it is early, and she is so close, you might continue with the two - especially since hubby can keep an eye out. Maybe he can give her a little extra snack at nadir? If your gut says no, maybe a skinny two?
 
I wasn't feeling quite that brave, I went with 1.8. If he was comfortable testing her, I might have done 2. Need to work on him ;)
 
Happy new year everyone! It's been a while since I checked in here. Maggie has been making me a little crazy, but I think I've finally got it figured out!

After our initial success with the Young Again kibble, Maggie started regressing. She was needing higher and higher doses. On the days I managed to get mid cycle numbers, I could see she wasn't dropping down past the low 300s. I admit, I was getting really discouraged. I was about ready to post on the L&L board asking for anyone's experience switching from Prozinc, because I thought maybe this type of insulin just wasn't right for her.

Then last week, I was in a hurry to give her the dose, and she was being difficult. I aimed for the flank and ended up with a fur shot. I was pretty disappointed with myself as I haven't done that since I first started giving shots. But, I know better than to try to reshoot! In the morning, she was slightly lower, so at least some got in. Then I started thinking, and realized, I have been giving her shot in the scruff lately. I didn't even consciously plan to do that, but when I thought back, I had been doing it there consistently for weeks. Back when I was tightly monitoring her, I was shooting in the shoulders/flank most of the time.

Since that day, I've been giving all her shots on her sides, and she's completely turned around! I'm currently stepping her dose down trying to find something low enough to get two shootable numbers. The last few days have been 24 hour cycles. I've been so happy to see success again. I was starting to think we were just never going to figure it out. Turns out, the problem was me being lazy!

By the way, if you look at her chart, you will see there are numbers missing for the last couple weeks. I have been testing her, I just haven't transcribed them from the meter in forever. I need to do that before they start falling out of its memory!
 
Wow! Now that is interesting. @Kris & Teasel has looked at the different places to shoot before wondering if it affects numbers.

I'm so glad to hear that things are improving (anti-jinx!). I'd love to see what kind of numbers you've been getting lately...congrats! :)
 
Kelly Howard said:
Happy new year everyone! It's been a while since I checked in here. Maggie has been making me a little crazy, but I think I've finally got it figured out!

After our initial success with the Young Again kibble, Maggie started regressing. She was needing higher and higher doses. On the days I managed to get mid cycle numbers, I could see she wasn't dropping down past the low 300s. I admit, I was getting really discouraged. I was about ready to post on the L&L board asking for anyone's experience switching from Prozinc, because I thought maybe this type of insulin just wasn't right for her.

Then last week, I was in a hurry to give her the dose, and she was being difficult. I aimed for the flank and ended up with a fur shot. I was pretty disappointed with myself as I haven't done that since I first started giving shots. But, I know better than to try to reshoot! In the morning, she was slightly lower, so at least some got in. Then I started thinking, and realized, I have been giving her shot in the scruff lately. I didn't even consciously plan to do that, but when I thought back, I had been doing it there consistently for weeks. Back when I was tightly monitoring her, I was shooting in the shoulders/flank most of the time.

Since that day, I've been giving all her shots on her sides, and she's completely turned around! I'm currently stepping her dose down trying to find something low enough to get two shootable numbers. The last few days have been 24 hour cycles. I've been so happy to see success again. I was starting to think we were just never going to figure it out. Turns out, the problem was me being lazy!

By the way, if you look at her chart, you will see there are numbers missing for the last couple weeks. I have been testing her, I just haven't transcribed them from the meter in forever. I need to do that before they start falling out of its memory!
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Hi Kelly,

As Rachel said, I have experimented with scruff/shoulders versus flank shot sites and I think there's (slightly) better/faster absorption on the sides. With Teasel being as reactive and unpredictable as he is it's hard to state that with certainty. However, I have enough of a sense that this is true that I use shot site effect when I think it might help. If I up his dose and am concerned that he might react too much, I shoot in the scruff. If he's been higher than I like, I shoot in the side somewhere. Has he turned into an "easy" FD kitty - no. Are his BGs better over all - yes. I, like you, have been considering Lantus but I'm not sure it's the "magic bullet" for Teasel. I still like the dosing flexibility and "in-and-out"-ness of ProZinc.

How's Maggie feeling?
 
Ok, I've updated her chart (the meter had numbers going back to October, so it holds more than I thought!). It doesn't look quite as drastic there, but I think I have some explanations.

On the days before the fur shot, I had just started 3 units. It looks like that was too much regardless of injection site.

Then on Sunday, she was 81 right before we had to leave for a family gathering. After her super low dip the night before, I was a little skittish and gave her just a few medium carb kibbles. Well, apparently I didn't close the container all the way because it was empty when we got home. Luckily, this is just a single serving that I keep in her supplies box for hypos. The relatively small amount didn't send her too crazy high.

This week we've been having 24 hour cycles. I got a pink preshot today even after no insulin all night! She's eating now, and I'll do 2.4 today.

Kris, I remember when you first started experimenting with site and weren't finding big differences. I'm wondering if I am seeing a change in Maggie only because I've been doing the scruff shots for a while and she has some scar tissue there. So it's not so much that flank is better, all things being equal -- but that scruff is no good for her now. That's my theory at least!
 
Maggie continues to do well with the new injection site. I think she has also decreased her kibble intake, because she seems to only want the wet food. We are still trying to find the right dosage, and she's having a lot of 24 hour cycles. I think the variation in her eating habits probably accounts for some of the inconsistency in her insulin reactions. This morning she gave me a big surprise -- she stayed blue all night without insulin!
 
Kelly Howard said:
Maggie continues to do well with the new injection site. I think she has also decreased her kibble intake, because she seems to only want the wet food. We are still trying to find the right dosage, and she's having a lot of 24 hour cycles. I think the variation in her eating habits probably accounts for some of the inconsistency in her insulin reactions. This morning she gave me a big surprise -- she stayed blue all night without insulin!
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That's great! The standard advice if there are several NSs is to take the dose that caused a NS, cut it in half and give that half dose AM and the other half PM. It can help avoid a high number at one PS and a NS at the other. Something to try ...
 
Decreasing the kibble has probably helped with that. It's great that her numbers are getting better!
 
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