New insulin vial/pen warning

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Lisa and Witn (GA)

Lisa and Witn (GA)

Member Since 2009
Last night I spent a hypo watch with Ricky. He woke me up in the middle of the night, which he normally does if he is either very hungry or knows his glucose is low. So for either reason, I get up to test and feed. Last night he was low. He is fine now and so no advice needed. I had started using a new pen a couple days ago and this was not completely unexpected.

I just want to let the newbies know and remind the more experience people that when you start using a new vial or pen of insulin, you should do spot checks between doses for a few days. Most likely the old vial/pen had started to become less effective and your dosing was based on it. But a new vial/pen is more potent and you may need to adjust your dose. If possible, for the first week, you should test a few times between doses just to make sure that you do not need to lower the dose a little.
 
This is a great reminder! What I did the last time is wait till Mikey was due his next increase and then switched to the new pen without increasing his dose.

I'm starting a new pen tomorrow and he's been hitting some nice greens with his current fat 2.5u, but I've decided to shoot a skinny 2.5u for the next couple of cycles or so just in case his last pen started to lose potency towards the end.
 
Thanks for this advice. Although I am new, I now know that when he begins a new bottle (if he is not OTJ by then of course :mrgreen: ) to watch carefully and/or lower his dose. This is very important information and I thank you. I NEVER would have thought of this on my own for sure.
 
What I did the last time is wait till Mikey was due his next increase and then switched to the new pen without increasing his dose.
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Kpassa, Great idea on a new pen/vial switch,to switch to the new pen/vial but do not increase the dose, even if your cat is due for one. Stronger, fresher insulin gives you the increase built into the newer insulin.
 
KPassa said:
This is a great reminder! What I did the last time is wait till Mikey was due his next increase and then switched to the new pen without increasing his dose.

I'm starting a new pen tomorrow and he's been hitting some nice greens with his current fat 2.5u, but I've decided to shoot a skinny 2.5u for the next couple of cycles or so just in case his last pen started to lose potency towards the end.
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Kpassa,
when you say "fat" or "skinny" dose, is that lining the rubber up "a little" past and " a little" behind the mark for fat and skinny doses?
 
Yes, exactly. Some cats are super-sensitive to the slightest bit of insulin and Mikey just happen to be one of those cats. :roll:
 
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