New-ish member

[Oreo'smom]

Hi,

I actually joined the forums back in March when Oreo was diagnosed but I've never posted so just for an introduction. Oreo is 13 years old. He was diagnosed back in March. I took him to the vet because I noticed him drinking and peeing a lot and he was losing weight even though he was eating. Those are the only symptoms he has ever had. The vet started him on 1 unit of Lantus twice a day, then moved him up to 2 units, and then 3 units. The week before my husband and I were supposed to leave for our honeymoon, he started having lower numbers. I called the vet and spoke to a different vet than he normally sees, expressed my concerns about the low numbers while we were going to be away and my mother-in-law would be taking care of him, and she took him back down to 2 units. After we got back from the honeymoon, I've kind of gone off on my own and started the SLGS method but I do shoot lower numbers since I work from home and can monitor him. His numbers are always all over the place. He has good numbers for a day maybe and then he shoots back up.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Welcome to FDMB -- even if it's a welcome that's a long time coming!!

Thanks for putting together your spreadsheet. A couple of observations. It's helpful to get a minimum of 4 tests per day -- your two pre-shot tests and at least one test during both the AM and PM cycles. Right now, without the PM test(s), you're missing half of your data. Many cats experience lower numbers at night so you may be missing numbers that warrant a dose reduction.

If you're following SLGS, if you have a test that's below 90, you should reduce the dose. You reduced on 8/12 and you would reduce Oreo's dose this evening given the 82 at +2 this morning.

The quick answer to your question is that it's fine to shoot lower numbers. You've been managing Oreo's diabetes for a while now and as long as you're comfortable shooting a lower number, it's fine to do so. You just want to be sure you are available to monitor and have both extra strips if you need to monitor closely and high carb food if you need to bump up Oreo's numbers. We generally encourage people to become increasingly more comfortable with shooting progressively lower numbers. The basic 'mantra' with Lantus is "Shoot low to stay low." In fact, with TR, you can shoot any number over 50. (I know -- that probably sounds terrifying! I did it all the time.)

His numbers are always all over the place. He has good numbers for a day maybe and then he shoots back up.

What you're seeing is what we call a "bounce." If a cat isn't used to being in lower numbers, when numbers either drop low, drop into a range the kitty isn't used to, or drop fast, the liver and pancreas react by releasing a stored form of glucose and counterregulatory hormones. These cause the numbers to spike upward. It can take several days for the bounce to clear.

 

[Oreo'smom]

Thanks. I'm just wondering if I should reduce his dose since he was at 383 by +8, although now at +10, I just tested him and he's back down to 299. I've looked at TR but for some reason, it just seems really confusing to me, at least the increasing the dose part. Even though it's been several months, I'm still pretty overwhelmed by all this.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

We make dose adjustments by how low a dose takes your cat during a 12-hour cycle so it doesn’t matter that he went up because as Sienne mentioned he could be bouncing. Anytime you get a number lower than 90 you reduce the dose by .25 units, so yea you should still reduce it tonight.

TR requires a lot more testing than you’re doing right now. It may seem complicated but it’s really not. The main differences are that you increase faster than in SLGS and that you only reduce once your cat goes under 50. There’s more but those are the highlights

 

[Oreo'smom]

We make dose adjustments by how low a dose takes your cat during a 12-hour cycle so it doesn’t matter that he went up because as Sienne mentioned he could be bouncing. Anytime you get a number lower than 90 you reduce the dose by .25 units, so yea you should still reduce it tonight.

TR requires a lot more testing than you’re doing right now. It may seem complicated but it’s really not. The main differences are that you increase faster than in SLGS and that you only reduce once your cat goes under 50. There’s more but those are the highlights

Okay, I'll go ahead and reduce him back to 2 then. I would love to do TR. All the higher numbers he has make me so anxious because I know his little organs are being affected by it but I'm just concerned about traumatizing him with so much testing day in and day out. Currently, I do a curve once a week and if he's got a lower preshot number, I'll test him to monitor him, but other than that, if his preshot numbers are over 200, I only test preshot. He lets me do the tests, but he definitely starts getting whiny about halfway through the curve days.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I get it but you really want to test at least 4 times a day like Sienne said. Otherwise, you don’t know how low the dose is taking him. Do you think you can try?

 

[Oreo'smom]

I get it but you really want to test at least 4 times a day like Sienne said. Otherwise, you don’t know how low the dose is taking him. Do you think you can try?

Yes, of course. I'll do whatever I need to get my baby as healthy as possible. I work from home so unless I have an appointment or my husband and I go out, I'm usually here. Oreo gets his lunch at AM +6 so I suppose that would be a good testing time. I work in the evening so I typically don't go to bed until between midnight and 2 am so that would be between PM +3 to 5 so I could test him somewhere in there as well. Like I said, I do test in between shots when he has numbers under 200. I guess I just figured if he's over 200 preshot, he's probably not dropping that low in between but who knows, he's so all over the place all the time, maybe it is.