Our first under 200 glucose test

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Voula

Voula

Member Since 2014
This morning Lucy's reading was 11 (198) and when I tested it again one minute later it was 9.9 (178). I will be home all day to monitor her so my inclination is to give the insulin but I wasn't sure so thought I would ask. We started an increased dose of Lantus at 2.25 units a few days ago and I have only done one mid cycle test which was high as I have been out lot this week. Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions.
Love, Voula
 
Voula! Havent seen you on here or on FB for a while..I was wondering how Lucy was getting on.

Am sure someone will jump in re dosing...I just popped in to say hello.

Juliet
 
Hi Juliet. Thank you. I have been very busy so I haven't been on the board much but I have been keeping up with your posts about Silver so congratulations:)
 
If you haven't fed her yet, can you stall 30 minutes, then retest? If rising go ahead and shoot as normal.

Just want to make sure she's on her way up before shooting.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Thank you Mel that was my plan and I just wanted someone else to confirm it. I have fed Lucy and tested after fifteen minutes and the reading hadn't gone up. So I fed a bit more and tested again at twenty minutes and it hadn't gone up. So I fed a little more and waiting to test again now at about one hour after first blood glucose test.
 
Should I wait a few hours without feeding and test again before giving the dose?
 
That's going to put you really off schedule for her next dose, which is fine, if you can roll it back by 30 minutes each day (either 30 minutes early one shot a day or 15 minutes early each shot per day). If you can't perhaps just a token dose tonight and then back to normal tomorrow during the day.

Basically your options at this point are these. What to do with lower preshots numbers Kind of your pick at this point as to what you are the most comfortable with and your ability to monitor Lucy.

Personally, since I know I can set an alarm, roll over test and go right back to sleep again, I tend to give a token dose just so I keep some insulin on board. Let's see if she is currently at 2.25 that would put the dose for a token in the .5-ish for a 25% of current dose.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Thank you Mel. Better safe and off schedule than on schedule and unsafe. I can also roll back the time each day not a problem. I will look at the article you sent.
 
Thank you again Mel. I read the article and I decided to wait a few hours after eating and test again and decide what to do from that test. It is day here now so I don't have to worry about setting an alarm to wake up so no problems I can test any time.
 
Thank you Nadine. I have been very busy with classes and volunteer work and haven't had much time before today to read the board messages.
 
If I had more test data on this higher dose that we started last weekend I might feel more confidence about giving the dose with the lower pre-dose reading but I have only been able to do one test between doses at 6+ yesterday and that isn't enough data to give the current increased dose with confidence when the pre-dose reading is the lowest it has been.
 
Thank you again Nadine. I am very keen to get Lucy's glucose levels into the normal range but safety first is the way to do it.
 
Voula said:
I am very keen to get Lucy's glucose levels into the normal range but safety first is the way to do it.
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Absolutely, Voula. That was the only way I could cope mentally and emotionally with Saoirse's treatment. There's one thing more alarming than a too-high number, and that's a number that's too low.

I was getting a bit wriggly about the duration of Saoirse's treatment, especially with the switch to SID dosing because of my own health problems and my concerns for Saoirse's safety during the night when she tends to run significantly lower. (If she hadn't shown much improvement I would have got nervous and gone back to the more aggressive BID dosing had it been necessary.) Thankfully the slow and steady approach worked for Saoirse (and I had far greater peace of mind as her caregiver). Keeping fingers and paws crossed that it will work for Lucy, too.cat_pet_icon
 
Thank you so much Aine and again congratulations to Saoirse and you too. I also have chronic health issues so I understand the challenges of dealing with your own and your kitty's health issues. So we also have to make sure we are okay mentally and physically in order to be able to care for our loved ones who depend on us and for me because I tend to worry a lot going slowly and surely and being cautious is part of what helps me to cope. I am feeling less anxious now than I did at the beginning when Lucy was first diagnosed with diabetes. The biggest factor in easing my anxiety was learning to do home blood glucose testing.
 
With you 100% on peace of mind that comes from home testing, Voula. The vet at the practice where Saoirse was diagnosed gave me no support for home testing. For the first few weeks after diagnosis I had to give Saoirse insulin with no idea of what her blood glucose levels were at. She was extremely lethargic at the time and I had no way of distinguishing between clinical signs of the diabetes and hypo symptoms. Like you, I have major problems with anxiety and not knowing Saoirse's BG terrified me.

I'm sorry to hear that you struggle with chronic health difficulties too, Voula. :YMHUG: It really does present a whole array of additional challenges when it comes to helping our little ones.
 
Hi Aine. It is hard when you have a chronic illness I know. I also understand about not having support to do home blood glucose testing. Thankfully our vet is fine with it and if she wasn't she would have to be because she can't do blood tests as Lucy won't cooperate and it will be the vet's blood which will be tested instead. Though I must say that Lucy is getting more relaxed with the vet now. But there is no substitute to being able to home test to know that it is okay to give insulin or to check your cat if she or he seems unwell in any way and yes it sure does make you less anxious to be able to do the testing at home. But despite our vet being supportive of home testing I have noticed that when I have spoken to other vets and nurses at the clinic about home blood glucose testing they are either surprised or confused at what I am doing. I explain that really it is fine. :smile:
 
Indeed. I got a few raised eyebrows when our practice first saw how often I tested (they have the link to Saoirse's spreadsheet so that they can do consults for us over the phone). It's not that surprising considering that many of their clients just monitor water consumption to determine how their pets are doing. Over time they got used to us, and as Saoirse's clinical signs and general health improved so markedly the funny looks lessened. ;-)

Had a giggle over your comment about the vet's blood getting tested! :lol:
 
It is good that your vet practice got used to the fact you were home testing. I think maybe many people don't realise that many cats seem to get used to the tests. At first I couldn't see how Lucy would allow me to do the tests and the first few weeks were challenging for me and Lucy too but with time we both got more used to it. Neither of us likes it but I know Lucy understands I would never hurt her and I know that less than one minute of minor stress for both of us is well worth it both for keeping Lucy as safe as can be and for making me less anxious too. Our vet is amazed I think that Lucy allows me to do the tests.
 
Lucy's smart. She knows you love her and that you're doing it to help her feel better. Saoirse is actually a bit confused about why I'm not testing as much now. She hops up to her testing station and sits there looking at me with a puzzled expression on her face about why the pointy thing and the treats aren't forthcoming. :smile:
 
Yes my Lucy is smart and I think she is feeling better too. That is so cute Aine that Saoirse is confused about you not testing so much now.
 
Lucy's AMPS is heading down again. It was 12.4 / 223 this morning so I gave the usual 2.25 units dose. I think we will have to increase to 2.5 units soon but we are heading in the right direction surely and slowly which I am happy about.
 
Hi Aine. Yes Lucy's glucose levels are quite even at the moment. I haven't seen any great drops or increases though I do need to do some more tests.
 
Thank you Aine. I hope so too as that would be good and help me not to be so anxious too.
 
Hi Aine. Thank you for asking. We are good and Lucy is still having even glucose levels throughout the day so I think I will do a glucose curve in the next day or so and then we will increase the dose by .25 units again. I hope all is well with you and Saoirse too.
 
Glad to hear you're both doing well, Voula. I'm having a bit of a struggle with Saoirse's eating at the moment (ongoing problem) but I'm getting food into her. She's doing better than her mammy who's still freaked out and exhausted by the house move. It will get better for me, and even with the chaos things are so much better for Saoirse here. We didn't have room to turn around in the last place. :YMSIGH:

Looking forward to seeing the results of Lucy's curve. cat_pet_icon
 
It is certainly understandable that the house move would be exhausting and I hope that Saoirse's eating issue will improve very soon. But good you are able to get food into her and good that your new home suits her better too. A hug to you and I hope you are feeling more energetic very soon. I will post the results of Lucy's glucose curve when I do it though I can tell from the tests I have done so far on this dose that we will need to increase the dose again.
 
Thanks, Voula. :YMHUG:

Hopefully Lucy will stay nice 'n' level on the new dose. I must admit, dose increases always made me nervous. nailbite_smile
 
Hi Aine. I also get anxious about dose increases and I always do them when I am home for a few days to observe Lucy and make sure she is okay with the increased dose.
 
I can relate to that. Much as I resent how life-limiting my illness is from a human perspective, it has been a blessing in disguise in terms of looking after Saoirse because I'm at home all the time (agoraphobic along with everything else :roll: ). I don't think I'd have coped at all if I had had to leave her alone on insulin. As it was, I couldn't sleep most of the time until she had passed nadir. That's why I had to switch to SID dosing. Thankfully Saoirse was in good numbers and stayed mostly in greens with the SID doses. If she hadn't been, I don't think I'd have managed to regulate her as well as I did, and as for remission - it could have been a pipe dream. I'm so relieved that, even though my frailties probably dragged out the healing process for Saoirse, it didn't put the kibosh on her achieving remission (and I was very worried that it might).
 
Yes I am also happy that I am home a lot to care for Lucy as I do worry about her when I go out.
 
We had another under 200 reading this morning :smile: and it was 10.5/189 and the vet advised to give the regular dose as I will be home all day to monitor Lucy so I did. We recently increased the dose to 2.5 units.
 
Hi Aine. The PMPS was 20.9/376 so one of the highest readings we have had and I don't understand it. Maybe it is what people call new dose wonkiness.
 
Looking at her spreadsheet it looks like you have a little bit of two things going on 1) New Dose Wonkiness and 2) a bounce off that lower preshot because if she held true to her pattern she at least dipped her toes into the green overnight to only be back up in the high 100's by morning. As well as the way she went after that blue preshot. Every time she hits blue she bounces. <sigh>

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Thank you so much Mel. I appreciate your opinion as you have much more experience than I do. I will see what happens when we settle into the 2.5 units dose in a few days as I gave a lower dose. I will start doing some tests during the night too. Thank you again.
 
Thank you Aine. I will see what happens after a few more days on the 2.5 units dose.
 
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