Preshot coming up/ Summer showing low blues/ need advice

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Summers Mom

Summers Mom

Member Since 2017
Summer has shown several test today of blues. Three out of those five test were in the low blues. When she tested 175 @ +5 something told me to continue to test to see if she would drop lower and she has. Summer gets her shot at 9 tonight and i wanted to ask yall about what to do if she is in the 150 or less, what do i do? I wanted to go ahead and ask now so i would have some idea of what to do. Summer has shown higher #s at +2 at times but on her ss she has shown some lower #s at +2. That is why i am asking you guys for advice on what to do if at her preshot she is below 150 of what i should do. And if she is say for example, 160-180 at preshot, i would give the shot at the full dose?? Thanks guys. I was just freaking out a bit when i tested summer earlier and she read 126!!! She has NEVER read that low until today, and i know its not too low but to me it was her lowest yet. Thanks
 
Nice cycle for Summer today! Do you have enough test strips and are you able to monitor tonight if she decides to do some funny business? If I had to guess, and typing this means she will do the opposite, I would think she'd come up a bit before preshot and I doubt you'll be dealing with a number below 150, but you never know. You would typically shoot the full dose with a number like 150 (it's just is scary the first couple of times), but if it's much lower at preshot, don't feed, don't shoot, post here and ask for help.
 
Great advice from Toebeans (sorry, I don't know your actual name!).

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind. You're following TR. Ideally, you want to follow the mantra, "Shoot low to stay low." However, it's easier on the nerves to work your way down the low(er) pre-shot ladder vs diving in head first. It looks like you recently shot a 203 PMPS. If you factor in a 20% meter error, that could have been as low as a 160. Is there a number below that 203 you'd be comfortable shooting? Ultimately, most of us who have followed TR will shoot anything above 50.

If you decide to shoot a lower number, please have supplies on hand -- plenty of strips and HC food -- and be able to monitor your kitty's numbers.

 
It's always scary the first few times you shoot those lower numbers, but that's the best thing you can do!!

I doubt she going to be under 150 by PMPS time, so I'd plan on shooting the scheduled dose as long as you have plenty of strips, some MC and HC food and can test as much (and as long) as necessary tonight.

The first few times you shoot a lower number, it's also a good idea to get a +1 and +2 so IF you need to, you can intervene early
 
Chris & China said:
It's always scary the first few times you shoot those lower numbers, but that's the best thing you can do!!

I doubt she going to be under 150 by PMPS time, so I'd plan on shooting the scheduled dose as long as you have plenty of strips, some MC and HC food and can test as much (and as long) as necessary tonight.

The first few times you shoot a lower number, it's also a good idea to get a +1 and +2 so IF you need to, you can intervene early
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If she does drop low, i have ff gravy lovers. Is that high carb? What is MC food? And how much of the ff would i give? Like a teaspoon of the gravy? Yes i have plenty of test strips also!
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Great advice from Toebeans (sorry, I don't know your actual name!).

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind. You're following TR. Ideally, you want to follow the mantra, "Shoot low to stay low." However, it's easier on the nerves to work your way down the low(er) pre-shot ladder vs diving in head first. It looks like you recently shot a 203 PMPS. If you factor in a 20% meter error, that could have been as low as a 160. Is there a number below that 203 you'd be comfortable shooting? Ultimately, most of us who have followed TR will shoot anything above 50.

If you decide to shoot a lower number, please have supplies on hand -- plenty of strips and HC food -- and be able to monitor your kitty's numbers.
Click to expand...

So to answer your question on what i feel comfortable shooting, idk. Summer sometimes shows higher numbers at +2 and sometimes they are lower so i am kinda torn. I feel like if she is low but above 50 i will shoot because i feel like she will be ok when the shot kicks in. If she is on the low end towards 50, do i give the FULL dose of her shot?
 
Summers Mom said:
So to answer your question on what i feel comfortable shooting, idk. Summer sometimes shows higher numbers at +2 and sometimes they are lower so i am kinda torn. I feel like if she is low but above 50 i will shoot because i feel like she will be ok when the shot kicks in. If she is on the low end towards 50, do i give the FULL dose of her shot?
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At the end of the day, it's your call with what you know of your cat and what you feel comfortable doing. If you look at Asia's SS, on 11/1, she had a PMPS of 60. I was too freaked out to shoot the whole dose and figured if I did, she would surely earn a reduction, so I shot a BCS dose of 1.5 (there's no rule about that, it's just whatever you have the nerve to do, but it's less than the current dose). Additionally, I could have skipped the dose, but I knew from the previous times I had skipped a dose, she went sky high in a matter of hours, so I didn't want to do that to her. As you can see in that cycle, nothing too crazy went on. The motto is "shoot low to stay low", I know it sounds crazy, but they just react differently when the numbers are already low and the drops (usually) aren't as steep.

I'm not sure what constitutes a medium carb food exactly (vs a low carb or high carb), but the FF gravy lovers varieties all seem to be medium-high carb. Yes, you would offer a teaspoon of gravy, you want the numbers to come up a bit, but you also want her to stay hungry if you need to bring them up again. It's a very good idea to review and print out or save the sticky on Hypos on your computer (should the internet go out and you really need it). And you will have everybody here to help and someone will be around to stay up with you should you need it. You're doing great! :bighug:
 
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Stacy & Asia said:
At the end of the day, it's your call with what you know of your cat and what you feel comfortable doing. If you look at Asia's SS, on 11/1, she had a PMPS of 60. I was too freaked out to shoot the whole dose and figured if I did, she would surely earn a reduction, so I shot a BCS dose of 1.5 (there's no rule about that, it's just whatever you have the nerve to do, but it's less than the current dose). Additionally, I could have skipped the dose, but I knew from the previous times I had skipped a dose, she went sky high in a matter of hours, so I didn't want to do that to her. As you can see in that cycle, nothing too crazy went on. The motto is "shoot low to stay low", I know it sounds crazy, but they just react differently when the numbers are already low and the drops (usually) aren't as steep.

I'm not sure what constitutes a medium carb food exactly (vs a low carb or high carb), but the FF gravy lovers varieties all seem to be medium-high carb. Yes, you would offer a teaspoon of gravy, you want the numbers to come up a bit, but you also want her to stay hungry if you need to bring them up again. It's a very good idea to review and print out or save the sticky on Hypos on your computer (should the internet go out and you really need it). And you will have everybody here to help and someone will be around to stay up with you should you need it. You're doing great! :bighug:
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Thank you so much! She came up to 207 at preshot so i felt like i could breathe a little! lol If you don't mind me asking, what is BCS stand for? And i know ECID so i guess it depends whether or not when or if summer is low at pre shot that i would shoot the whole dose or a reduced shot, right? And how do you know NOT to shoot the whole dose? By looking at her numbers at +1 and +2 after the shots? Again, thank you for being here!!:cat:
 
BCS is "big chicken s***" I had to look it up the first time I saw it too, it's a very technical term. :joyful:

You really have to go with your gut on how much to shoot or to skip. You can ask for suggestions, but it's your cat and your call. There's no hard and fast rule, you just have to see what's she's done the past few cycles and decide what is safe for her. I was pretty terrified the first time I shot low, but I looked at so many other cat's spreadsheets and saw how they went after shooting low, and it really wasn't that dramatic in most of the cases (I didn't see any dramatic ones, but I'm sure they exist). For me, that first time, it looked like she dropped late in the cycle and I guessed she was going to continue to drop and earn a reduction before the insulin from the PM shot even took hold (and that's what happened). I also knew she went very high the previous times I skipped shots, so I went with what would be close to the reduction number the next day (it was less, but I knew I had wonky syringes and her doses were not consistent).
 
Stacy & Asia said:
BCS is "big chicken s***" I had to look it up the first time I saw it too, it's a very technical term. :joyful:

You really have to go with your gut on how much to shoot or to skip. You can ask for suggestions, but it's your cat and your call. There's no hard and fast rule, you just have to see what's she's done the past few cycles and decide what is safe for her. I was pretty terrified the first time I shot low, but I looked at so many other cat's spreadsheets and saw how they went after shooting low, and it really wasn't that dramatic in most of the cases (I didn't see any dramatic ones, but I'm sure they exist). For me, that first time, it looked like she dropped late in the cycle and I guessed she was going to continue to drop and earn a reduction before the insulin from the PM shot even took hold (and that's what happened). I also knew she went very high the previous times I skipped shots, so I went with what would be close to the reduction number the next day (it was less, but I knew I had wonky syringes and her doses were not consistent).
Click to expand...

Thank you. I am just not looking forward to that day when summer reads really low. She will probably be more calm than me i'm sure! BCS!!! lol I figured it was a technical term! :joyful:
 
Just a bit of follow-up...

@Stacy & Asia -- regarding carbs: LC = below 10% (although most of us use food that's appreciably lower in carbs), MC = 10 - 15%, and HC = over 15% carb.

Back in the day, there were three options if you weren't sure whether to shoot when you saw a lower than usual pre-shot number. (These instructions are still embedded in SLGS.)
  • skip the shot
  • stall -- don't feed, though. Wait 15 - 20 min, re-test and see if numbers are rising. Repeat until numbers are going up.
  • give a BCS dose
The problem with a BCS dose is that you don't know if the reduction will effect numbers during the current cycle. The depot may kick in. If you stall, you need the flexibility of moving your shot time for the next cycle since shots need to be 12 hrs apart (or you can adjust by 15 - 30 min over however long it takes to get back on schedule). Also, a late shot acts like a dose reduction. All of these options have an effect on the depot so that is a consideration, as well. When following TR, any of these options also mean the cycle count starts over. It's why we try to encourage you to shoot but recognize getting comfortable with shooting lower numbers can take a bit of confidence building.

It helps to remember that at shot time, even if numbers are lower, it's still the end of the cycle and insulin is wearing off. You also may have 2 hours before you see the effect of next shot (i.e., Lantus onset) and by testing early in the cycle, you will have an idea of what may or may not happen. You also have the effect of feeding your cat to consider -- food will cause a rise in numbers (usually). Also, as your cat gets better regulated, the cycles flatten out. The "Ideal" Lantus cycle doesn't have a pronounced nadir. That said, ECID (every cat is different).
 
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