Pumpkin's #'s

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Joy.T

Member Since 2010
Today is pumpkins second day of home testing.If he could he walk around with pillows on his ears!!.I need to get the ear prick sequence down much faster without have to prick him 3 or 4 times. The Good news is his PMPS # was 165 @5:30. His dinner was around 6-6:30 followed by 2&1/2 units of lantus. @ 8:10 his # was 127. So here is my question. How many times a day is it really necessary to prick his ears? Are some times more important than others?
 
wow...i'm going to bump your post while i go look for the testing info sienne and some others gave me when we first started.

if you're lucky...someone quicker and more knowledgeable than i will answer first.

Hi, btw...i've been absent for a few days and don't think i''ve actually said welcome!

celi & binks
 
Hi Celi & Binks.Thank you. I want to really keep pumpkin going good. It just his ears look sore and he shakes his head after the prick,he is truely not fond of the ear prick!!!!.Mostly my fault I always get a e2 or e3 error message and have to re do.He is definitly more socialabe on 2 &1/2 units so i'l keep him there for a while.I'm trying to get down pat the testing times and curves.
 
Oh I see thanks for the link. I think I'll start 3 hours to save his ears!! Plus he nibbles on and off during the day so. I understand that plays a part with the #'s. A guess its a good thing that he isn't attacking the dinner plate and gobbling down anymore. Well only when I'm late in the morning hahaha
 
Hi Joy, Good testing today and good numbers, too. The most important times to test are at AMPS and PMPS. These tests are mandatory, because you need to know what Pumpkin's bg is before you give his insulin. You want to make sure that it is safe to give the insulin. It is good to get a test about mid way through the cycle (at about +6) so that you can see what his number is when the insulin has reached it's peak (the "nadir", in other words, the point at which the insulin has its strongest effect on the bg--usually resulting in the lowest number of the cycle). The other test that should be gotten is right before you go to bed (so that you can see how he is trending, and whether or not you have to stay up later to "monitor" him if he is going too low.

Most people like to do more tests than these 4, and the only way to gather data is to do more tests. However, you don't have to do them all on the same day. For example, one day you might get a +3, and maybe a +9 (in addition to the AMPS and PMPS). The next day, if you are home, try to get a test at a different hour. That way you will gradually fill in your spreadsheet with data that will be very useful to yourself and to those who are helping you.
People who have full work schedules often do cycle "curves" on weekends. A mini curve would be AMPS, +3, +6, +9, PMPS. A more extensive curve would be AMPS, +2, +4, +6, +8, +10, PMPS.
You will get better at poking Pumpkin's ears. Always give a treat after each test and praise him.

Have a good evening, and you are doing just fine,

Ella & Rusty
 
Haha that sounds like my 3yr old maleHe weights in at 11 lbs more fluff than cat. where as pumpkin was 20lb with the diabetes went down to 15 lbs. So I reduce the food from 6oz a meal to 4 oz. The hard part is they switch plates halfway thru their meal WHY???? It makes me laugh. My 3yr old was a rescue with a severe case of dog mites which infested his nose so his sniffer doesn't work as it should often he waits til he see Pumpkin eating then comes to eat. So feeding them seperate isn't a good thing. Often the 3 yr old wants food before its meal time
 
Hi Ella & Rusty, Thank you for that info. I was getting confused if the testing had to be done all in on day. So only if I'm doing a curve does it have to be done all in one day. Pumpkin is clapping his paws!!!
 
I think you're using a Contour meter, correct? While it uses a small amount of blood, you'll get used to seeing what size "drop" you need to make sure you don't get the dreaded error message. (I use a Contour, as well.) You might want to take a look at strip prices on EBay, Amazon, and Hocks. FWIW, Hocks ships incredibly quickly and I've been finding their prices are a little less than Amazon.

Now that you've started home testing, the next task is a spreadsheet. If you look at our signatures, you'll see we all have a spreadsheet (SS) linked. The SS is a great way to keep all of your test data in one place. It allows you to see if there are trends and it also allows you to share the SS with the rest of us so we can lend a hand with dosing decisions if you feel like you need help. The instructions for setting up a SS and connecting it to your signature are in this link.

Here's my spin on testing (along with the caveat that I'm a testaholic, too). It's critical to get a test before you shoot (AMPS and PMPS -- morning and evening pre-shot tests). I like getting a test early in the cycle -- a +2 or +3. You would expect these tests to be close to your pre-shot test. If they are much lower, chances are you are going to have an active cycle. Given what that number tells you, it will dictate when you should test next. You'll want to get at least one more test toward the middle of the cycle.

It's helpful in the beginning to get a curve a couple of times. You test every 2 hours (or every 3 hour for a mini-curve) all within one cycle. So, you'd get your AMPS along with a +2, +4, +6, +8, and +10 and then your PMPS. Or your AMPS, +3, +6, and +9 followed by our PMPS for a mini-curve.
 
Thanks Sienne& Gabby. I will be setting up his ss on Saturday. I'm confused I just did a test on him and he is up. To 215 HUH UGGG its been only 4 to 5 hours since his injection. So I'm confused all he was doing was snoozing on the window.
 
Here's where a SS helps -- you can see the bigger picture. If I had to guess, Pumpkin isn't used to having his numbers in the 100s. It's quite possible that they dropped even a little lower than your +2 or so test. When our cats drop into number ranges they haven't been spending much time in, their liver "panics." While these are normal ranges, the liver has forgotten what it's like to be in normal ranges and reacts as though this is a dangerous condition and compensates by dumping a stored form of glucose and counterregulatory hormones into the bloodstream. This causes numbers to rise.

Another possibility is the timing of Pumpkin's nadir. Not every cat has the low point of his cycle at +6. The nadir can be at any time. Some cats, in fact, have their nadir at shot time or some at +3. You won't know anything about Lantus onset, nadir, and duration until you do a few curves.

(And you were expecting an easy explanation for the bump in Pumpkin's numbers!)
 
Good Morning Joy,

I am so glad to see you are able to start home testing. This will help you in so many ways from knowing how Pumpkin is doing immediately, avoiding unnecessary vet testing, and controlling the finances.

Have a great Caturday!!!
 
Joy.T said:
followed by 2&1/2 units of lantus.
Click to expand...

Joy, I may have missed something because I don't read your post every day, but have you considered going to 1U of the Lantus as Pumpkin's starting dose?
 
I was told to start him at 3 units which the consenses was to high for starting dose. I did go down to one unit but then his BG numbers started going up? Tonight (Sun) his #'s were still up. So I'm going to do a few tests during the overnight to morning mealtime.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top