Question about BG reading

[Emily]

Hi All,

I just took tested Prince's BG at +6 and it was 354. That seemed so high to me for the nadir, so I took it again right away and it was 343.

1) Is it normal that there is that much of a difference between test numbers taken at the same time?
2) His pre-shot, pre-food number this am was 242. Why would the supposed nadir be so much higher?? I thought he was supposed to be at his lowest then.

Thank you to anyone who can give me some insight!

Emily and Princey

 

[KPassa]

1) There's a +/-20% variance for meters, meaning that the number can be "off" 20% either way of the "true" number. The higher the number, the bigger discrepancy. The 354 and the 343 are basically the same number.
2) A few things can cause a higher nadir:

• Fur shot: only some (or none) of the insulin went in. Sometimes, a fur shot might not be reflected in the immediate cycle or might take a little longer to clear out than normal (i.e. the fur shot from yesterday morning could still be affecting today's numbers or you might have even given another fur shot this morning).
• Bounce: had lower numbers in prior cycles than their bodies might be used to so the body fights back and brings the numbers up
• Food: he might have eaten a half hour to an hour or two before and what you're seeing is a food spike.
• Just because: I'll sometimes blame it on the moon, the season, the rain. Sometimes, there's no way of knowing what's causing the spike. Insulin is a hormone, not a drug, so there are a lot of factors that can influence the way it works.

In your case, based on the 242 pre-shot this morning, I'm thinking Prince might have dropped much lower overnight than his body was used to and what you're seeing is a bounce now. Partially because of this propensity for cats to drop lower overnight, I always recommend grabbing a "before-bed" test to see where they're heading during the nighttime cycle. You might want to start grabbing some more of those, if you can, and that will give us a better idea of what is going on. ;-)

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

Nadir is the low point of the day - at whatever time it happens.In theory its supposed to be 5-7 hours after shot but as Kay said, many factors can change that. So essentially your nadir could have been at a different time - or the dose isn't high enough so his nadir isn't noticeable.

However saying that he looks kinda flat to me so he could be clearing a bounce. Lets see what happens in the next day or two but if you don't see any blue or green by end tomorrow ( and make sure you keep getting a few spot checks during the day and night) then it would be time to consider an increase.

Wendy