Question about gradually elevating BG levels

[jmalasiuk]

Hi, so I'm not sure what Tonka's bood sugar levels were doing last night and wonder if anyone has any ideas. I've been leaving a bit extra food out for him (which of course he eats) during the day only, due to my nervousness of not being home on days that he is starting out closer to the normal range rather than super high.

Last night, pre-shot, he was at 16.7 (301), and by +3 he was up to 19.1 (344), and by +4.5 even higher, at 20.6 (371). This morning he was at 23.3 (419). He ate a normal amount of low carb last night.

This seems very gradual for a rebound (he usually spikes quickly). I know that the best explanation for this pattern (no drop at all yesterday since his evening shot, only a rise) would be a fur shot, but I really don't think that that was the case: I inserted the syringe need until I felt resistance and there was no flinching from him, and I always leave the need in for a couple seconds after the shot to catch the drips...

Personally, I think he did this just because he knew that I'd be working from home today (have to wait for a repair guy) and he doesn't want me to have the opportunity to see what he does at nadir on this 2.25 dose when he's starting from the yellows rather than the pinks. Sigh.

 

[Angela & Blackie & 3 Others]

I have no answers to give you. I hope that his #s improve for you very soon. Hang in there. You're doing an awesome job... You both are.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Last night was the third cycle since you did that reduced shot in the AM of Feb 3rd. Sometimes the effects of reduced shots can be seen in later cycles. It can take 4-6 cycles for the depot to refill after a skip or reduced dose, so you can expect some strangeness until then. Yet another possible explanation is that he got into some blues yesterday during the day and he's had a mild bounce. It looks like his body is still getting used to blues.

Do you sniff Tonka's injection site afterwards? I'm a pro at fur shots (long haired wriggler sometimes), so I always sniff Neko's fur after.

And the last possibility is that he's being a cat. We have no control over that. They don't like being predictable.

 

[jmalasiuk]

Didn't think to smell him for the insulin. I always rub the site afterwards to take away any sting, and didn't feel any moisture, but then, I always wonder how much I'd feel from such a low dose of insulin on his fur if some didn't get into him. I'll have to try that next time.

But I am 95% confident that it wasn't a fur shot. I've given thousands of shots over the years (no exaggeration), so I know what it's supposed to feel like once it's inside the body. There have other times that I've wondered (damned short needles), but last night was not one of them.

He's probably just being difficult for one of the reasons you suggested above. Guess I'll see what happens this weekend - hopefully there will be no rebounds in there to screw things up for figuring him out (which seems to happen just before every time I can actually be around during the day ) I'm just disappointed that he didn't start out at the same level he's been the last two days so that I could see if giving him the full dose without leaving extra food is safe for him or not (he can't resist - unless he's not feeling well, this cat will typically eat any new food offered until he's near to bursting; it's not like he's starving - it's a rare day that he actually cries for food. I blame his gorging tendencies on his former life as a dumpster diver)

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I always rub the site afterwards to take away any sting,

How vigorously are you rubbing the injection site? You really don't want to rub where you inject Lantus. Lantus needs to interact with the body's pH in order to form microcrystals. Rubbing the area may have an effect on the process.

 

[jmalasiuk]

Hmm. That's the first I heard of that - I think my vet tech even suggested giving a quick rub after the injection. Good to know

But not very vigorously, in any case. Just a gentle circle or back and forth stroke with my fingers at the site after the shot.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

There have other times that I've wondered (damned short needles), but last night was not one of them.

Are you using the BD syringes with the 6mm or 8mm needles?

 

[jmalasiuk]

The BD 8 mm needles. I'm used to using the 12 mm needles, but they've suddenly decided that they're not making them anymore. Tonka doesn't seem to notice any difference, but I find it harder to tell if I've actually gotten into his skin with the shorts. So they're making even shorter ones now? Oi.

As an update, the "slow bounce" theory is looking like the most likely right now, if I understand it correctly He had a gradual climb up with no drops after getting insulin yesterday night, and since then, he's been on a gradual drop since then. Hopefully it'll stay gradual and he won't drop much farther in the next two hours (his typical nadir time seems to between +4 and +6). I'll be up at least a couple more hours so I'm going to keep an eye on him and test him regularly, but I'm trying to avoid putting out more food just yet, because I'd like to see how far he actually drops on this dose and his usual food (i.e. if it's safe to give him a full dose when I leave for work in the morning or if I need to leave him a lot more food...).

 

[Chris/China (GA)/Garfield]

What a lot of us did when we first started giving shots was to shave a small spot out of our kittie's fur so we could REALLY see skin and watch the needed get into the actual skin and not all mixed up with a bunch of hair....by the time it grows back, you're pretty much a PRO