really low number!

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katlady1974

katlady1974

Member Since 2013
i tested timber at +10 when i got home just out of curiosity and he was 45! i tested twice and got the same. he's not due to eat for 2 hours but i gave him some food anyways. i'll check him again in a few mins to see if it's rising. he's been all over the place still :sad:
 
We usually say to feed the fortys. You did the right thing. I would test again in 30 minutes (without feeding anymore than you just did) and see if he has come up some.
 
it freaks me out because i was gone all day. he tested at 498 this morning! that's a crazy drop! it feels like he will never get regulated :sad:
 
He could have gone lower today. And that 45 earns him a dose reduction. I would reduce his dose to 1.75 starting tonight...if his BGs come up high enough to shoot a dose tonight.

I'm going to go to bed, so will not be up when you test at your regular shot time to determine if it's safe to give his insulin. If you need help, just ask, and if you are not getting any responses when you need them, then post over in the Lantus Tight Regulation forum, there is almost always someone logged on there, and the folks know your Lantus.


Do you have plenty of test strips, and high carb food or syrup, just in case you need them? If not, you might want to stock up, BGs numbers depending if you can run out or have someone else run out for you.


Have a good night.
 
i tested him 30 mins after he ate and he was up to 75! yay! i'll test him again in 15 mins- that will be +11. go from there i guess? a 45 reading automatically earns him a lower dose?? he's been all over the place the last day and a half.
 
tested at +11 and he's up to 95 now. what is the guideline for giving him insulin in another hour? how high should he be? how much should i give? he's on 2u, 2x/day.
 
If he is under 200, don't feed don't shoot and come back here.

Meanwhile do you have lots of strips, high carb food and syrup? Are you able to stay up and test? I will try and find someone to help out if you do need to shoot low. Remember too you get a dose decrease tonite due to today's low. You reduce by 1/4 unit.
 
i'll share over in the lantus forum for you and see if some of the peeps from there can come and help advise on what to do come shot time. don't shoot without getting some feedback ok.

eta: :-) see me and Wendy were posting at the same time :-)
 
i do have all the stuff on hand. i'll let you know what his next test is and see what i should do! thanks for the help!!

oh- one more thing- i put out a can of food (ff) for both him and his brother earlier when he tested at 45. so i assume that was too much food? and likely won't get a true reading now? i think he's been grazing.
 
Remember to never feed in the two hours before the shot so that this doesn't happen, you need to know what his BG is doing naturally without food. That being said, we are here now and have to deal with it.

Now in the 14th when you had the last low, when did you feed that Evening? Am trying to find out if he normally has a big food spike.

Wendy
 
since getting rid of the dry food i only feed him twice a day- after i test him. so the 14th would have been a test with no food. he got food today because his number was so low. i just did his PMPS test and it's 115. and that's elevated due to food. so i'm totally not comfortable giving him a shot.
 
I didn't see any one say yet that you have earned a dose decrease.... to 1.75u


Your options are to skip....
or to delay ... If your schedule is flexible enough to shoot 12 hours later from whenever you did shoot tonite.... ( if you decide to do that)
 
i guess no one is around in the tr forum tonight so i'll put in my two cents as to what i would do. :-)

i wouldn't shoot that number myself if i were new to this dance. i do now but i've been doing it for years and i know my kitties and their reactions really well.

now you have options, you can stall and shoot late once kitty is higher. as long as tomorrow's schedule is flexible. like if you shoot an hour late tonight, you have to shoot late in the morning too, trying to keep the shots as close to 12 hours apart as you can. if you don't have a flexible schedule tomorrow morning, and possibly in the evening, i'd skip tonight and tomorrow morning, shoot, but a reduced dose since kitty was so low so late in the cycle. and hopefully you can get some input as to what reduced dose to go to
 
katlady1974 said:
i do have all the stuff on hand. i'll let you know what his next test is and see what i should do! thanks for the help!!

oh- one more thing- i put out a can of food (ff) for both him and his brother earlier when he tested at 45. so i assume that was too much food? and likely won't get a true reading now? i think he's been grazing.
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It does not matter where you are in the cycle when you get a number under 50... you feed it.

Now your dose is 2u... you earned a drop in dose, so I am thinking the TR guys would say to decrease by 0.25u.
So your new dose will be 1.75u.

what type of food did you feed to the 45? Was it a low carb pate type or was it a high carb gravy type?
Is this the first time you have seen such a big drop, from the am 498 down to 45?
 
yes, people have talked about the dose decrease to 1.75, but i don't understand!/ is that an automatic .25 decrease if he's tests below a certain number during the day? and if he's in the normal range right now, why would i give him insulin? especially because he's been eating over the past 2 hours after testing so low.
 
I think Dyana pointed out the 45 means the automatic deduction to 1.75 earlier.

I'd suggest skipping tonight. The BG rise is from the half can or so of FF he got at +10.
 
yes, people have talked about the dose decrease to 1.75, but i don't understand!/ is that an automatic .25 decrease if he's tests below a certain number during the day?
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Yes, any time the number drops below fifty, no matter when during the day or night, it indicates the dose should be reduced. Usually by .25u.
 
i just gave him his normal low carb FF pate food. and yes, this is the first time he's been in the green! and he hasn't had a drop that big before.

i can be flexible tomorrow, i'm just worried about it because his numbers are so unpredictable. even if he jumps 100 points in the next hour (which he's been known to do) what if he then plummets afterwards? i have no idea why he dipped so low today!!!
 
katlady1974 said:
yes, people have talked about the dose decrease to 1.75, but i don't understand!/ is that an automatic .25 decrease if he's tests below a certain number during the day? and if he's in the normal range right now, why would i give him insulin? especially because he's been eating over the past 2 hours after testing so low.
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in short:
1. yes, when kitty drops to a potentially dangerous number, it means the dose is too high and should be reduced.

2. you would not give him insulin when he's testing in the normal range, at least not right now, not tonight. down the road, once kitty is regulated, it is possible to do so but that's a long explanation we can cover in due time.
 
so does that mean from now on i should give him 1.75u? or is that just temporary? and what if he goes down below 50 again tomorrow- is it then 1.5u?
 
There really isn't a perfect answer to "why today?" It means that the dose worked really well though:-)
The first green is always startling, but in a good way. It means things are getting better:-)

As I mentioned earlier, skipping tonight is an option, and just my opinion but I think it's a good option. It will also allow you to stay on schedule in the AM at the lower dose.

His new regular dose would be 1.75.
If he goes below fifty again tomorrow, ask for advice before his next shot for sure.
 
When I was this new I'd skipped below 200. If Pearl came up above 200 and I shot it would be a lower dose. The deal is that kind of huge swing may indicate the dose is too high. Generally you let a dose settle over a few days but 45 is really dangerous territory and suggests a dose adjustment. If you skip don't be surprised to see a big swing up again tomorrow. But today showed you 2 u plummeted the numbers. I agree feeding was totally the thing to do. And yes if it were me I would totally move to the 1.75u with the next shot. If he plummets on that yes I'd decrease again even though its lantus and usually you let a dose settle. It's too dangerous having huge swings like that. It's way better IMO to have to creep your way up from too low of a dose than he other way around.
 
katlady1974 said:
thank you!!!! should i run the change in dose by the vet? or just do it? still very new to this!!
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Me, I'd do it and then run it by the vet. If they are worth their salt and hear he was at 45 they should agree.
 
I agree that it is a good option to skip tonite....

Be warned that the numbers may go way up. But now you have seen that the insulin is having an effect. It's a learning process.
 
katlady1974 said:
thank you!!!! should i run the change in dose by the vet? or just do it? still very new to this!!
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You can tell the vet that you reduced if you want to, and explain that you did so because the BG dropped that low. I don't think he'd advise otherwise. But you don't need to feel obligated to tell them. You could ask him if he is familiar with the Roomp/Rand tight regulation protocol for Lantus (because that is what all of the advice you gotten tonight is based upon). If he is familiar with it, he'll be happy I think. If he isn't familiar with it, it might make him willing to research it.
 
Sorry Blue is correct, you should have fed when you got the number under 50, wherever it is in the cycle. The don't feed for two Hours before the shot didnt apply here. I would skip and start the fresh dose tomorrow morning.
 
thanks!! :-D

i called the vet office but didn't get to speak to a vet- my vet is off until sunday. the receptionist was relaying messages from the tech. said no insulin tonight. i asked about lowering the dose tomorrow and was told to give a half dose in the morning and go up from there. what the heck does that mean????? i don't think tech knows what they're talking about. so, i'm just going to lower the dose to 1.75 tomorrow and inform vet later!

thanks again for all of your help!! :YMHUG:
 
i asked about lowering the dose tomorrow and was told to give a half dose in the morning and go up from there. what the heck does that mean?????
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That would be a smart vet tech playing things extremely conservative when there isn't a vet around to give advice. :-D
 
yes, i get the bit about doing a half dose- it's the "and go up from there" part that i don't get! i'm not adding some salt to a recipe- i'm giving my cat insulin!!!

DH knows a vet out of town and called him- he suggested giving 1.5 in the morning unless he's low again and then to skip morning and make a vet appt.

thoughts??
 
I agree you should skip tonight and then reduce his dose to 1.75u in the morning.

Lantus is a depot insulin so when you stall or skip, it drains the depot; obviously skipping drains it more than stalling. If he is low again tomorrow morning, post for help. Otherwise, I would shoot 1.75u as your new dose.

Any time he is 200 or lower, then post here for help. If you test 15 mins before your shot time, that gives you time to get help if you need it.
 
From what I've experienced, vets seem to tend to advise adjustments in dosage in whole unit or half unit increments. They don't seem to "fine tune" in smaller increments like we do. So I understand him saying 1.5u in the morning. I don't agree however that you need a vet appointment if he's "low again" in the morning. I sure wouldn't expect him to be under fifty then, with no shot tonight. But if you see a 90 in the morning? All I would do in your shoes is put the insulin back in the fridge and smile a whole lot. Nothing wrong with a number right in the "normal" range.
 
Hello,
I don't know Lantus, so no dose advice. What caught my eye was that you feed your kitty only 2X a day ... did I understand that correctly? If so, just a quick note that my Pudge's BG plunges when he hasn't eaten for hours. Would more frequent meals be helpful? What do others think?
Best wishes for you & your kitty,
Sophie
 
i put 2 cans of food out twice a day (i have 2 cats). it usually takes them the majority of the day to eat it all. and since i work all day i'm not able to feed him in between. usually when i get home here's still a bit of food left. though, not today- maybe that was part of the problem??
 
My guess is that when he went below 50, he ate more food in order to try to control the drop himself, hence the reason no leftovers today.

You may want to put out three cans at each meal going forward and for the third can, you can freeze it, this way by the time it thaws the cats may be hungry for it.

To freeze canned food - remove from the can, add water and freeze in ice cube tray, container or plastic baggie (ziploc).

If you use the baggie, shape it before freezing to fit into the food dish, then once frozen, turn baggie inside out and food will pop out neatly.
 
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