Sammy - TaTa - The Aftermath

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Maureen & Sammy

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When last we left our adventure Sammy was laying on the chaise in the living room at 239 at +17.5 with more Karo Syrup in him than a pecan pie. He is still laying on the chaise in the living but now he's 192 at +22.25 and showing great restraint about eating. He could be waiting for me to - like - open a can.
 
LOL what a crazy day you had yesterday! Oh my gosh are you still standing? Kitty is probably like wow MOM I like all this food, good thing he has a good appetite!!! Hoping for a better day for you today!!
 
The question of the moment is when to shoot, if at all, this glad-to-be-alive morning? What is the optimal eating and shooting pattern? Might be nice to get this every 12 hours thing at a workable time too.
 
Now is the time to pick when you want your 12/12 schedule. What +hour from his last shot would that be and what +hour are we now?
 
Wow, Maureen, I'm glad your yesterday is over and I'll bet you are too. Your condo was like a soap opera! Best of luck today with figuring out your 12/12 shooting times, re-stocking your catfood pantry, etc. etc. You did great yesterday, and so did Sammy. Welcome to LL!!

Ella & Stu
P.s. get some sleep!!!
 
Good morning you two! Since I didn't get a chance to stop in your condo yesterday, I thought I'd stop in today and see how things were going....now I have to go ready yesterday's condo!! Unfortunately, at the moment, I don't have the time to do that since I am stopping in from tbp...so I guess I'll have to do that tonight.

Cya later on and I hope you get your 12/12 schedule figured out by then :-D
 
I'm beginning to suspect we may have another problem. I see little evidence of pooping. This is a three-cat, two-cat box household. The three have various toilet habits. Sammy's the only cat I know to come in from outside to go to the bathroom. His kid brother prefers the great outdoors and Beauty is just glad if she's allowed to use the box. Unless Sammy went upstairs to use the convenience then I don't know when he pooped last. After the operation he had one soft bowel movement no diarrhea like they worried about and then a day or so later a giant one almost as long as his tail. That's the last I distinctly remember.
 
good morning!
i rarely suggest skipping a shot, but in this case it might be the best idea. skipping would allow sammy's body to adjust not only from the over dose, but from all that hc and karo. his system is surely out-of-whack today. one skipped shot is nothing in the scheme of things.
what do you think?


ps - another bonus is you'd be able to regroup today.
 
I was going to take another reading in about 10 minutes to see if we could tell what direction we're going in here - like trying to see if the tea leaves tell us anything.
 
Morning Maureen....you did a great job yesterday!
We try to link yesterday's condo in our first post of the day so here it is from yesterday for you:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12305

Wishing you well today...everyone here is so fantastic, aren't they? :thumbup Happy Monday to youz!
 
the decision is yours whether to shoot or not. personally, i don't think it would be so bad to skip to allow his body to get back to normal. it's also possible he may be little more sensitive to the insulin after yesterday's ordeal.
 
another thought... you could always give him a token dose just to get some insulin in him something like 0.5 unit.
you've been dealing with diabetes for a long time. i bow to your knowledge of your cat...


edited to add: just saw your question. no. i meant you could skip this morning's shot and then shoot tonight.
 
yeah, I know Sammy but I know nothing about Lantus. It's like handing a three-year-old a gun. That stuff is - whoa - powerful. So I would defer to you. He's not in any imminent danger. He's barely eaten. His digestive tract may be a mess. His ear must be smarting. He's gone back to sleep.
 
i really don't think there's any problem with skipping the shot this morning for the reasons you've mentioned.

Do you feed and then shoot? If so how long between is optimal?
i do both at the same time. while alex has her head stuck in the food bowl, i shoot her.
you have a couple of hours to get food on board with lantus. *usually* onset isn't until +2 or +3... depending on the cat.
 
Just want to say Good Morning and hope you have a less stressful day you deserve it after yesterday's ordeal and want to again say so happy you are hear just keep reading the Sticky's above they are so helpful in learning about how to use Lantus :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
 
Sorry. So you get up in the morning and get a GB but - provided it's sensible - you shoot the agreed dose. Then you test again in 3-6 hrs looking for the nadir?
 
Wow, what a day and night you had. And you're funny and have a good attitude, too. I followed your thread until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I'm glad you found us. See what wonderful people we have here? :mrgreen:
Welcome again Maureen.
 
lol! these days, i just shoot on the 12s, but i'm comfortable shooting on low numbers. i also have tons of data to support my decisions and am able to monitor (work from home).

since you're new to lantus, you might want to start with shooting full doses on anything over 180. as soon as you start collecting data, you'll be lowering that low shoot number. whenever you get a preshot number lower than usual, post for advice. at that point you'd be presented with 3 options:
--- shoot if you're available to monitor
--- do not feed, stall and retest in 20 - 30 minutes to hopefully catch him on a rise before shooting
--- shoot a BCS dose (big chicken sh*t dose)

initially, i'd get a +3, +6, and a +9. those spot checks will give you a clue as to whether you need to monitor more closely that day/night. i'm not a huge fan of curves. i think you can do random spot checks on different days to obtain pretty much all the data you need.
 
What about curving?
Do you mean spot checks or doing a curve? The latter can be every 2 or 3 hours. You will probably want to do a curve once Sammy's system has settled down or whenever you feel like it. The minimum number of checks include AM and PM pre-shot and one additional check per cycle. More is always better.

When you are feeling up to it, it will be very helpful if you could start a spreadsheet and complete a profile. The instructions for both are in the Tech forum. There are instructions for how to attach both to your signature so we have access to that information.

As Pat noted, we also attach the previous day's thread (aka in Lantus-speak, "condo") to the first post of the current day. You just cut and paste the http line from your browser.
 
I too work out of the house, which I have rarely been out of since Sammy was diagnosed. I was supposed to go back and forth to the city (I'm on Long Island) a couple of times this week. :lol: Guess that ain't gonna happen.
 
Yikes Maureen, yesterday's soap opera had me sitting on the edge of my seat. I see you survived and are in good humor again. :smile: Kudos to you!!
Are you the Catnip Cottage, Maureen?

Hey Sammy, let's not have any more drama like that, Okay/
 
you never know. you may feel comfortable leaving once you see how sammy reacts with the right dose.
i'm going to leave you in the capable hands of those who are on the board this morning. i *see* many experienced sets of eyes here.
will catch up to you later...
 
Hi again, Maureen, I see that while I was writing this Jill has already given you the information. But I'll post it anyway! Here is is:

As I understand it, you get up in the morning and test Sammy's blood glucose. If it is a safe number (here you will have to ask Jill or Libby or D. or Sienne what a safe number for Sammy might be at this point), you shoot the prescribed dose and feed him at the same time. (The purpose of getting the AMPS and PMPS tests is simply to see if it is safe to shoot; it is not for the purpose of deciding what the dose should be; Lantus needs consistency to be able to work properly). Then, during the course of the 12-hour cycle you try to get in some more tests so you can get a curve to see where the nadir is, how quickly (or slowly) he reaches his nadir, and how long he "surfs" in the lower numbers before his bg numbers begin to climb again. If you are home, try to get at least a +3, +6, and +9 before the PMPS. Also get a test before you go to bed at night. If you can get other tests in, that is good because then the experts can have a better idea of Sammy's patterns. If you are not home, get an "out the door" test and then test again when you return. On the weekend, try to test more frequently. Any changes in the dose are made gradually and held for several days (see the Protocol). The bg number at nadir is how the dose is determined and/or adjusted.
I hope I haven't provided too much superfluous info. for you. I have been learning all of this over the last 2 1/2 months. As a former PZI Vet user, I had to overcome all that I had learned about using PZI vet when I switched to Lantus. Most important: DO NOT ROLL THE INSULIN VIAL or cartridge in your hands before filling the syringe. Lantus doesn't like to be "shook up"!!

Good luck today!
Ella
 
Doc told me to roll it too. I guess it's just them being used to other insulins? I plan to educate my vet next time we go back... if I can find the tact and diplomacy that should probably be used. I wish I could borrow Sienne when I go, I love how tactful she is. I'm afraid I'll just be blunt. "Dude, you're a fool. You told me this, this and this.... but in reality you don't do this, you do that *this* way and the other thing was just plain dumb. Go to FDMB and get an education in FD before you send someone home to kill their cat." :oops:

So yeah. I haven't made that appointment yet :lol:
 
I'm much more tactful in writing -- I can use the delete key. There have been many times that my mouth engaged before my brain!!

I'd suggest blaming the difference in information on the pharmacist! ("The pharmacist where I got my Lantus reinforced that you have to treat it gently -- no rolling, shaking, etc. S/he said something about it not being the same kind of suspension as other insulin. Gee, isn't that interesting?")

Don't worry about getting tests in this cycle if you're not shooting. I would try to get the SS working before your PMPS (PM pre-shot) time.
 
so are you shooting this morning, or not? :mrgreen:

If you shoot now, your next shot will be due 12 hours from now, which puts you on a pretty late schedule for getting night spot checks. At this point it might be wise to wait until this evening to shoot. Then you can also be pretty sure the overdose has cleared out and we'll be seeing more true numbers.
 
Maureen I just read your post from yesterday...gosh what a day! Looks like you handled it beautifully. Hope you have a chance to relax a bit and catch up on sleep tonight!

I also just want to say how impressed I am with you guys... people taking 'shifts', pushing their own things aside and staying up late. You're all awesome!
 
Hi Maureen!! Welcome to lantus land and What an entrance :lol:
You got the best advice possible & you did a great job!
I also am on Long Island, and could help you if you should need it! I also work out of the house..
You did exactly the right things yesterday, and I'm sure you will get it figured out, with the help of our members.
The transition from one insulin to another is always a challenge..Hope it all transitions well for yoou & Sammy.
Have a great Monday :mrgreen:
 
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