Spreadsheet question

[pumpkins mom]

Hi all. I am so glad we switched to Lantus. Pumpkin is doing really well and his BGs are finally dropping. I am updating his spreadsheet so I can show everyone his progress. I still don't quite understand how to complete the spreadsheet. Can you help me understand? Usually I give Pumpkin his shots at 7am and 7pm. If i am late getting home from work and give him his PM shot at 8pm and the next day I test at 6am and then test him and give him the shot at 7am, where do I list the 6am reading? It is really +11 of the first day or do I list it on the next day? Hope this makes sense. I am just so thrilled that Pumpkin is doing better! Thanks to everyone for all your support. Ann (Pumpkin's Mom)

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

You may want to insert an extra column for the time you're actually shooting. An alternative is to put the time of the shot in the AMPS or PMPS column. You can stack the numbers.

So, if your AMPS is at 7:00, you'd still call the 8:00 PM shot your PMPS. If you test in the morning prior to your AMPS test, the 6:00 AM test would be your PM +10 test since it's 10 hours from your last shot. If you then shoot at 7:00 AM, it's still your AMPS even though it's an hour early.

Pumpkin is doing well. Please remember though, that a drop in numbers below 50 warrants a dose reduction (eta: below 40 for a cat that's more than a year from diagnosis). You've missed several dose reductions. Also, while we encourage shooting low, it is not advised to give a shot if your pre-shot number is in the 40s. It's too risky. There is no margin for error especially if you are not going to be home to monitor. If you are shooting low, it's imperative that you get at least a +1 and +2 test. You've already been surprised by a number in the 20s. We do try to avoid that. If you do get a low number, you need to be monitoring very carefully. You should be testing every 30 min. and steering the curve with high carb food. If you look at Gabby's SS from tonight, you'll see what I mean.

I think you need to decrease Pumpkin's dose to 0.75u.

Also, please review the information in the Shooting & Handling Low Numbers sticky.

 

[Anne & Zener GA]

I'm glad the Lantus is working better for Pumpkin. That was true for Zener too. I think Sienne has a typo - that should be a below 50 reading results in a dose reduction for a newly diagnosed cat (less than one year).
Liz

 

[pumpkins mom]

Thanks for the info Anne & Sienne. I put a call into my vet this morning about lowering Pumpkin's insulin dose to .75u. The 28 really scared me yesterday. We have been dealing with high numbers for so long that I am really having a hard time with the low numbers. I am thrilled that Pumpkin is doing so well, but I don't want him to crash. Thanks again for all your advice and I will update his spreadsheet too. Hope your furbabies are doing well.