Suggestions for Chester's PM dose in @45 minutes

[Jaye and Chester]

Hi, Folks...

We're trying to lower Chester's dose of Levemir...we really are! He just tested 226 and +11. Both the vets who know Chester's case aren't available but last night one said that (for this morning) if he was >300 to give the planned 3U, if he was between 250 and 300 to give 1.5U and if he was under 250 not to shoot at all. Well....now I don't know what to shoot! I know he'll climb after his meal at 5:00 and I'll be able to test him a few times tonight, but and I hate to change the dose now that I've decided to stick with one....

Confused!

 

[jt and trouble (GA)]

Did you post on the lantus forum? Many eyes over there. Put Levemir in the subject line

jeanne

 

[Phoebe_TiggyGA_NortonGA]

If you are going to be around to monitor and test, I would go ahead with the steady dose.

If you are worried that he will go too low, reduce the dose and stick with the lower dose for several days.

The problem is -- really, you need to keep a dose steady for several days to determine if it is right or not.

As you get to the right dose, you will develop a new cutoff for "safe to shoot". So if you go ahead and shoot 3u this evening, you will learn if it is OK to shoot 3u when BG is 226 (though it may go up some more by shot time) -- this gives you a reference point for the future.


My diabetics, Tiggy and Rusty are very well regulated - in normal BG range nearly 24 hours per day on Levemir. And my "do not shoot" limit is 60. Below 100, they get a half dose and above 100, a "regular" dose. Mind you they only get 0.25 to 0.5 units BID to remain in tight control.

I'm not suggesting that you shoot that low yet -- just that you need to read the sticky post about becoming "data-ready" to shoot lower numbers.

 

[tuckers mom]

You just recently started leaving food out so Chester can eat more often? If I read this correctly he was fed 2X per day, but now vet recommended feeding more often?

I've found that the more often my cats get fed, the better the BGs are. Tucker was at 4 small meals per day, now due to increased meds, he gets 5 or 6 meals and due to the increased meals, his need for Levemir is slowly decreasing.

You may find that if you continue to feed Chester with the auto-feeder more often, his need for insulin may drop. The pancreas, I believe, naturally produces more insulin because of the food intake. Hopefully others could explain that better. This is just what I've observed with Tucker.

I have to agree with Phoebe, 3U if you're comfortable, but try to start being consistent with the dose. Levemir likes consistency. I do switch Tucker a bit, but his dose is 0.75U of Lev, so if he's a bit lower, he gets a smidge under that, maybe 0.6U.

 

[Jaye and Chester]

Thanks for the replies!

I tested again at +11.75 and he had gone up to 282 so I felt comfortable shooting the full 3U. Now that I've committed to sticking with that dose for a few days I hate the idea of changing it as well. I'll be home to monitor him all night, but probably won't have to worry because when I turned my back for a minute the little cuss got into the other cat's dry high carb food! Grrrrr! So the validity of my numbers might be in question tonight.

I left him some food in the auto feeder today, but he knocked it off the table. He got half of it, but the other was upside down and covered. When he's feeling good he can be quite the stinker!

The trouble with leaving food out for him is that he is high protein/low carb and two of the other cats are CRF...low protein. Chester hates to be isolated, and I only have so many rooms in the house. Have to separate the FIV cat and the Feluk cats as well! Oh, well...it's a process, right? :roll: