Thinking about moving Musette to Levermir

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MommaOfMuse

MommaOfMuse

Member Since 2010
Okay I have exhausted all the tricks I know for Ms. Musette with Lantus and it just isn't cutting it for her...we've tried going down in dose, we've tired going up in dose, we have tried split-dosing and that just pissed her off....So now I'm thinking of looking at changing her insulin altogether.

I have some Levermir here that I got from my diabetic mother and can probably talk to her about getting more through her until our weather becomes stable enough to ship a different insulin out to us (Musette is still a DCIN sponsored kitty).

So here is the questions...to move her over to Levermir do I just stop the Lantus and start the Lev with the next shot? And do I start her all over at .5u or continue at the 1.25u that she is currently on with the Lantus. Or my other choice would be to see if I could get her on PZI but since I have some Lev here ( about a month or so worth) I would like to try it first.

I'm going to be taking her to my vet next week anyhow to have her teeth looked at and get an estimate for her having a dental done...so I kind of what to be prepared with enough information to make my point as to why I want a script for Levermir, it took me long enough to get them to prescribe Lantus to cats over NPH. I know they would go for PZI since it is a vet only insulin but I'm more than likely going to need a convincing arguement for Levermir...Of course if I do start her on it ahead of the vet visit and we are getting good results then perhaps that would be enough to get them to write me a script for it.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
You can just stop lantus and start lev on the next shot. However, do not start at 1.25u! I'm not sure why you suddenly jumped to 1u and then 1.25 from .5u (actually from .4u) 4 days ago. Wondering what you reasoning was?

Given the fact that 2 weeks ago you were shooting .3u and getting a 68, I would suggest that you start at .25u. Why? Because we have seen some pretty strong responses to the 1st to 3rd dose of lev even when those shots are half what the old insulin dose was.

I think I need to study her SS some more, but it is too late for that now (I shouldn't even be here, but saw that no one responded to you yet). What are the numbers in brackets that are counting up? Last one was [92]? But on a quick glance it looks like the dose changes are too fast - or there is a weird, sudden doubling of the dose and then back down again (or vice versa). She may need much longer to settle on doses and the tiniest dose changes (.1u).

My reasons for lev over lantus were that it is a closer ph to a cats (doesn't sting), cheaper, more stable and, now that I have used to, gentler (but maybe that is the way I am using it, which is not following the Tilly protocol, but making very small changes instead of even .25u ones.
 
Sheila,

I wasn't shooting .4u a couple weeks ago I was split-dosing, so she was getting .4u at 7am and then another .4 at 9am and the same in the evening. The numbers in the brackets correspond to the little yellow triangles on her spreadsheet where I added comments to the various cells on the spreadsheet. It was easier for me to do that, than try to squish it all in the comment line at the end. The split-dosing worked for her for awhile and then the same problem I have with her showed up again...her numbers started creeping up again and then held there. The other problem with constant split-dosing was it was making her angry. She handles the ear pokes and the first shots fine, it was the second ones that she would growl at me and act like they hurt her. So now I'm back to trying to find a dose for her that works b.i.d.

But her reaction to those second shots of the splits is why I'm thinking about moving over to Levermir, providing I can get my vet to go for it. Since she is probably not ever going to go into remission and that I have heard that Lantus stings (the same reason my mom went from Lantus to Levermir) if she is going to require insulin for the rest of her life, I want her as comfy as possible on those shots.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
OK, gotcha. (see, I told you I shouldn't have been trying to make sense of things at 1:30 in the morning).

I still think she may need a long time on a dose to settle. It seems like she has an immediate reaction to the dose change, then "backslides", but then starts to settle. I am looking at the last 5 days where it looks like you went back to single shots with a 1u shot (on the 13th) and she dropped to 41 then, of course, rebounded from that. I wonder if you had stuck with 1u if she would have gotten to the decent numbers she seems to be starting on today?

I would suggest starting lev at .5u then and really let it settle. Perhaps the biggest argument for using lev is the not-stinging and, therefore, not making her adverse to shots and testing - plus it works!
 
Mel, I hope this is met with the kindness in which I present it.
Levemir has only one "r." It rhymes with Bev-a-dear.

There was a bar soap about a decade ago called Lever 2000. Whatever happened to that? That's what I thought of when I saw your misspelling! :lol:
 
Vicki

No offense taken see what I get for posting AFTER I take my contacts out, and while on cold meds...I kept thinking that doesn't look right but for the life of me couldn't figure out what was wrong...thank you..it was the additional R.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
MommaOfMuse said:
Vicki

No offense taken see what I get for posting AFTER I take my contacts out, and while on cold meds...I kept thinking that doesn't look right but for the life of me couldn't figure out what was wrong...thank you..it was the additional R.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
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ohmygod_smile :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
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