Troubleshooting BG, Insulin, & Meters

So, had a relatively normal high AMPS reading this morning, which I expected because I ended up only giving Boots a token dose last night since his BG looked kind of low. Gave him his normal dose this morning, at the normal time, with the same amount of food, and when I took a reading PMPS... his BG was like abnormally and suspiciously low. Like low to the point where I don't actually believe it can be correct. I took his BG at +2 and he's up at a rate I'd kind of expect but his numbers are absurdly low. Unsure what the deal is? Is it possible my meter is wonky? Is it worth investing in a second meter? I just ended up not giving him any insulin. He seems totally normal so I'm a little confused about what's going on.

Edit: I just tested myself to be sure, and my BG is normal. So unsure if it's possibly the meter.

 

Not a lot of readings so it's hard to say. Did you re-test that 56 this evening? Always re-test if you get a "suspicious" number, sometimes you get a bad strip or don't get enough blood on accident.

 

Didn't retest at the time, just at the +2. He hasn't been all that happy with being tested. I guess I'll have to remember for next time.

 

Anytime you get Pre-shot numbers too low to shoot like this, it's a good chance that the dose is too high.

4U is a HUGE dose, especially for so early in treatment. I don't know what it is about vets but it seems like a lot of them like that 4U dose. My China was on Lantus and that's what her vet told me to start at too...and she weighed less than 7lbs at the time. I told him I wasn't comfortable starting that high and that I thought 1U was where I'd start. He was sure she'd end up needing a lot more (her starting BG was 432) but in the 5 1/2+ years afterwards, she never needed more than 2.75.

I strongly urge you to start over at a much lower dose. I know you're working on getting dry out of the picture and that's another really good idea. Continuing to feed high carb food to a diabetic makes as much sense as trying to control a wildfire while you continue to pour gasoline on it. Yeah, it might be possible if you have enough water, but it makes a whole lot more sense to just stop pouring the gas on it!

The majority of cats here that are eating a low carb diet never need more than 3U but they should all be started at between .5 and 1U and slowly worked up as needed.

You also need to start getting some mid-cycle tests if at all possible. We need to know how low Boots is going. Can you start getting some tests in between the shots?

Don't be surprised if Boots is high again by AMPS....he's probably going to bounce from dropping so low today. Bounces happen when 1. they drop too low, 2. they drop too quickly, 3. they drop into numbers their body isn't used to anymore (or any combination of all 3). The liver releases stored sugars and hormones to bring it back up quickly. It can take up to 3 days for those hormones to clear out of the body before you will really know how the dose is working for him.

 

It was probably just a bad strip. Nothing wrong with having a backup meter if you want; they're cheap enough.

 

We're at 100% wet now, so that's good. Over the last week he was just getting a couple pieces of dry food as a treat for getting his BG tests. But his Purebites came in today!

Fancy Feast pates are on the way.

I guess my question then is, do I just start him over at 1U and go from there?

When is the best time of day to mid cycle test? My only days to really get mid cycle are Sat/Sun.

 

I would think starting over at 1u would be good, but wait for more experienced replies. Hopefully Chris has a suggestion.

+2 is always a good place to start, it will usually be an indication of where the cycle will go. Anything between +2 and +7 are good mid-cycles, at least a couple if you are able. You could do +2, +4, +6, something like that.

 

I'm not sure I'd start all the way back at 1U because a lot of times that just leads to wasting time working your way back up. How about 2U until we see how he does? He looks like a pretty large kitty. If we start to see that it's too much, we'll drop down.

You might want to read this "Is TR possible with a full time job" thread. I know it's using a different insulin (Lantus) but there are some good ideas in it

How about starting with 2U tomorrow and getting a curve? Since it's Sunday, could you test every 2 hours for 12 hours?

 

Perfect analogy!