Understanding numbers at +2

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Lauren & Red

Lauren & Red

Member Since 2021
So in an hour and 15 minutes or so I will be doing my +2 glucose test. Once again, giving the insulin and doing all the steps took me so much longer than anticipated and I am at a much later schedule once again. Exactly what I was trying to avoid. But that’s a problem for another day.

Anyway, since it’s going to be late and I prefer to not have to wait for responses on here unless absolutely necessary…. can someone please give me an idea of what I’m looking for in my +2 number?

More specifically, what range is safe for me to go to bed? What numbers will I have to come on here for more of advice? I have food down for him to graze as he pleases. So I don’t know if that’s relevant or not either. I didn’t want to remove food after insulin so I don’t know how to factor the food part into the number either.

Anyone who has been following me the past few days, knows how little I’ve been sleeping. My body feels like it’s literally shutting down. And I’m too scared to check my blood pressure from stress. I’m on medicine for my BP. But that doesn’t always work when I’m feeling like this. Again, a problem for another day. As long as I get one night with more than a few hours of sleep it should help.

Basically, I’m just trying to get as much information as possible ahead of time. So I can potentially (and hopefully) go to sleep after the test.

Just a very general idea will do. Thank you!
 
Also, it’s possible I have stopped making sense in my posts. Feel free to let me know if that’s the case. I apologize for that as well as any grammatical errors and typos. There’s only a very small portion of my brain still functioning (and not well).
 
Lauren & Red said:
Also, it’s possible I have stopped making sense in my posts. Feel free to let me know if that’s the case. I apologize for that as well as any grammatical errors and typos. There’s only a very small portion of my brain still functioning (and not well).
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Oh, don’t even apologize. Grammatical errors get a pass right now, are you kidding.



You’re asking all the right questions. Please don’t ever stop asking them, even if they feel dumb and maybe resemble the back of an earring (I got it lol).

Just stay strong and keep swimming until you can collapse into bed.
 
I'm literally about to give our PM shot here right now, but I'll be back to check on you and help with what I can (I'm new to this as well).
 
I'll go ahead and just say, if his +2 is lower than his PM pre shot blood glucose number, pay more attention. Either way, let us know what that is and we will help.
 
smorgasbord said:
I'll go ahead and just say, if his +2 is lower than his PM pre shot blood glucose number, pay more attention. Either way, let us know what that is and we will help.
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I’m confused. Insulin is supposed to lower glucose levels, right? So shouldn’t the +2 number always be at least a little lower?

Just when I think I’m starting to understand a little bit I got thrown back to square one
 
Lauren & Red said:
I’m confused. Insulin is supposed to lower glucose levels, right? So shouldn’t the +2 number always be at least a little lower?

Just when I think I’m starting to understand a little bit I got thrown back to square one
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Insulin does lower the blood glucose, but it takes a bit of time to take affect, or kick in. Generally, we see that effect around 2 hours after the insulin shot was given. Thus, if we get a +2 reading, we can get an idea of how hard the shot is going to "kick" for this cycle. If it's lower at +2 than it was at his pre shot test, we know it's going to potentially go even lower from there. If it's around what his pre shot test was, then it's more likely he will have more of a steady cycle and you can go to sleep or leave the house. Does this make sense? Hopefully I explained ok, the ladies here will correct me if not.

Ok, he's now done with his SUPER LONG bath, so I'll be right back Lauren :)
 
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Ok, we're back. How long until your +2 Lauren?

And what were the numbers from your blood sugar tests from today?
 
smorgasbord said:
Ok, we're back. How long until your +2 Lauren?

And what were the numbers from your blood sugar tests from today?
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So this is brand new for me. Last night was my very first test and then injection. My PMPS was 284 and I gave 0.5u.

I wasn’t able to test afterwords because the cat hid under the center of my bed where I couldn’t reach. Every time I moved the bed he would adjust himself accordingly to the center. It was a nightmare. I finally gave up at 5:00am and slept for a few hours.

Then, I tested this morning two hours after food and his AMPS was 166. With the advice of some people, I decided not to shoot. Partly because his numbers were better than expected. But mostly so I could get on a time schedule that was more manageable.

Of course taking three hours to accomplish the test and shot this evening completely defeated the purpose of that. Back to a ridiculous time schedule again.

Tonight the PMPS was 271.

If I’m understanding correctly, in all likelihood his +2 two should be relatively close to his PMPS. Correct?

+2 is only 15 minutes away now. Thankfully. I’m so tired it physically hurts
 
Lauren & Red said:
So this is brand new for me. Last night was my very first test and then injection. My PMPS was 284 and I gave 0.5u.

I wasn’t able to test afterwords because the cat hid under the center of my bed where I couldn’t reach. Every time I moved the bed he would adjust himself accordingly to the center. It was a nightmare. I finally gave up at 5:00am and slept for a few hours.

Then, I tested this morning two hours after food and his AMPS was 166. With the advice of some people, I decided not to shoot. Partly because his numbers were better than expected. But mostly so I could get on a time schedule that was more manageable.

Of course taking three hours to accomplish the test and shot this evening completely defeated the purpose of that. Back to a ridiculous time schedule again.

Tonight the PMPS was 271.

If I’m understanding correctly, in all likelihood his +2 two should be relatively close to his PMPS. Correct?

+2 is only 15 minutes away now. Thankfully. I’m so tired it physically hurts
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Oh wow, I haven't been following since your beginning here, you're making CRAZY progress so fast. Trust me when I say that.
Red probably could tell you were stressed, and of course since you were trying to get to him, of course he said no, cause he's a cat. Tomorrow is another day.
Ok, so 166 2 hours after food, perfect. We can fix the schedule, all in good time.
Yes, we count +2 as 2 hours after his PMPS. Even if the shot takes forever to go into the squirmy monster ;)

So go relax for a sec and pet Red, get something yummy ready for him to sniff for his test, even if he doesn't like to eat while being bothered. Can't hurt to distract, right?

Then come back and post his +2.
 
smorgasbord said:
Oh wow, I haven't been following since your beginning here, you're making CRAZY progress so fast. Trust me when I say that.
Red probably could tell you were stressed, and of course since you were trying to get to him, of course he said no, cause he's a cat. Tomorrow is another day.
Ok, so 166 2 hours after food, perfect. We can fix the schedule, all in good time.
Yes, we count +2 as 2 hours after his PMPS. Even if the shot takes forever to go into the squirmy monster ;)

So go relax for a sec and pet Red, get something yummy ready for him to sniff for his test, even if he doesn't like to eat while being bothered. Can't hurt to distract, right?

Then come back and post his +2.
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Thank you!

ok… Got my +2. He wasn’t happy and it’s breaking my heart to cause him pain. His ears look horrible which makes me hesitant to test. I hate that I’m the cause of it.

But I did it anyway. I’m just sad in general to be constantly hurting the sweetest thing that brings nothing but happiness to my life. He’s beginning to not like or trust me. Don’t even get me started on that because I’m too tired to get emotional. It will get ugly.

I asked a few people about using lidocaine prior to the ear test. I was desperately trying to find a way to keep his pain as minimal as possible. I would pay a great deal for that (the fact that I have little money is besides the point because I would find away).

The response I got to lidocaine was a unanimous no because they didn’t know if it was safe for cats or would interfere with the results. If anyone ever finds anything that proves it’s ok, PLEASE let me know.

ok so his reading at +2 is 239.
Please don’t tell me that means I need to stay up again all night. They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… But I think another night of no sleep might actually kill me.
 
What in the heck, literally sitting here refreshing waiting for Red's results. So sorry Lauren. I live in a forest :nailbiting:

Ok, you don't have to stay up all night!

However,

I do have a few questions.
 
I think we are the only ones up right now!

How long before his PM pre shot test did he eat?

And when did he eat since the PM pre shot test?

Low carb food, ya? Do you know what percentage of carbs the food has? If you don't know, what is the type? I can look it up!
 
smorgasbord said:
I think we are the only ones up right now!

How long before his PM pre shot test did he eat?

And when did he eat since the PM pre shot test?

Low carb food, ya? Do you know what percentage of carbs the food has? If you don't know, what is the type? I can look it up!
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2 hours prior he had some low carb food before the PMPS. I intentionally picked up food from everywhere in the house two hours before testing.
He ate again before insulin (after PMPS) and has went back to his bowl for a couple bites 2 times since. But VERY small amounts. He’s a grazer and tends to eat small amounts many times throughout the day and night. Always been that way.

Prior to diagnosis last week I was feeding him food… Expensive and prescription brand for weight. Turns out, the carbs for that was about 21% per can which is outrageous. I would also rotate with wet food for gravy lovers. Also not great. I didn’t know any of this. I had always kept dry food out at all times for my cats aa well. Yikes.

We made a big change and fast. A few days before starting insulin (right after diagnosis and finding this message board) I ditched the dry food all together and switched to low carb wet food only. Fancy feast and friskies classic pates. I change flavors often and my cats don’t like the new diet as much. But they are still eating and that’s all that matters. Even though the vet told me to start insulin right away… I wanted to give it a few days to see how the diet change affected his numbers

The carb percentage I’m feeding now is anywhere from 1% to no more than 6% per can. I used the food chart provided on this site somewhere. Most cans are in the 2-3% carb range.

My vet ie pretty horrible. He said blood testing was unnecessary, made a zero mention of diet (didn’t even ask what I was feeding). He prescribed 2 units every 12 hours (prob way too high) and sent me on my way. He also advised me to watch YouTube videos to figure out how to give the shots because he was unwilling to do so. So… that was awesome (eye roll).

This may all be very new to me… But I did know one thing— I couldn’t trust my vet. So I started to research and thankfully found this site

No treats other than a TINY bit of cheese every once and awhile. But the amount is so small.

What other questions do you have?
 
Perfect pre shot feeding and after pre shot test feeding! Go give him as much noms as he will eat right now?
 
Hey Lauren, are you giving Red some snacks during the cycles as well as before the insulin shot.?
Did toy you see my post above about when to next test?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
I would give a snack of low carb food now and get another test at +4 Lauren.
Can you do that?
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I mean I can try. I don’t know if I will wake up. I really don’t think anyone realizes what I mean when I say I haven’t slept this week. No joke, for the past four days I have not had more than three hours a night. Maybe I could’ve gotten away with this in college. But I am physically falling apart. Between reading, testing, and just nonstop worrying about this cat— sleep has been impossible.

But now I’m starting to fall asleep standing up. and I think I’m hallucinating. it’s bad. Once again… I’m up WAY later than I planned and it’s very frustrating.

I keep doing it because I love my cat I want to make sure he’s getting the best care possible. But I wouldn’t even do this for myself. Just him.

It’s now 3:00 in the morning. I have to be up for work at 8 AM. Luckily I’m working from home but I still have to be up and available. So testing in another hour is kind of a big ask right now. Unless you think it’s absolutely necessary?
 
Lauren & Red said:
2 hours prior he had some low carb food before the PMPS. I intentionally picked up food from everywhere in the house two hours before testing.
He ate again before insulin (after PMPS) and has went back to his bowl for a couple bites 2 times since. But VERY small amounts. He’s a grazer and tends to eat small amounts many times throughout the day and night. Always been that way.

Prior to diagnosis last week I was feeding him food… Expensive and prescription brand for weight. Turns out, the carbs for that was about 21% per can which is outrageous. I would also rotate with wet food for gravy lovers. Also not great. I didn’t know any of this. I had always kept dry food out at all times for my cats aa well. Yikes.

We made a big change and fast. A few days before starting insulin (right after diagnosis and finding this message board) I ditched the dry food all together and switched to low carb wet food only. Fancy feast and friskies classic pates. I change flavors often and my cats don’t like the new diet as much. But they are still eating and that’s all that matters. Even though the vet told me to start insulin right away… I wanted to give it a few days to see how the diet change affected his numbers

The carb percentage I’m feeding now is anywhere from 1% to no more than 6% per can. I used the food chart provided on this site somewhere. Most cans are in the 2-3% carb range.

My vet ie pretty horrible. He said blood testing was unnecessary, made a zero mention of diet (didn’t even ask what I was feeding). He prescribed 2 units every 12 hours (prob way too high) and sent me on my way. He also advised me to watch YouTube videos to figure out how to give the shots because he was unwilling to do so. So… that was awesome (eye roll).

This may all be very new to me… But I did know one thing— I couldn’t trust my vet. So I started to research and thankfully found this site

No treats other than a TINY bit of cheese every once and awhile. But the amount is so small.

What other questions do you have?
Click to expand...

Yup, isn’t that crazy, expensive AND bad for them!

Nobody tells us this, don’t beat yourself up. He’s going to be so much happier now with a better diet.

Great job fixing his diet before the insulin because the diet change from higher carb does REALLY lower their numbers.



1-6%, excellent!

Silly vet, that must be so frustrating! Thankfully you thought outside the box and are here now.

Treats are totally ok if they are low carb. It’s good for him to eat whenever he wants to.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hey Lauren, are you giving Red some snacks during the cycles as well as before the insulin shot.?
Did toy you see my post above about when to next test?
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He doesn’t eat treats. I haven’t tried in a while but I have many times in the past. Do you have any recommendations for new ones I can try? Also, why am I trying to raise his blood glucose level when it’s already higher than a healthy cat? I still have the high carb foods he loves. But I cut him off from those cold turkey at the start of the week and he’s been fine with it. Why mess with a good thing?
 
Lauren & Red said:
He doesn’t eat treats. I haven’t tried in a while but I have many times in the past. Do you have any recommendations for new ones I can try? Also, why am I trying to raise his blood glucose level when it’s already higher than a healthy cat? I still have the high carb foods he loves. But I cut him off from those cold turkey at the start of the week and he’s been fine with it. Why mess with a good thing?
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Let's cover all of these questions once you've slept. It will all make more sense then!

For now, it's your call what you can handle. Maybe try to set an alarm for +4 and see if you can test him then?
 
smorgasbord said:
Yup, isn’t that crazy, expensive AND bad for them!

Nobody tells us this, don’t beat yourself up. He’s going to be so much happier now with a better diet.

Great job fixing his diet before the insulin because the diet change from higher carb does REALLY lower their numbers.



1-6%, excellent!

Silly vet, that must be so frustrating! Thankfully you thought outside the box and are here now.

Treats are totally ok if they are low carb. It’s good for him to eat whenever he wants to.
Click to expand...
So if I leave food out. I always do overnight anyway… Can I go to bed? Now, the most amount of sleep I can get is five hours. If I fall asleep four minutes ago. LOL.Which is slightly better than every other night this week but still pretty horrible considering.
There will be no one to care for this cat if I kill myself in the process. Sorry… I have a dry sense of humor and tend to be pretty sarcastic. I didn’t mean that literally
 
Hi Lauren,
I do think you will need to test Red again during this cycle to ensure he stays safe. You can test him now and see what he is and we can see when we next think you should test OR you can test at +4 but you may need to test again. I would suggest you try and sleep in between the tests.


Lauren & Red said:
Also, why am I trying to raise his blood glucose level when it’s already higher than a healthy cat
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We aren’t trying to raise his blood glucose. By feeding him snacks during the cycles, this is not raising the BGs but ensuring he has some food to work with the insulin and ensuring he doesn’t drop too fast.
 
OK… You have all been awesome. Thank you so much. I’m going to sleep. I’ll set my alarm to test again but if I’m being honest… I don’t see myself waking up for that. I promise I will try but the way I’m feeling I can’t imagine even hearing my alarm. The cats know my schedule and if it wasn’t for them I would have not woke up on time the past few days. They are the cutest alarm clocks ever. But they won’t wake me like that in the middle of the night.

Thanks for everything! You guys are awesome. I will check back tomorrow. Which is only a handful of hours away from now. So awesome (said with another sigh and eye roll. LOL)
 
Lauren, if you are going to go to sleep now and don’t think you will wake up with the alarm, please leave plenty of food out for Red to eat overnight. we don’t know yet how he is reacting to the insulin as we haven’t seen enough data.
Do try and wake up.
 
P.S. He just ate more food, played with a toy mouse for a few minutes, and then came to the bed waiting for me to pick him up. We usually share a pillow. He used to be able to jump up on everything but since he started having symptoms of diabetes he seems to struggle for some reason. Makes me so sad and I hope it gets better. Good night everyone. Or good morning… However depressing you feel like looking at it. Hopefully, I’m the only crazy one on this time zone. Thanks again
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Lauren, if you are going to go to sleep now and don’t think you will wake up with the alarm, please leave plenty of food out for Red to eat overnight. we don’t know yet how he is reacting to the insulin as we haven’t seen enough data.
Do try and wake up.
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I will try and there are two full bowls of wet food for him. Way more than he needs. My other cat has his own food. And he just ate a little recently. He’s playful and purring and seems fine. I said I would try but I didn’t want to lie. I think he will be fine and I have to be up for work in 4 1/2 hours anyways. I appreciate the concern
 
Lauren & Red said:
I will try and there are two full bowls of wet food for him. Way more than he needs. My other cat has his own food. And he just ate a little recently. He’s playful and purring and seems fine. I said I would try but I didn’t want to lie. I think he will be fine and I have to be up for work in 4 1/2 hours anyways. I appreciate the concern
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I do understand how tired you are and I want to say it will get much better. I’m glad you left out plenty of food for Red.
Sleep well
 
Lauren & Red said:
I will try and there are two full bowls of wet food for him. Way more than he needs. My other cat has his own food. And he just ate a little recently. He’s playful and purring and seems fine. I said I would try but I didn’t want to lie. I think he will be fine and I have to be up for work in 4 1/2 hours anyways. I appreciate the concern
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Ok, good good. FYI, if his blood sugar gets low, he will be RAVENOUS!

For tomorrow, will you create a new thread here before giving his morning shot?:



https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-basaglar-glargine-and-levemir-detemir.9/



Title the thread 7/24 Red AMPS (put his AMPS here)



If you can do this before his morning shot, everyone awake then can help you decide if it’s safe to give his shot, and how much to give him.



That’s a good place to ask questions about his ears, food carb levels, glucose levels, and getting your insulin shot timing schedule where you want it to be.
 
smorgasbord said:
Ok, good good. FYI, if his blood sugar gets low, he will be RAVENOUS!

For tomorrow, will you create a new thread here before giving his morning shot?:



https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-basaglar-glargine-and-levemir-detemir.9/



Title the thread 7/24 Red AMPS (put his AMPS here)



If you can do this before his morning shot, everyone awake then can help you decide if it’s safe to give his shot, and how much to give him.



That’s a good place to ask questions about his ears, food carb levels, glucose levels, and getting your insulin shot timing schedule where you want it to be.
Click to expand...
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
@smorgasbord
We like to keep our new members here on main health until they are managing to test ok and have everything set up as it’s so busy over on the Land L forum.:)
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I don’t know what to do. I keep getting an error message every time I test. I’m having a very difficult time getting my cat to cooperate and last night I spilled water all over my supplies in the struggle. When I kept getting the error message today I figured that my strips had got wet.

The error message says that it’s a “used test strip or that I am putting the sample on top of the strip”. Neither of which are true. I’m doing it the same way I was before. And I’m getting the same error message when I try on myself. I know I’m doing it right.

I use a brand new strip every time. And I let the blood get sucked up by touching the end.

I wasn’t able to test today because of this and decided to give insulin anyway this morning. My mom bought new strips and brought them to me tonight. I just attempted my PMPS with the new strips (that are made for my testing device— I triple checked). But I’m getting the same message as I was before. So now I’m thinking the problem is the device and maybe that also got wet last night. ?? I don’t know.

It really was a mess last night… Like always. My cat is not getting any easier to test. In fact it’s the opposite.I really don’t know how everyone does it.

Anyway…. Not sure if I should shoot or not. I’m only doing 0.5. I really hate to miss a dose but once again, it would be shooting blind. He just ate a good amount. I put the food down as I was trying to test him. He stops eating immediately now when I touch his ears. After a major struggle, lots of puncture wounds on my arms and legs, and 3 test attempts with error messages later… I’m still at square one. I finally left him alone and he went back and ate the food.

what should I do? Is it ok to shoot since I’m only doing 0.5? Any idea why I keep getting the error message? Have you experienced this before?

I can understand maybe not doing it right with the struggle between me and my cat. Even though it’s how I was doing it before. But I know I’m doing it right on myself and I’m getting the same error message. So something is wrong. Every time I take one step forward I take like seven steps back.

Please let me know if I can still shoot? I was worried after making that decision this morning, but he’s been fine and happy all day.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Did you give insulin last night Lauren?
There is nothing in the SS.
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Yes I did. And I did post in my SS. Are you not seeing it? During the +2 is when I spilled the water and had the most trouble. But I managed to get his BG prior to the spill. This cat is getting harder and harder to test. But now on top of that my device isn’t working. I don’t know how I have any tears left but apparently I do :(
 
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