Who are the dose advisors?

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Randa & Mookie

Randa & Mookie

Member Since 2011
Hi, I've searched the board and haven't been able to find answers so I'm posting my questions: who is giving dosing advice on the TR board?

It's troubling to me that I have no idea who the advice givers are and why they are qualified to do so. Is there a committee of people who makes decisions? Do advisors work in shifts? Do you triage kitties? Who is moderating the board, and why aren't the moderators identified?

These questions are the same or similar to those I'd ask of Mookie's vet or my doctor, and yet I'm taking medical advice here "blind" in a way. Perhaps a sticky on how the board functions would be helpful. Thanks so much for clarification!
 
hi randa! it's a peer-reviewed board. the idea is that people come here and learn, and those who are so inclined pass the wisdom on. there are a lot of people who give advice - those early in the game give advice on things they've had succeed with their cat in poking or feeding, that kind of thing. as people learn more, some people with more experience are willing to look at spreadsheets and give advice on dose. many people feel they might understand it for their own cat but don't feel confident giving advice to someone else.

there are probably 12-15 or so people who will give advice on dose. not all of those are on all the time. there's no formal schedule or anything, but if someone with more experience is helping a person, and they have to leave, they might send a message to another experienced person to help out.

most people won't give advice on something they don't know about. occasionally someone new will try, but there are enough people with experience who will add their two cents worth in. that's one of the reasons that we have all dosing advice given out in the open and not in personal messages. it keeps information available for others to review, correct or question if need be.

for myself, i know that i will only give advice on what i feel pretty certain about, and if something is asked that i don't know, i'll flag it for someone who has had experience with it. just like i'm learning now how to use the "R" insulin - i know dyana, sandy & libby have extensive experience with it. the other day nina gave me some advice as well, and even though she doesn't post here often, she was one of the first people who greeted me when we came last february. i know she has extensive experience as well. if you gave me advice on R, i might have some extra questions, however . . . ;-) :-D

when tifil was having trouble a while back, people contacted a former member that had experience to come and give isil some advice. the folks who have been here a while know who is experienced in different aspects and who can help in those areas. when we have someone needing assist feeding advice for their cat, karrie is our first go-to person. she has a lot of passion and knowledge around it.

you can look at people's membership data and see when they joined and how many posts they have and that helps you know if someone has enough experience to offer advice. there are people who have been doing this literally for years - FDMB started in 1998 on a different forum and there are a lot of people still here who moved over to this site from that previous forum.

the basis of advising for this forum is using the Tight Regulation Protocol developed by Rand/Roomp that's in that sticky. you can always double-check advice by looking there as a reference. most of the time where the advice comes in is on reading a spreadsheet and knowing what is a bounce, what is New Dose Wonkiness, interpreting based on data when a person should hold, increase or decrease a dose.

as far as moderators, jill is a moderator of this forum with years of experience and wisdom.
 
Thanks, Julie. Your info should be a new sticky! I can't possibly be the only one who has wondered how this board functions or who gives advice. You've answered my questions and I'm satisfied with your answers, so thanks again!
 
It is a reasonable question and a good one..Everyone here contributes to our knowledge of FD from their own personal experiences..Some are more medically knowledgeable than others, but the basics of the protocol are in the stickys, & that is why they are posted so often. Asking others advice on a dose is part of the whole that makes what this forum is..Many of us have been here a long time, some have learned different things about this disease, but the knowledge we all bring here is cumulative.
Everyone is encouraged to post their questons & concerns in their daily posts & requests for help are welcomed..So, we all need to pitch in now, as there are so many people on board here & try to help newbies & longer members alike... I personally only give advice from what I have experienced, and some that I have learned here--And for all this and for my now well & healthy cat, I am ever thankful!
 
Thanks, Roni. I've always been comfortable with (and comforted by) the advice, reassurance, and friendship I've received here. It just seemed foolish not to ask when I'm being so careful in every other way to monitor Mookie and keep him safe.
 
It is a good question. Officially, there are no dose "advisors" since with the exception of a few people who are vet techs, no one here is a veterinary professional. Some of the members have expertise in related areas or with humans, have access to medical and/or veterinary libraries, or just like to read and understand the research that's out there. If I were trying to sort out who's who, Julie's suggestion of looking at the # of posts is one way. (There are some people who may post a great deal but I don't always think that's the best way to gauge -- they may post a lot but not give good recommendations.) I'd also look at spreadsheets. There are some people on the board who provide a lot of input but when I look at their cat's SS, I get a bit scared! That is why we keep all dose-related information in the public forum -- if you provide information there is always someone else that's looking who can make a correction, raise a question, etc.
 
by the way, on the Board Index page there are links at the bottom that include the moderators. look to the very bottom of this page: Board Index If you click on moderators, you can see Jill is a "global moderator." i was mistaken - there is no moderator specifically for this forum.

one thing i did want to mention, since i was thinking about this later today. there is a post in the top section of each forum that includes Suggestions for Advice Givers. It's worth looking at.

probably the biggest thing i've learned is how very different cats are. some zoom high from one bit of kibble, some don't seem very sensitive at all to carbs. some cats are such zoomers, and some like punkin are so flat in their cycles. that's why one size doesn't fit all in how we treat our cat's health.

the burden is still on the caregiver to educate him/herself about their own cat and diabetes.
 
hahhahaha cathy! i gotta admit, telling the vet i'm taking the advice of the crazy internet people over him . . . let's just say i side-stepped it as much as possible.

"the crazy internet people are telling me that i was supposed to be using u-100 syringes with the lantus after we switched away from the ProZinc that used u-40 syringes. the crazy internet people are telling me that by still using the same syringes from the ProZinc, punkin is getting 2.5 times as much insulin as he's supposed to be getting. do you know anything about that?"

;-) those crazy internet people. :-D
 
Thanks, Sienne. I like the suggestions of looking at others' SSs and profile information to get an idea of the breadth of their experience with FD. Medical advice I can get from our vet; I appreciate the personal experiences people bring to this board.
 
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