? How do you sleep not knowing??

Ok hubby and I are pretty tired. How do you sleep when you know that they are gonna dip but don't know how far?? We can't keep getting up every night all night. How do you trust? She won't use the timed feeder. So we have to get up at least once to feed so we test. Do we feed her higher carb thru night every night? I'm getting beat, again. how do you sleep?

 

Sleep? I hear this word every once in awhile and wish someone would explain it to me

But seriously, all any of us can really do is learn our cat's patterns and if we think it's necessary, set an alarm clock to get up and nap when we can.

And pray

Sleep deprivation kind of comes along with the sugardance.....at least for those of us that care enough to be home testing in the first place. I can't imagine going to sleep and not knowing my China will be OK!!

 

I leave food out but I also get up between 2 and 4 every morning and feed Doc - if he or one of the others eats the food and he needs some, he climbs all over us hollering until I get up... Wouldn't trade that for the world.

 

I leave food out too. And I under-dose for the PM dose. That way we almost never have an issue. Also I make some warm wet food for Leo as his last evening meal at 11pm. It helps since he seems to eat more of it.

But yeah, I've lost a lot of sleep over the past 2.5 years. It was worse when he went thru bouts of not eating. But mostly it was worse for him. I didn't mind the sleep issues so much.

The few times Leo has gone low, we are lucky. He makes a lot of pitiful meows. But you can't count on that. Plus hypos are no fun. Neither are fur shots....yeah I've done them too. (don't tell anyone)

 

AMEN! I am so exhausted. It is somehow comforting to know there are others 'like me' out there who are also exhausted out of love for cats.

 

Sleep? Like in a bed? Noah is on Caninsulin and gets poked at 11 and 11. So when I wake up at 4AM I do a visual check; tail in the air, happy to see me, ready for a snack, no stumbling or lethargy. That's called "science" in this house, just like those stupid aliens and their ray guns. They seem to have lost interest in anal probes. Then I go back to sleep for 8 minutes.

 

DH and I share the nightly shifts - he feeds and tests up to +2 and wakes me up if BG is too low at +2 to take over. If BG is OK he feeds at PMPS +2, doesn't test and goes to bed. My alarm is always at PMPS+3 - either to feed only or to test and feed. Ducia is asymptomatic when below 40 but mild symptoms begin just below 30 (like was with recent BG 28) so I cannot trust not knowing & sleeping and choose to get up at night. How hubby knows the BG is OK if he doesn't test at +2 ? - if the pre-shot is above 200 and we feed front load style then we assume it is OK to hold testing until +3. We were wrong on a few occasions. I hope you'll find a solution to balance, Angela, and get some rest. You and your DH such a great team!


PS. I should have mentioned that I never sleep longer than 4 hours, life long insomniac, so my schedule might be a bit taxing for others.

 

I under-dose PM as well, maybe by as much as 1/3. I may wake up early but that's my only sleep problem. When my head hits the pillow I'm out in 3 minutes. I've even fallen asleep at the dentist. There's just no way, alarm or not, that I know I can wake up at +4. My metabolism isn't like anything you've seen before. I can nap but if I get under the covers it's all over, even at 10AM.

 

Jones get prednisolone, so that will raise his BG's...however, I have noticed that it isn't a set time any more. So, I feed extra carb in. Plenty of food. I need my sleep at least 6 hours or I am useless at work the next day and I have my own health concerns to stay on top of.

He sleeps with me, so I usually know how he is doing as I get up and do the scientific type check like @Noah & me. I pet him, make sure he is breathing ok, that he raises his head, purrs - every time I wake up to roll over.

I have set my alarm if concerned. Know thy cat plays part of the decision on stay up a bit longer or not.

 

trying to put weight back on my tux and i have multicats so i leave some wetfood and also YA & EVO dry out overnight so i don't need to wake up to feed. From the start i knew i needed my sleep amd that i did not want to pull my hair out worrying about really low numbers so i have been dosing just enough to keep his BG in low 100's. just now getting brave enough to tackle going into the green zone but, only during the day.

take care of yourselves! After numerous tests, i was diagnosed with having sleep deprivation related health issues early last year, it was not a fun last decade being constantly grumpy, brainless & tired all day, my cats definitely did not get the attention they deserved because of it and i missed signs of health issues that could of been taking care of in some of them back then that resulted in me losing 3 cats. you both need to think of your health too and not just your kitty so IMO it would be best to get your much needed sleep, leave some food out and under dose kitty at night if you think he may dip too low..

 

I usually inject at 5:30-6 am and pm, so i can get a +3 or 4 before I go to bed.

 

I think the lack of sleep just comes in the package, I tried to be awake until a +3 or +4 and if he was going down I would set up my alarm clock for one or two hours later depending on how low he was and wake up to test again and feed ( he would not eat on his own), and go back to sleep again and/or set the alarm clock again ( I can go back to sleep without much trouble ) and if he was ok lucky me I could maybe go through the whole night without waking up.

 

Thank you for all the input. It helps knowing your not alone. Hubby and I take turns, but with sleep apnea and interupted sleep it's taking its toll. I like the lowering dose at pm. I just didn't know if that would cause her to see-saw thru the day. And she loves carbs so that would be an answer as well. She's been doing so well but getting really close to my panic button. I know shoot low to stay low, but don't want that too low. And not sure where the cut off is, it seems I get chicken if it gets close to 100, especially if she's not got a good appy. Thank you for your responses. As always, head bumps!

 

Angela, I'm not so sure about doing that with Phoebes and her high dose condition. You worked SO SO hard to get to where you are now, I'd really dislike to see that work backslide due to differing doses.

HUGS!

 

Understood

 

I can't do the sleep deprivation thing either. I work a job that requires me to be fully awake and alert. Plus, I just don't wake up during the night, even if I set an alarm. So I have adjusted the shot times so that I can get a +3 or +4 at night before I go to sleep, and that gives me enough info to make a decision about what food to leave out during the night.

It really doesn't look like your kitty is prone to diving. She's giving pretty consistent cycles with safe greens. And seems quite good at surfing. (or is that because you're steering?) Can you and your hubby stagger your go-to-bed times so that one of you can grab a +3 or 4, and then sleep for eight hours, and then the other one can go to bed early, get a full sleep, and then get up early and get a +9 or so? It really is important to take care of your health. I hope y'all can find a way to manage this that still allows you to maintain your own well-being!

 

Yes we steer. Thank you for the feedback. We adjusted her time a litter with the daylight savings so I can get a +2 +2.5 before bed. It's helped a bit. Now we have had 2 furshots in a row. Poor girl. Hubby feels terrible. It hapoens. Right