? 9/23 Noodle AMPS 357 +11 321 - Lantus v. Levemir?

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...-52-12-51-12-25-43-12-5-55-13-51-skip.143184/

My goodness, has it really been a month??? I've been swamped with work. September is the start of our busy season and I have been so stressed with events and numbers swirling in my head. I've been trying to stop in L&LL a few times a week, but have only been lurking. I hope everyone is doing well and has enjoyed their last days of summer. Fall is here and work won't get any less busy, but hopefully I'll begin to do a better job managing my time.

I've been doing what I can with Noodle, but haven't been as aggressive with dosecreases as I should be, I think. Partly because I haven't felt confident I'll have the time to monitor her random slides and drops. I've been at this S1.0U/2.25mm dose MUCH to long at this point, but since she hit 35 on the 1.0u/2.35mm, I got chicken going back up. I wonder if trying to give her a 2.30mm on the calipers, less than a full "drop" difference, might work? I'll hold a couple more days since we saw green yesterday and the 48 two days ago, though. I skipped the reducie with the 48 since it came the last cycle before a planned increase and was clearly a bounce breaking. She hasn't held those reductions well historically, so I'm seeing how she'll do if I hold. The yellows and pinks she's had so often are quite frustrating. I've also tried to note on her SS where I've had to do cycles where I vary by 30+ minutes, just for data's sake.

I'm starting to wonder again whether or not I should consider an insulin change to Lev. I just feel like we're in a never ending bounce-break battle right now. I have no idea what a "normal" nadir, duration, etc is for her even after all these months of data, 9 at this point! Maybe that is just the last couple weeks talking and I should hold off. I'm beginning to get quite frustrated and I don't know if I'm jumping the gun. She seemed to be improving through 9/7 and seeing blues and greens more often, I was hoping we were getting to a point where she would start to bounce less reliably and for a shorter length of time, but it seems that's not the case anymore. I have about 200u left in this pen. I can always get another single, but if I'm going to switch it would be a good time to get the script for Levemir and order a 5 pack from Mark's rather than continue to buy singles from Target here.

So... I guess I'm asking what people think? Is there something to be said for a switch to Levemir now? Does anyone who has a bouncy, difficult to regulate cat still use Lantus for a specific reason? Any tests I should be making an effort to get to try to fill in a bigger picture? I'm so drained for a lot of reasons right now, not taking great care of myself either, and starting to feel like I can't see the forest for the trees.

Lots of vines and hugs to everyone in L&LL, I've missed you all!

 

I don't know about Levemir. I hope some people experienced with it come along soon. I'm sorry things are so stressful managing Noodle right now. I hope she settles down on the bouncing soon.

 

Thanks, Carla. Thankfully, Noodle herself isn't giving me a TON of stress right now. It's more stress over general treatment plan questions that I'm dealing with now. She's been eating really well, no puking as long as she gets her hairball supplements and doesn't get tuna, and has seemed really well as far as her daily WCR. *ANTIJINX* I plan on asking her vet if she's had any experience with Lev and would be willing to let me try and I'm reading the great thread in the Think Tank forum, too (for anyone searching: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/attention-lantus-to-levemir-users.122941/ ). Lev DOES seem attractive in a lot of ways... but I've got a general fear of "what if its not better?" along with it feeling like I'm "giving up" in a sense...

 

Hey Noodle....read the rules.....you're not cooperating with the program here!!

The problem is that there's no guarantee that switching to Levemir will make any difference...In some cats, it can be like a miracle, but in others, it doesn't change the bouncing so there's no easy answer.....darn it!!!

 

I know!! It's not guaranteed Levemir will be any better for her and from what I've seen here, even bouncy crazy Lantus cats can have a sudden change in heart and find regulation after some time. Anecdotally, it seems that happens around the year mark for some kitties? Which raises the question in my head, am I jumping the gun now? There's nothing forcing me to change anytime soon, but I'd like to do right by her, just like everyone else here. I'd also like to purchase a 5-pack of pens from Canada and start saving some money on insulin finally... but I don't want to get a 5 pack of either until I'm confident!

Do you happen to know off-hand any SS's I can hunt down of cats whose bouncing DOESN'T resolve with the switch to Levemir? I've seen and read stories of positive transitions, but haven't come across many negative ones.

 

Not right off hand (too many names, too many cats) but I know I've read condo's from people who switched and it didn't help...but you're right, there's lots of people who had better luck with it...or at least we HEAR the success stories more than the ones that might not have worked out so well.

I know of at least 1 that switched and her kitty started acting really sick so she had to go back to Lantus...within days he was back to acting normally and started earning reductions soon after (of course)

I've also heard from a few people on the Facebook group that didn't have any better results from Levemir than they did from Lantus that never posted over here

 

Could be the negative ones just didn't post. After we switched, I'm not sure Neko got less bouncy. She was starting to get better on Lantus. What I did find on Levemir (which I love), is that she's a lot more predictable and I get longer blocks of sleep at night. She doesn't go for the big dives on Levemir. The down side is that if she gets in high numbers, it takes a while to work her way down. Having said that, her second cycle on Lev was flat blues.

We suggest people give an insulin 6 months chance before trying a switch. You've done that, now you have to decide if you want to try it. The two biggest things for me were the later nadir, and having to learn Neko's cycles on Lev like I was a newbie all over (well almost ). At least I knew what to look for the second time round. Neko has very variable nadirs, now that she's on Lev, the range has just moved a couple hours later. It does mean I get a lot of 3:30 or 4:30 AM nadir checks. Fortunately I get up at 4:30 for rowing 4 days a week.

Anna/Bailey switched from Lantus to Lev, might have been the one Chris was thinking of, and switched back after he wasn't feeling good on Lev. The numbers weren't good because she started at a lower dose (which we suggest cause some kitties need less Lev) and needed to increase faster to get back to what his Lantus dose had been. Check out late September 2014 on the SS.

Ann's Tess is another example of a kitty who is still bouncy (as was Dyana's JD) on Lev as with Lantus, but on Lev didn't dive as much at the beginning of the cycle. Neko still wears her bouncing shoes too but not diving as fast reduces those kind of bounces. I'd check out Gracie's SS too.

 

yeah...It was Anna/Bailey....She said his behavior changed for the worse on Levemir...he started hiding and acting like he felt awful

I know we're not being really helpful Patricia, but there's just no easy answer....if you decide to try Levemir, you might see if you can find someone who'll sell you just one pen....that would give you a chance to try it

I know Marks just recently agreed to sell individual pens of Lantus....if you can't find someplace else, you might want to call and ask...it's a toll free call!!

 

Lots of good information to chew on @Chris & China and @Wendy&Neko, thank you so much for taking the time to pass it along. I did think about both Tess & Gracie as kitties are know are still bouncy years in, but for some reason I thought Gracie was still on Lantus. I'll take a look at their spreadsheets over the next couple days. Thankfully, my Target is great about giving me single Lantus pens, I'm hoping they'll be just as accommodating if I opt to try Lev.