1/12 Otto AMPS 458 +6 214 +10 26 (!) +11 220 +14 508

I was planning to post on this forum tonight to ask some general Lantus questions, and then Otto, my sugarbaby, tested 26 this evening! He had no symptoms, other than being a bit hungrier than usual. And a bit wobbly on his feet, but that could be his bad arthritis and neuropathy. I fed him immediately, tested him 25 min later, and it was just "Lo" on the Alphatrak 2. So I gave him a spoonful of maple syrup with his favorite treat. 30 minutes later it was up to 240. Unfortunately I had to go to work, so I couldn't re-check until 4 hours later, and then it was 508. He has been receiving 4 U of lantus, but I didn't want to give his full dose, so I just gave him 1 U. Was that a good idea? This is the first time I have ever seen numbers that low with Otto, so am feeling a bit inexperienced.

I have wondered lately if Otto is bouncing and/or having a Somogyi situation. My vet said that since I'd never seen any low numbers, it would be hard to come to that conclusion. Now I am thinking that he is getting too much insulin. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thx!

 

Your spreadsheet won't open for me. I think the link isn't exactly right

But your vet is wrong.....that's definitely a bounce!! When they drop too low, drop too fast or drop into numbers their body isn't used to, the liver releases stored sugars and hormones to bring them back up quickly.

Without being able to see his spreadsheet or knowing more about how he's been doing, I can't give you any advice about his dose other than this:

If he dropped to "LO" on the Alphatrak, he's getting too much insulin!!

 

You and Otto were lucky today. Here are the guidelines for handling a hypo.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

We are here for each other. When you get a low number, please post and get some eyes on the situation. We can help with low numbers and with high numbers.

I had no problem opening the spreadsheet. Here is the long link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...gQsKGA7HdXm98-3jw8COscGpdgxVA1R0cq-gL/pubhtml

 

I must be having a problem with Google tonight....tried 3 different browsers and still only getting this

 

Will do. Thank you!

 

I was able to open it as well with no problems, Chris.

One point I would like to make, that I think is really important, is that any time you get a reading that surprises you, whether it is high or low, you should always retest immediately to make sure that it is valid. Sometimes you get a bad strip, or too little or too much blood. Looking at the numbers around that 26, one could question whether or not it was accurate. But the fact that you got a "lo" 25 minutes later does seem to validate it. It could be that Otto is just very sensitive to carbs, and that's why he shot up so fast with the maple syrup.

It would help if you made a note on the spreadsheet regarding the "Lo" reading. You can add it to the same cell as the 26 by using the wrap feature (ie Lo @10.5), or you can make a note in the comments section. Just ask if you need help with this.

I'm confused by your PMPS. I think it indicates that you shot 2.5 hours late. That means that you need to give your morning shot 2.25 hours later than normal. Can your schedule accommodate that? You can safely move a shot time back by 15 minutes per shot or 30 minutes per day.

Back to the spreadsheet, you would indicate that you shot late by saying you gave the one unit at +14.5, as opposed +2.5. Everything is in reference to the last shot. Does that make sense? Then you don't need to indicate the one unit in the +2 cell.

It does look like Otto is bouncing to the moon off that low reading!

No matter what, he's earned a reduction. I see you've been increasing the dose by one unit. This could have caused you to miss the purrfect dose, and it's possible, as Chris said, that Otto is overdose. At the very least, I would reduce to 3.75 in the morning. We recommend .25 unit dose changes, as it doesn't take a big change in dose to affect a cat.