11/6 Radar - question about raising dose as we approach 6 units BID

[Jan Radar (GA)]

My last post

The Budesonide that Radar has been taking for a little over 10 days seems to be raising his blood sugar readings. I raised his dose by .25 this morning to 5.75 units for each shot and am wondering if I'm supposed to raise by 0.5 units.?? I seem to remember 'someone" telling me that once you are over 5 units the amount you raise the dose by changes but I don't remember the specific information that was given. Any information you can share will be helpful.

As for the whole cat report - other than his sugar being too high.... He is eating well which is a great improvement, LB conditions have been inconsistent but overall seem a little bit better. His purring motor is working well which would suggest contentment and joy. I've not seen much interest in his toys lately, but he is keeping himself well groomed.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Hi Jan!

Great to see you and Radar. It’s a bit unusual to see budesonide raise the BG but it does look like it.

At this point, if he needs an increase, I would raise it by 0.5u. I hope you see some improvement.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

I seem to remember 'someone" telling me that once you are over 5 units the amount you raise the dose by changes but I don't remember the specific information that was given. Any information you can share will be helpful.

You remember right!! When we first start at 1U, raising the dose by .25 is a 25% increase

At 5U, even going up by .5 is only a 10% increase.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Neko took budesonide and it did not raise her BG, but I have heard of a couple cats where it did. Budesonide reduced her inflammation quite a bit on subsequent ultrasounds. Have you tried anti nausea meds on Radar? Either Cerenia or ondansetron? Kitties with inflamed GI system can be nauseous and addressing that may make him feel even more like eating.

As for dose, I did 0.5 unit changes when the dose was over 5.0 units, except if I was seeing a little green. In that case I just “fattened” the dose by 0.25 units. But that was when following TR, where just a little high green was not enough. Since you want the nadirs higher with SLGS, you may want to experiment with the point where you switch from 0.5 to 0.25 unit increases.

 

[Jan Radar (GA)]

Neko took budesonide and it did not raise her BG, but I have heard of a couple cats where it did. Budesonide reduced her inflammation quite a bit on subsequent ultrasounds. Have you tried anti nausea meds on Radar? Either Cerenia or ondansetron? Kitties with inflamed GI system can be nauseous and addressing that may make him feel even more like eating.

As for dose, I did 0.5 unit changes when the dose was over 5.0 units, except if I was seeing a little green. In that case I just “fattened” the dose by 0.25 units. But that was when following TR, where just a little high green was not enough. Since you want the nadirs higher with SLGS, you may want to experiment with the point where you switch from 0.5 to 0.25 unit increases.

Thank you Wendy and @Marje and Gracie and @Chris & China (GA) for sharing your experience and wisdom. Radar must have heard me talking to you about raising his dose because last night we had our first blue number since starting the Budesonide. I think for now we'll hold the dose but it's good to know that i can go up by 0.5 although I'd want to be home to monitor closely just in case because he has a history of doing nose dives. The experiments will need to wait until Thanksgiving break when I'm home for a week.

Radar is on a daily dose of Cerenia and we also give him Ondansetron daily to help him be able to eat better on his own especially when we are at work. My last conversation with the vet was a couple of days ago. She said that it can take as long as a few weeks for the Budesonide to reach its full potential for helping Radar feel better from his GI inflammation issues. We have a follow up appointment with the vet in a couple of weeks.

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

Hi Jan! Good to see you and glad to hear Radar is doing well ! I hope the increase helps.