2/23 Carbon AMPS 588. Dosage .5

mialia

mialia

Member Since 2018
Last post: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/2-17-carbon-amps-34-1-182.210860/#post-2337801

I can NOT figure out his dosage. We go to 1.0 and he crashes, we went down to .5 and he's high. We tried .75 (to the best we could) and he crashed.

He still has the untreated hyperthyroidism. The vet wanted to work on stabilizing him first but that's not happening. I may be able to get home next Friday to take him in and start treating it - as maybe that's a factor? She said his thyroid levels were "slightly raised" and she could feel the swelling but wasn't convinced it was hyperthyroidism and not a side effect of his unmanaged diabetes. Though he does eat a lot and not gain so personally I'm leaning that way. His weight isn't bad though.

He's doing amazing health wise. He's chipper, bright eyed, tearing ass around the house. He is jumping again - on everything. The first time I brought him back from an extended stay his fur took ages to grow in, he's been back a week this time and his fur (where the IV was) is noticeably growing in. He's curious and prancing like the Lipizzaner he is.

I use U-40 1/21cc 29G needles to getting .75 is really hard. .5 is easier but it's not perfect. Is there a better needle for more fine tuning?

We went off the seafood sheba since I've read that can be a factor but no change.

I'm also feeding him Sheba so planning to go to Fancy Feast (the problem with FF is that my cats all eat different flavors. I travel for a living so my roommate or sitters do a lot of the work. Saying "give these cats (four cats total) the blue and this one pink and this one green adds work when they all devour sheba is a lot of workload). I plan to go raw diet here next round of food buying. That timing coincides with me being done with training and home a bit more / new nurse trained roommate so he can be monitored.

feedback greatly appreciated.
 
Is there something I'm doing wrong with my posts? I always see several replies to all the other posts on the days I post but mine stay empty. I feel like I may not be following a procedure properly.​
 
Sorry, no one got to you earlier. Sometimes it's quieter on the weekends, especially if someone elsewhere is having a crisis. To get more eyes on your post, and you have a question, it's a good idea to add a the "?" icon to the title. People here scan for those question marks.

I see you started Lantus on Jan 30th. It would be useful to make that more obvious on the spreadsheet. A blank line after the last day of Vetsulin with the works "Starting Lantus" will make it clear. You can also put that info on your signature. A couple other things to help us by editting your spreadsheet. Where no shot was given, could you put either NS (no shot) or Skip in the units column. That way we can tell it was deliberate and not just that you didn't enter the data. Missing shots are a big factor in figuring out what is happening. Yes, we are very data driven here. :)

Since 0.75 units is too much data, I would go back to 0.5 units. But you also need to try to gather more data than you have been. We determine how to change the dose based on the nadirs or low points. Those typically happen somewhere in the middle of the cycle. Many cats also go lower at night, so getting a spot check before you go to bed can be really informative.

I rather suspect Carbon has been going lower at some point, and then bouncing, which results in those higher numbers. It'll also help us to help you if you read through the Sticky Note on Dosing Methods, and decide whether you want to follow Tight Regulation or the Start Low Go Slow Method. Those two dosing methods give guidelines about how long to hold a dose and when to change it.
mialia said:
I use U-40 1/21cc 29G needles to getting .75 is really hard. .5 is easier but it's not perfect. Is there a better needle for more fine tuning?
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On your syringe question, are you continuing to use the U-40 syringes? Yikes!:eek: Lantus is a U-100 insulin and you must use the U-100 syringes. Using the U-40 syringes, you are giving 2.5 times as much insulin as you should be!!! Most of the U-100 syringes have both smaller/thinner needles like 30 or 31 guage, but more importantly also half unit markings which make it much easier to dose those smaller doses. Make getting the proper syringes your first priority. The dose stuff I talked about may change as a result.
 
Sorry more folk didn't get to you yesterday.

I agree with Wendy on both counts

  • Getting the correct syringes is a priority as this will allow you to dose more accurately.
  • I'd drop back to the 0.5u on the u40 syringes until you do so.
 
These were the needles my original vet gave me. At current count the number of accurate things he did is down to one - he diagnosed the diabetes. I have a better vet now but they wouldn't have known I was using the wrong needles.

I wasn't trying to interfere with the 911. I saw that after my second post but my last three posts have gone unanswered so I figured there is some protocol I'm missing. I'm borderline aspie and do social things wrong A LOT. I'll add the ? from now on.

Fixed his spreadsheet.

He was 96 this morning!

I'll get the new needles today. Thanks! What dose should i give him on those?

I try to get more data points but it's hard. I travel for a living - I'm an airline pilot. So I have a roommate who has gotten quite good with the shots but she's moving and currently out of town for job interviews. I have people that come give shots and then go to work. I myself can be better about more testing when I'm home. I'm in training now so only 9 days home a month, but I'll be done in about 5 weeks so I'll be home closer to 12 or more if I get lucky on schedule. I'm also working hard to get a job with the major airlines that would allow me to be based closer to home. Right now I commute from socal to Seattle so I lose commute days here and there. My new roommate was a LPN, iirc, and she'll be good but she has a full time job. I can get her to intermittant test though to some degree.

This idea of the bounce makes more sense than what I was coming up with... which was aliens. Or him finding random food. I've been diligent about putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher immediately but my roomie can wander off while cooking and Carbon has always been a food aggressor. This little jerk (said in love) has the middle name of A**hole because he used to parkour off the fridge and microwave to the top of the shelves to open the top cabinet, lean way down, and get to his hidden snacks. He was feral for his first two years.
 
Glad you have a better vet now. Unfortunately, you aren't alone in not being told you need different syringes.
mialia said:
I'll get the new needles today. Thanks! What dose should i give him on those?
Click to expand...
U-40 to U-100 is a multiplier of 2.5, so at 0.5 units you've been giving an equivalent of 1.25 units. I would maybe start with 1.0 units, especially given that AMPS today. Speaking of which, I hope you'll be able to get a test in after a couple hours to make sure Carbon isn't going much lower.
 
I have attached a photo of the needles that Walmart has. Are these the right ones? I will be able to test him again before I leave but I leave tonight.

On my spreadsheet when I get the new needle should I update it to be equal to the new needle so it's not confusing
 

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I don't think so, you want U-100 3/10cc syringes with half unit markings. That means they hold a total of 30 units. I think you got the 1 ml/cc which means they hold 100 units. I don't think they have half unit markings. The pic above is the right ones.
 
I bought the syringes but can't figure out what to draw to...
 

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