28/2/15 Lucy PMPS 155 +2 70 +2 47 +3 59 +3 101 +4 88 +4 50 +4 45 +5 77 +5 58 +6 50 + 6 61 +7 77

I haven't posted for a while and thought I would post today as this is the lowest PMPS or AMPS I have dosed at. We have had a few disruptions to doses due to my own medical issues and appointments but we are getting back on track now. Lucy has no diabetes symptoms apart from high glucose levels now. It is interesting how glucose levels can still be high but the symptoms can ease once glucose levels start coming down.
My previous post:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...-2-103-3-94-4-79-5-117-7-137-pmps-187.133288/

 

Nice shooting Voula, hoping you see some greens tonight

 

Thank you Serryn.

 

We have green numbers now.

 

Beautiful #!!! WTG, Miss Lucy!

 

Thank you Angela. I get so anxious about the green numbers but happy too.

 

Whoo hoo congrats on the reduction. If Lucy has bounced back into the pink for tomorrow's AMPS you can shoot the 3 units one more time before reducing to 2.75 units for the PM shot - called shooting through the bounce.

 

When Lucy's glucose level went lower tonight she vomited and I read that was a sign of hypoglycemia though she seems fine now.

 

Thank you Serryn.

 

Lucy's glucose is dropping again. I feel very anxious. I just gave some more honey with some gravy. I gave honey at +2 too.

 

Apologies I might be over reacting.

 

Hi Voula!

You only have to give honey or gravy if she goes below 50. If you've been giving her a lot, that might be causing her to vomit. Limit the amount - just 1 tsp of gravy or a couple of drops of honey should be enough to move her back over 50. Notice the speed she's moving - it's not fast. You'll be able to steer her.

You're doing great! it's ok if you feel you're over-reacting. The first time is nerve-wracking for everyone, but soon you'll see that you can steer her blood sugar.

how long since your last test?

 

Thank you so much Julie. It is about fifteen minutes since the last test. I have been giving small amounts of gravy and honey twice when under 50.

 

Yes I may have given too much honey the first time. I have a terrible fear that the glucose levels will keep dropping as we are only at +5 now. We have had low readings under 50 before but not this prolonged so I am anxious.

 

I'd ease up on the gravy and honey. Depending on the cat, it probably takes a minimum of 15 minutes to show any change after giving carbs. I found it took 30 minutes to see the results. You don't want to overcarb her, both because it will make her vomit, but also because you just want to move her over 50 and let her stay in greens as long as possible. that's pancreas-healing zone!

it's normal to overcarb at first - i think everyone does. I'm just concerned that she not get all vomiting on you because that will be a problem.

 

Congrats on your reduction!

Now Ms. Lucy, since you have earned your reduction, go ahead and climb back up a bit into some green numbers that will make your momma feel better

 

Okay thank you. I will test again in about five minutes.

 

I feel like a nervous wreck. It is 3:00 am and I am needing chocolate soon.

 

by the way, cats not on insulin might have blood sugar in the 30's and 40's as their normal range - so she's not in danger. when a cat is on insulin, we just want to keep them from going lower, so we use 50 as the dividing line for intervening. that gives us the 40's as a safety margin. Think of it as your "take action" zone.

I'll watch for your next test. You're doing great!!!!

 

by the way, you can take the 911 off. I'll stay with you til she's safe and doing fine.

 

When should I panic? Under 40?

 

Go for the chocolate!

It is just as important to have a HUMAN hypo survival kit (for the humans to get through the experience, too), in addition to what we have for the cat.....

Chocolate is DEFINITELY part of my human hypo survival kit

 

Okay thank you for telling me that. I was thinking that under 50 was hypoglycemia so that helps me relax a bit now.

 

I might even have a real coffee seeing as I drink decaffeinated coffee.

 

Thank you Julie. I removed the panicked 911 sign.

 

I had a 32 on punkin once - no symptoms at all. gave him some gravy, posted here and asked for help, and he was fine. Low numbers are different than a symptomatic hypo. Low numbers are not a crisis - symptomatic hypo is a crisis.

I wouldn't panic at all - you've got a handle on things. She only dropped 5 points between the last 2 tests. You've put the brakes on her drop and you'll probably see it turn around with the next test.

If the next test shows less than 50, just repeat - with a light hand! another teaspoon or so of gravy OR a couple of drops of honey on a bite of regular food.

 

Skooter also pulled the 32 no symptoms....in fact, if it wasn't time for his "normal" test schedule at the time, I wouldn't have been inclined to test at all.

Gotta love these guys, eh? lol

 

Thank you again. 4.3/77 now at +5. I am gaining a little confidence now.

 

Okay that is also good to know. I am glad Julie told me that the readings we got tonight are not hypoglycemia as I really was thinking that under 2.8/50 was time to panic. Yes our cats keep us on our toes alright.

 

perfect. don't feed that. You want to be able to go to bed at some point and the guidelines are that you have 2 tests that hold up over 50, AFTER you stop giving food. You want to make sure she won't drop back down now. Get another test in 30 minutes.

 

nothing like practice to give a person confidence. You've done great. She's safe and you've had the experience of steering her blood sugar - and all is well.

I'll look for your next test at :45 (in 30 minutes from the last one.)

 

Okay. I gave a teaspoon of lower carb food with that test. I probably shouldn't have. In my panic I clearly didn't read the sticky note properly. I will test again in 30 minutes and won't feed Lucy any food then and see what the reading is. If above 50 I won't feed again and test again in another thirty minutes to make sure that reading is above 50. I have much to learn it seems.

 

it didn't hurt anything to feed her - no worries. i was just thinking of you going to bed! You just want at least an hour of rising/flat tests, over 50, without food before you stop testing.

I used to set my cell phone and snooze with the lights on in the living room when i was in your situation. If you're sure you will wake up, go ahead and do that. Do you have to work tomorrow or are you off?

 

"All is well" is something a dear old family member would say and I often think of her and the way she said it and smile so thank you for saying that. Thank you Julie. I suffer from anxiety a lot and this whole experience of Lucy being diagnosed with diabetes and having to give her insulin and monitor her blood glucose makes me very anxious. It helps so much to have the benefit of your support and knowledge too and that of other kind people on the board too.

 

Nothing to do tomorrow except a friend is visiting so that will be nice.

 

I can wake up if I set the alarm but half an hour barely seems worth the effort of setting the alarm.

 

There must be an award for most anxious cat parent on FDMB. I will never get the BOS award that is for sure.

 

Oh don't worry - you have TONS of company in the anxiety over low numbers! I distinctly remember running around like a chicken with my head cut off when i got that 32 with punkin. Everyone feels that way at first. You can't forget it! But after a while it will become more routine because you know what to expect.

But what helps is that you've now MASTERED the art of bringing her blood sugar up. You did everything just right and she's fine.

I'm going to be right there with the Balls of Steel award the first time you shoot green. No worries - you'll get there. I just posted some info for Patricia on shooting the full dose into normal numbers - i know i've given them to you before, but if you want to reread, take a peek at Noodle's condo for today.

 

Thank you for making me laugh Julie. I was ready to call the vet in the middle of the night as they have an on call service and I was literally sweating. So the image of you panicking too in the way you described really helps and also it helps to know the confidence and knowledge you have gained because it might be possible that I too one day might be able to support others in the same way you do. At this point I doubt that but then I doubted that Lucy and I could do home glucose testing too and we are doing fine with that now.

 

3.2/58 at +5 so dropping again. I didn't feed Lucy anything for that test. Should I feel a little food?

 

either some LC or nothing. recheck in 20 minutes.

 

Okay thank you.

 

+6 2.8/50. Dropping again.

 

Lucy is hungry and meowing for food. Should I feed more now? Or wait? I gave a little high carb gravy with a few drops of honey at the last test.

 

what you did was great - sorry i missed your last post. Keep checking her about every 20-30 minutes and repeat the HC if she goes below 50.

 

3.4/61 now after some high carb with honey. I gave Lucy a tablespoon of food as she was very hungry but not enough to fill her up. I will test again in 30 minutes. I will lie down and try to rest a bit but I will set two alarms though I always hear the alarm.

 

Lucy is starting to get annoyed with the testing and her ears look a bit bruised too but we have to do the tests so I apologise each time I do a test now.

 

4.3/77 at +7. I am going to lie down again. My thinking is to test again between 30 and 40 minutes.

 

sounds like a plan. If she's still going up then, you can probably sleep the rest of the night til amps. You can also leave her out some LC food at that point, just in case she needs it.

I'd probably go ahead and take the dose reduction to 2.75u with your next shot, but as Serryn suggested, if she's over 300 at amps, you could give the 3.0u one more time to help clear out the bounce and then take the reduction tomorrow night. See how high she is at amps to help you decide.

Here's the great news - she just spent HOURS in green numbers! That's all an opportunity for her pancreas to heal . . .

Somehow i missed your earlier post about my chicken-head-off image - it's so true. I distinctly remember testing punkin on the sofa, getting a 32, running like a crazy woman, hands shaking, to the kitchen. Popping open a can of gravy and giving him a giant blop of it. Then just as frantically, i ran back to the sofa, pulled the computer open and posted asking for help. it was unforgettable! But once I KNEW that a little gravy would bring punkin's blood sugar up, because i'd actually seen it happen, I was ok with it. You'll get there too! Experience is such an awesome teacher!

 

Thank you so much Julie. It seems that Lucy is not very carb sensitive because it has only been when I gave her honey that her glucose came up. But maybe the high carb stopped her glucose from falling even further to very low numbers. It is almost day now . If the next reading is higher again I will get some sleep for an hour or two and leave food out as you said. Thank you for the advice regarding lowering the dose. Your further description of your panic was great and describes how I felt too.

 

hahahaha YOU"RE SUPPOSED TO BE ASLEEP!

 

i think her responses have been pretty normal. it's typical for the blood sugar to wobble around a bit, dropping once the carbs wear off. that's why we say 2 rising/flat tests for at least an hour after all food has been stopped.

the important thing is that you have been able to increase her blood sugar easily with some honey/gravy.

 

+8 3.6/65. I gave Lucy some higher carb food and a few drops of honey though I know it isn't needed as I am feeling very tired and need to at least have a nap. When shall I test again?

 

I understand about wanting to see the rise in glucose without food but I am feeling tired and Lucy was hungry so I gave her a tablespoon of food.

 

if you need to sleep - that's totally understandable. i would leave out a lot of regular low carb food - more than you think she might need - and go snooze. she's pretty well surfing, although needing a little bit of carbs. i think she'd be ok if you leave LC out.

 

I have set the alarm to test again in 45 minutes for peace of mind and then if there is no drop in glucose I will leave out plenty of food and sleep for a few hours. Bless you and thank you Julie.

 

sure! i'll look for you again then - so if you get alarmed, just post.

You might need to be prepared to shoot low in the morning - this might be your first green preshot opportunity . . . .

 

5.2/94 at +9. Now that made me smile the possibility of me giving Lucy insulin at green numbers at AMPS. I am sleep deprived but I can laugh at that right now.

 

She'll probably bounce - she hasn't spent that much time in green before and isn't used to it yet. but WAHOO! She had some 7 hours or more in green today! That's fantastic!

 

9.7/175 at +10. Yes I am expecting a bounce. Though lately the bounces have been lower and shorter which is good.

 

shorter duation + lower bounces = great!

 

Congrats on the reduction. Max hit 32 and 38 in the past but didn't act any differently. Marje's Gracie was in the 20's recently and the same, no reaction. I know because I asked her. I still get nervous under 40 and that will never change. Probably a good thing.

I hope all is well with you.

 

Voula!!! What a night you had! Congratulations on the great job you did handling Lucy's numbers! I'm so glad you had Serryn and Julie here watching over you. It gets much less scary after you've done it a couple times. You'll be a pro at it in no time. Believe it or not, but eventually, you'll see a number in the 40's on your meter, and you'll not even bat an eye, because you will know that you're in control. When Eddie was on ProZinc, the ISG was usually pretty quiet at nighttime, so during those early days when Eddie first started having runs of low numbers, I'd often be up all night by myself testing every 20 minutes, carbing, etc. The first time Eddie hit the 30's, I caught him at 32 when I stopped home from work to check him at lunch time. In those days, I didn't understand the patterns I was seeing, and it seemed like the low numbers would come out of nowhere. After switching to Lantus, it was much easier for me to spot patterns, so I could start to predict when Eddie might have low numbers, so I could prepare ahead of time. You're already starting to spot when you might have a busy cycle with Lucy, and that knowledge is a really powerful tool, and allows you to have control over the situation, even if you have to leave Lucy.

I know you've mentioned that Lucy isn't real responsive to high carbs, and I can tell you that when Eddie was really a bouncing-maniac, I had the same experience. His sensitivity to carb levels has changed over time, just like his patterns changed over time. There have been times when I'd really have to use high carb or karo to keep him up, but these days, as he's much more regulated, his body does a better job at regulating itself, so a tiny bit of regular food for Eddie is plenty to bring him up. It seems like that's fairly normal from what I've seen when kitties are on the trampoline a lot is it does seem to take more carbs to get them to slow down when they're dropping.

Great job! Fingers crossed that Lucy loves her new dose!

 

Thank you. I know now not to panic too much if the numbers are between 40 and 50. It is really good to know about cats who have low readings but no symptoms and that you also get nervous with low numbers too. As you said it is probably a good thing in one way as it means we are motivated to be alert and to act too.

 

It was quite a night yes. It really helped having the support on the board from Julie and Serryn. It is clear that others have felt the same and had the same experiences and that really is reassuring to know that especially what you said about seeing a number in the 40's on the meter and not panicking like I did last night. Yes I am starting to notice patterns and starting to guess correctly when Lucy will have lower numbers. It is really interesting what you said about your Eddie and the carb sensitivity and the changes you have observed with that too. Also it is good to know that you have observed when kitties are bouncing in their numbers that it takes more carbs to slow down the dropping numbers as that is what I find too. Thank you so much for writing as I really appreciate all the support and understanding too.

 

It seems as you said Julie that we had some bouncing yesterday which I expected too. I reduced the dose to 2.75 units yesterday morning. Last night I was exhausted after no sleep and I also had to leave the house early this morning before the end of the cycle so my ability to monitor Lucy was limited and so I took the vet's advice and gave a half dose late last night. We have a lovely vet who we can email any time. I was very surprised early this morning to see that after one dose of 2.75 units and the half dose last night that Lucy had a glucose level of 6.1/110. It is possible we had green numbers through the night. Tonight's dose will unavoidably be late so the depot will be emptying I know but I think this is excellent progress. I really didn't want to give a half dose last night but I have been seeing that bounces now don't take long so the chances were we might see lower numbers today and that in combination with inability to monitor through the cycle after the lower numbers the other night made me decide to follow the vet's advice. I am confident we will be back on track very soon after resuming the full dose and schedule tonight.