??-about scheduling AMPS and PMPS

Hello,

Somehow I managed to find myself in a position where I'm not giving insulin at the moment. Q's diabetes may be under control with diet, and as a reaction to the Hypoglycemia event she had 11-ish days ago... However, I'm new to home testing, and since I know Q will always be diabetic, insulin or no, I still have questions about doing the BG curves and using the spreadsheet...

Where the SS says AMPS-I know this means "morning preshot" value. What I DON'T know is if that reading is taken before or after the morning meal, AND, how long before or after? Not always, but for the most part I have been allowing Q to eat first, and waiting to encourage her BG to rise somewhat before I take a reading, but I'm not completely sure that this is correct procedure. (Currently, her food doesn't seem to make her levels rise much at all, which is nice. :smile: ) Prior to home-testing, I used to allow her to eat before I dosed her, since my vet always said to inject after a meal, so I'm thinking the same would technically hold true for the AMPS, or PMPS....right?

Also, how much editing can I do to the spreadsheet if I'm sharing it? AMPS, +1, +2 etc. kinda makes my eyes cross when I'm looking at my meter and seeing a time of day. Of course, I can/do figure it out, but I wondered if the SS is something that is best left as is, since so many members use it, and share it.

Thanks~~~

 

Whether you test and then feed or feed and then test is not as important as doing it the same way each time. Just find what fits you both, and stick with it - consistency is the key, and is what allows you to compare daily BGs.

Since you are not shooting at this time (YAY!) it doesn't really matter - you're just doing spot checks to make sure her numbers stay below shooting range.

 

I was taught to always test before feeding, since feeding will increase the bg value giving a false (food spike) higher number. When determining if it is safe to shoot insulin you should go by the true blood glucose value, not a food spike. The food will clear out of their blood after an hour or two, but the insulin will last for 12 hours. So if you dose based on a food-influenced number you may end up overdosing. But, with a cat who is OTJ it likely doesn't matter when you test since you're just doing it to see a pattern and out of curiosity. But if you get a high number after feeding, don't shoot insulin based on it. Remember that the food spike will clear. Test the next time before food (and at least 2 hours since the last meal). Does that make sense? My brain was going faster than my fingers :smile:

 

Oooops! To clarify - when I said test and then feed, I meant right away, long before the food has time to affect the blood sugars. Sorry for the confusion!

 

Hi there!

Sorry to hear you had a hypo but it sounds like Q is better now.

I can't tell what insulin you're on (or if it matters) but for Lantus, the pre-shot should be within about a 10-15 minute window. If you delay the shot too long, let's say 30 minutes, then that's your new preshot time. You can move it back to where you were before in 15 minute increments per cycle.

During the 12 hour cycle, the BG will hit its lowest point called nadir. It's usually around 5-7 hours after the shot. Alot of people feed a few mini meals and snacks before nadir hits. It's also not recommended that you feed after nadir. The food spike will cause his BG to go up at pre shot, giving you a higher reading than you should. Some cats can't go that long without food so you can give him a tiny bit of low carb snacks like boiled chicken.

Ditto on the above poster...consistency is key.

 

The ss is for YOUR recording, to track what is specific to your cat. You can add columns and lines and change it up as frequently as you need to change it, to properly record the care you are giving to your cat.

I added columns so I could record BG values after +12 and also for medications and cycle of the shots and age of my cartridges and .... well, I made my ss to fit my cat's care...

If you look around at what other people have done to their setups, you may find some great ideas that fit your needs.