? AlphaTrak Readings

Hi everyone!
I'm sure there's a few different time zones on here (I'm EST myself), so I'll understand if it takes some time for someone to see this and give advice

I finally managed to try a glucose curve tonight. I only started trying to test a few short days ago. Sophia's numbers were in the double digits (nothing crazy low according to my AlphaTrak manual). On my way home from work, I called the vet's office to give them her numbers and ask about what they would mean for her insulin intake. The girl I spoke with was super nice and everything, but she made me realize there was stuff I didn't know because I had never asked or never even thought to ask. What I mean is, shouldn't the doctor assume (or try and remember) that you may still be new to diabetic cat life, despite all the research you can do yourself online, and tell you everything you should know before you suddenly realize you need info on another thing?

Anyways, here's my main question to ask:
My vet's office said that if Sophia's levels are >150, I should give her the insulin, 100-150 is the 'okay' range, and <100, do NOT give insulin.
Those of you who have used AlphaTrak for monitoring, would you say these numbers given to me are true or are the numbers in the AlphaTrak monitor (<65 = too low; >250 = too high) a better number guide to follow? (I tried looking up levels online and got different acceptable GB level ranges a lot of the time).

Here's Sophia's readings from tonight:


P.s. I was never asked or told them which glucometer I was using. Idk if they made an assumption on their end or if these were overall general numbers to go by.

 

Wow what great numbers! I am going to leave the answer to the lantus experts..... Because lantus CAN be dosed at lower numbers than many other insulins, however when you are inexperienced and don't have much data and aren't super comfortable getting tests in (maybe you are?) we generally recommend skipping in the beginning with numbers under 200.

 

I would post this on the lantus boards to get my more lantus eyes on it and title it dosing advice needed

 

Thank you! Seeing you say those are good numbers puts me a little at ease. I know I read somewhere that if you skip any number of doses when monitoring that it's not the worst idea since it's better for kitty to have a high reading vs a low reading. And I'll definitely repost this on that board, too.

 

What would be really helpful in giving dosing advice would be if you could set up a spreadsheet like the one you see in our signatures. Here's the instructions.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

 

'Normal' blood glucose range as measured on Alphatrak is considered here to be approximately 68 - 150 mg/dL (3.7 - 8.3 mmol/L). Some non-diabetic kitties or diabetics in remission will quite naturally run a little higher or lower than this.
So, the numbers you're seeing are wonderful!

Personally, I think this is very dodgy advice for someone new to feline diabetes. There aren't many people, even on this forum, who would give insulin at a blood glucose level of 150 (8.3) on Alphatrak, since this is the top end of the normal range.
Shooting insulin at this kind of number should only be done when the caregiver is comfortable with blood glucose monitoring, and has gathered sufficient test data to show that shooting at this kind of number is likely to be both safe and beneficial.

As Janet says above, the general advice to newcomers is to skip if the pre-shot blood glucose is below 200 (11). But that is as measured on a human glucose meter, so with Alphatrak (which 'reads' slightly higher usually) that number might be raised a tad more for safety.

It's good that you are also posting on the Lantus forum because your post is more likely to attract the attention (and expertise) of other Lantus users.

Keeping fingers and paws crossed for more wonderful blood glucose numbers from Sophia!

Eliz

 

@JanetNJ Thanks for reminding me about the sheet! I was told about it when I made an into post, but I hadn't had the time to go through the instructions and info until now. I'm also keeping track of her readings using an app on my phone.

@Elizabeth and Bertie Thanks for the info! The girl I spoke with had to put me on hold to consult the doctor on another phone line. So I'm def gonna try again to give them a call and see what else they say on the matter. I'm just trying my best not to stress out about any numbers I'm seeing, of course.
This morning, I tried testing Sophia before her meal, and she was moving around too much, so I had to do it when she started eating. Idk how I managed it, but her reading was 99. I won't be able to check her again until sometime before her next meal.

 

Great numbers for a cat so newly diagnosed! About the numbers you mentioned from the AlphaTrak documentation... 65 is the beginning of the hypoglycemic range, and 250 is the renal threshold (point where glucose begins 'dumping' into the kidneys), so you definitely want your baby to be within those numbers; however, the goal range is a little smaller and falls within that range. As you have already discovered, there are different ranges for what is considered 'normal' or 'ideal'. There are a lot of opinions on the subject, and really, some cats just naturally run higher or lower than other cats. I often see 68 to 150 given here as a good range. Personally, the 68 feels a little low to me (with meter/strip variance, it could actually be 65 or lower which is too low). So, I feel more comfortable with 75 or 80 being the bottom. I agree with 150 as the top of the range. But, again, with meter/strip variance, don't get TOO hung up on EXACT numbers.

It is often recommended that, when you are just starting out, you should not give a shot if the number is below 200. Once you have some data and a feel for how your baby responds to insulin, you can adjust that. You can usually give a shot on lower numbers with an insulin like Lantus or Levemir. That was one of the things I loved after I switched from ProZinc to Levemir, I did not have to feel the stress at shot time of deciding whether to give a shot or not or whether to reduce the dose or not because I found I could pretty much hold the dose no matter what (of course, an extremely low pre-shot result would be an exception, but I never ran into that). If you have posted or are going to post on the Lantus forum, they will offer you specific guidance on this.

 

@FurBabiesMama About the AlphaTrak numbers, I just knew that numbers in between that range (~66-249) would probably be alright for me to possibly not immediately stress about, if that makes sense? Like I mentioned before, I'd seen varying numbers online about what GB levels would be 'acceptable' and forgot to ask the doctor more about it. Thanks for the info and advice!

 

Hi bxkitty, are you still feeding Sophia the Purina DM dry food or wet? Wish I had had those wonderful numbers when we had started! lol. I would not think you had a sugar baby just looking at the new SS

 

Oh, she's been on 100% wet food for meals since the diagnosis, but she was eating 100% dry food before that time.

 

I tried seeing about getting insulin syringes with 1/2 units on them, but I can't seem to find a pharmacy near by that has them...but I found this on Chewy and since I'm so green when it comes to medical stuff & supplies, does anyone know if this might work for me?

https://www.chewy.com/insulin-syringesneedles-u-100-29/dp/173572

So far I've been skipping Sophia's AM shot because of her numbers, but then have given it to her in the PM - again because of her numbers - and I'm thinking maybe she would do well with getting a .5unit instead of the 1unit dosage she's getting now? I mean, isn't it good to be consistent with dosing (AM & PM shots daily) that helps cats get closer to potentially reaching remission? (again; still trying to learn how all this stuff is supposed to work or hopefully pan out)

 

Hi - I just ordered .5 syringes from ADW Diabetes. 100 of them for roughly $15 but it didn't include a sharps container.

 

@KrisQ Yeah, I'm not too concerned about the sharps container included. It just happened to be an option on Chewy and thought maybe someone on here might know anything about them. Thanks for the info! I've definitely seen that website come up on my google searches before.

 

I purchased mine from ADW Diabetes (same size with the sharps box shown) and they were 19.95. I am not sure what the shipping cost is for Chewey, its 6.95 for ADW making total cost about $26. Still it beats the $48 the vet was going to charge!!! The syringes have .5 unit marks and can go up to 12 units. I have been recently giving Zoe 4.75 units which the additional .25 units is a guess halfway between the 4.5 mark and 5. Her numbers are finally slowly coming down and I may increase to 5 units this weekend when I can watch her and get a couple of extra BG levels inbetween morning and evening shots. She is alot more playful and acting like her old self as the levels come down. The lowes she has achieved is 196 but Im ok with slower as the hypoglycemic videos are so sad and scary.

 

I found that both a walgreens and a CVS here in Binghamton have U100 with half markings (Walgreens generic and BD) and, being NY, will sell me a bag of 10 for about $4 without a prescription (NY requires a prescription for more than 10 syringes). I'm using CarePoint syringes from ADW now, but this was my trial run when switching from U40 insulin. I try not to get them shorter than 8mm (5/16) as he has thick fur.

 

I used to order mine from ADW and used these U-100 syringes with half unit markings for finer doses. They might help you as well

 

That's exactly what I did and I really like having the extra markings as opposed to guessing.