'Alternative' medicine?

If what mainstream science gives us - Lantus, in this case - isn't working, we look elsewhere. Doing some research to see if there's A N Y T H I N G at all traditional medicine (= herbs & things) has to offer to combat a disease which probably didn't even exist before processed foods came into being (and the very few creatures who had the misfortune of being born with it died within days), I came upon bitter melon, prickly pear cactus and a concoction called Blood Sugar Gold, which consists of a variety of herbs. Have any of you had any experiences with these or other herbal/holistic treatments?

 

Of the thousands of people who have posted on this site in the 8+ years I have been on it, I have never seen anyone who has successfully using alternative medicine to treat diabetes.

I am not sure you have shared your numbers and doses and frustration with Lantus with the group. Are you using the tight regulation method of dosing? It has a very high success rate.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581.

Can you give us some data, especially midcycle numbers, which is how Lantus doses are determined? Then perhaps people will have suggestions that will help. I would not give up on Lantus yet, if I were you. And if it truly won't work for your cat, there are other mild, long lasting insulins.

 

His prior posts

Take a look at my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some other ways to assess your cat's health. In particular, consider combined urine ketone and glucose testing with KetoDiaStix or generic equivalent. It only indicates what happened since the previous void, but is better than nothing. Combined with water intake and appetite, there is an older protocol which uses those to evaluate insulin requirements.

Vet stress may raise the glucose level 100 to 180 mg/dL.
Switching from the high carb food you are feeding to a low carb canned or raw food, low in phosphorus to protect the kidneys (ex Friskies Special Diet Pates) may reduce the glucose another 100 mg/dL.

When I switched my first diabetic from high carb dry to low carb canned, the insulin dose dropped by 2 units. Gracie, my 2nd diabetic wasn't being treated at all; she is being fed low carb Friskies and is on about 1.2 units BID.