Another stupid newbie bean question

For those of you momma's that shoot your PM doses of Lantus after 7pm......

Do you always have to make plans around the sugarbabies injection times? In other words, any evening plans need to start after the PM dose or at least be home for the PM dose right? I understand how important it is to keep on the same daily schedule. So what are some of the things you all have learned over time?

Thanks for your time

 

Shadoe's health depends on her shots, so yes, my life revolves around her shots.

 

Paige,
Not a stupid question but I revolve my plans around shot time. The trouble is I still have not decided what times I like. I started at 7am & 7pm but messed up one day and now I am at 8&8. I have not moved it yet so. With Lantus, you cannot stray very far from the 12 hour mark.

 

I'm pretty new to this too, but I've noticed that I've already started to arrange my plans around Osiris's Lantus shot (which is around 9am and 9m) work included. Osiris is very important to me and I want his quality of life to be good as possible.

 

All plans now revolve around shot times! What kitties wouldn't love us beans revolving everything around them...they are the center of the universe! :lol:

You might have 15 minutes of flexibility one night - plenty of time to go to dinner, see a movie, etc... :lol:

I will tell you that managing the time does get easier and you figure out the bean schedule better with time.

 

Paige, no question is stupid...

I did a 7 am and 7 pm schedule. It fit best for me. I regularly need to meet colleagues for drinks after work and used to go out with friends for an evening... So it was actually a great excuse to leave the after-work drink session early without looking like a light-weight... and for dinners with friends or a full evening out, they knew that I would not be there until 8 pm. I liked to be home for at least 30 minutes post shot. It was never really a hardship to schedule around Sundance. So many people do it for kids' sports - not medical or life and death - so I figured they should be good about my needs. Most were. Some thought I was insane or putting Sundance ahead of them... Not surprisingly, they now don't get ANY time with me even though I'm not on a schedule. :twisted:

 

We do 7:30/7:30 shot times, which works great during the week, but messes a bit with when we would prefer to go out to dinner on the weekends. But it has actually become a positive: we eat closer to home more at local restaurants, which saves money and supports local business. If we have major evening plans, we know enough in advance that we can incrementally adjust the shot schedule over the span of several days to give us the time we need, but this doesn't come up too often.

 

An alternative to 12/12

Disclaimer: what I'm about to explain works for me, it may not work for anyone/everyone else and their cat, but it is the only way I have found to maintain BG levels with a wonky schedule. So from my experience it is worth sharing.

I work retail - I cannot be home every day at 7 or even 8PM to give a shot. I cannot even leave work to run home and give shot, I live a half hour away from work.

How I overcome this is that in the morning of the days I have to work later, I give 1/2 his dose at 8AM and the other half at 10AM, the latter equalling 12 hours from the PM time I would be home. Lo & behold it creates enough extra shed to hold him for the extra time! I refer to it as split dosing.

When I switched to Levemir I had hoped it would hold him longer than PZI did, unfortunately because time changes equal dose changes, it could not. The split dose technique simply creates a longer lasting shed.

The main problem I encounter is getting him back to the earlier time, which I usually have to do within a day and a half. Sometimes, like this morning, he is high enough at +10 from the PM dose that I simply give him his full dose at +10 and get some spot checks to make sure that's OK. Usually it is. I have also tried a split dose opposite to what I just explained, where I give half his dose at 8AM and the other half at 10AM the morning following the 10PM shot. It works that day, but what I sometimes see is the following AM shot he is rather low, because it creates more shed from doing earlier shots. I prefer to do the +10 full dose to get him back to earlier shot times.

All it takes is a few trials to see if this could work for your cat. If it works for Levemir, it should work for Lantus. And I have to do it every week. Most of you are speaking about needing to change the 12/12 schedule once a week or every so often.

 

Thanks everyone for your input. We scheduled around his shot last night and actually chose to order in dinner instead of going out to eat (which would have cost more). So you are right......we can work it out. :RAHCAT

 

After learning how Vicky practices split dosing, i tried it on a night that i was unable to be home in time for the PM shot. For Molly, it worked beautifully! Thanks again Vicky for taking the time to explain it to me -all 3 times, ha!

 

We have to do what we have to do. Not infrequently I shot at 4 AM and 8:30 PM because my work schedule changes. I used to shoot at 4AM and 10:30 PM too. For on mine are on Lantus, one on U and one on N.

 

I love Beau. I nursed him through critical health issues at the age of 3 (him, not me :roll: ). And I made more effort to accomodate the 12/12 schedule when he was on insulin.

But I would not revolve my life around his shot schedule. It is one thing to leave some place a bit early or ask friends to wait 15 mins to fit that 12/12 plan, but there were times when I had theater tickets downtown after work with dinner in between - no way to get home to shoot. I got home at midnight, or whenever, and adjusted Beau's dose and schedule to get him back on track by Monday morning, usually. I did this on vetsulin (more flexible), but also on levemir.

Because I was gone for 15 hours or more, I could not do a split dose like Vicky does.

I used to see posts to newbies all the time about how the human needs a life too. I don't think I see that as often any more, which is too bad. You can't take care of someone else (human or feline or canine) if you are run down, resentful, etc. Giving up my few nights out was not an option. Adjusting Beau schedule was.

 

Just as an FYI, if you have something in the future, let's say a wedding, a work outing or even switching from daylight savings time, you can start to adjust the dose earlier/later as needed a few weeks in advance.

Before a time change I adjust Tucker's dose by 15 minutes either way, then another 15 minutes, etc, until I get to the desired shot time.

 

I used to plan as much as possible to keep to a 12/12 schedule for Maggie. But when I couldn't, I couldn't. I found an hour didn't make a difference to Maggie's numbers (just our experience). And I very rarely would skip a really late shot or give a very reduced dose to keep us on schedule.

We have to be good caregivers, but when life sends a curveball, you do the best you can. And as you learn how your cat and your insulin work, you'll have a better idea how to handle these type of problems.

BTY, it was a GREAT excuse to get out of things I really didn't want to do anyway!

 

And here I was thinking that not only was Beau the oldest cat on record, ever, but that you were a medical prodigy at the age of 3! :lol:

 

What's funny about that was that during Sundance's illness, not just the FD but all the other stuff too, I really learned what I truly loved to do and what I thought I loved to do. Socialising was great, but I didn't need to do it four times a week and I certainly didn't enjoy it ever more than I enjoyed time at home with Sundance. Paying her a lot of attention and spending evenings at home with her (and this forum) was far more enjoyable than a loud restaurant while spending tons of dough.

 

Serious word of caution

Paige (not sure if it's you or kitty :roll: ) as a newbie I would seriously recommend you do not follow the method used by Vic and Michele.

This is no affront to them but they have the data and knowledge of their cats reaction to insulin, doses and times to back up using this.

It is extremely important that you gather lots of data, become familiar with kittys response to insulin before you try any such technique.

Whoever mentioned moving shots by 15 minutes is the way forward in the early days.

We also used Levemir and yes whilst the 2 insulins are similar it is your data and newbieness that makes me say this.

Over time, I became familiar with Luckys pattern,reaction to insulin, lack of hypo signs (even at 29!),that I could also become flexible with her shots, at times up to an hour each way. But NOT A CHANCE would I have done this in the early days. I was also confident of my knowledge and ability to manage her diabetes. I even on occasion missed a shot (the stress at vets and using welding gloves to get hold of her this was preferable to subjecting her to this for a whole weekend).Lucky as stated by Jojo vet tech had an Iron shed-'hats off to her construction crew :lol: )and she could retain an excellent number (see her chart)

Not only have you got the building up of shed you can have overlap-(insulin effects going on past +12) if your also throwing in another shot, you may have a double dip in bg number or could effect what dose you think kitty needs. Far too many variables and risks for me to support this idea.

Most people can plan ahead and thus gradually move shots. As you get to know kitty you may be fortunate and able to extend that time, I can't say. ECID

 

Re: Serious word of caution

I think you meant Vicky. I did not suggest a method other than being home for shot time.

 

For the beginning, you have to try to be on schedule; after you have learned about how your cat reacts to insulin, food etc, I found you could loosen up a bit.
Dana

 

Kate,

Oh don't worry about me doing anything different. I am too new and I do not want to do anything wrong

We will just schedule things around my baby Webber. It has pretty much always been that way in this household anyway, lol. Our four cats are our babies and they get treated as such. My poor mom....she wants grandkids. I told her that she has four and they all have paws. dancing_cat

 

It's important to keep in mind that some cats remain diabetic for years and trying to keep to a strict 12/12 schedule long term like that is going to be pretty much impossible. No matter how much you care about your cat (and we all do), you're allowed to have a life too. Your life doesn't stop the minute your cat is diagnosed with diabetes.

I work 12.5 hour shifts. On my days off (4 per week), it was fairly easy to keep to a regular schedule. However, that normal schedule went out the window on the 3 days per week (and not always the same days) that I have to work. Boo managed to eke out another 3 years even with my wacky schedule.

 

Re: Another stupid newbie bean question-apologies Vic

Apologies to Vic, I was indeed referring to Vicky's post.

Deanie/Boo have a point, I just wanted to emphasise having the data and understanding Webber gives you the flexibility whilst keeping him? safe not in my view before.

Thanks for the laugh on the Grankids all having paws :lol: