Hypoglycemia

Discussion in 'Lantus / Levemir / Biosimilars' started by Voula, Aug 18, 2015.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Voula

    Voula Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2014
    I set the alarm to get up to do another test as the +3 before bed test was lower than the PMPS. I panicked when I saw that Lucy's glucose level was 1.7/31 at +6 so I quickly smeared honey on her gums and opened a can of high carb food and gave her the gravy on top of the low carb food she ate when she had the test. Her symptoms were frantic meowing for food and not holding still for me to do the tests. When I couldn't do a second test to confirm the first test as Lucy was not sitting still enough for the test I rang the vet. It was 2.45 am at that time. Lucy kept wanting more food so I fed her gravy from the high carb food. The vet felt as long as she had no symptoms other than voracious hunger that I should test again after waiting for the honey and food to take effect. In the process of opening the can of high carb food I cut my finger on the lid of the can and when I was trying to test Lucy's glucose level blood from my finger went on her fur so I had to be careful not to test myself instead. :) That is what panicking does. Eventually after a while Lucy settled more and I was able to test her glucose level and thankfully it was at a safe level again. It was quite an increase in 30 minutes. I panicked not only at the low glucose level but because Lucy would not sit still because of her voracious hunger and I could not do a follow up test so I thought I would take her to the vet clinic and get help from the vet to do the follow up test. Our vet is only minutes away so we would have been there quickly if needed. I am going to do another test now. I thought maybe the initial test was not correct but Lucy's symptoms were very unusual so I am thinking the test was correct. Lucy has certainly earnt a dose reduction tonight. This is just as I thought I might increase the dose. I will now decrease the dose from 2 units to 1.75 units. I don't know if I should lower the next dose only to lower than 1.75 units as I read that cats can be sensitive to insulin after very low readings. I would appreciate some advice on that thank you.
    My previous post:
    http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...13-amps-239-8-130-10-128.142357/#post-1472455
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2015
  2. Sienne and Gabby (GA)

    Sienne and Gabby (GA) Senior Member Moderator

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    Great catch! You're instinct to re-test was on target but sometimes, our kitties are just not in the mood!

    Looking at Lucy's SS with the advantage of 20-20 hindsight, she had a good sized drop between PMPS and your +3 test. In retrospect, getting a test at +4 might have led to less excitement.
     
    Voula likes this.
  3. Voula

    Voula Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2014
    Thank you Sienne. I agree I should have gotten a +4 test. I did consider setting the alarm for a +4 or +5 test but thought 2 units has not caused any low glucose levels and I fed some low carb and high carb food at bed time. But yes things always seem clearer after something happens I agree. The other factor for deciding on a +6 instead of a +4 or +5 was that I didn't get enough blood for the optium glucometer so I used the freestyle lite instead and that reads a little lower usually so I decided given all of that I would set the alarm for a +6 test. Lesson learnt for sure. Should I reduce the next dose only by more than 0.25 units? Thank you again.
     
  4. Amy&TrixieCat

    Amy&TrixieCat Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2011
    Great job! That's exactly how Trix would act when she dropped into the 30s, too...it only happened twice, but it was more than enough!
     
    Voula likes this.
  5. Voula

    Voula Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2014
    Thank you Amy. Congratulations on Trixie being OTJ and no more worries about hypoglycemia for Trixie and you now. That is so great and I am very happy for both of you. Well done. :bighug: Thank you again.
     
  6. Amy&TrixieCat

    Amy&TrixieCat Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2011
    I'm sorry...I missed your question earlier!

    I would reduce her to 1.75u....this cycle definitely showed that 2.00U is too much juice for her, but she came up easily and her other numbers imply to me that a .25U reduction is all she's looking for right now. I'm sure others will weigh in, too!
     
    Voula likes this.
  7. Sienne and Gabby (GA)

    Sienne and Gabby (GA) Senior Member Moderator

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    I agree with Amy -- I'd reduce by 0.25u. If Lucy has a different opinion on the matter, undoubtedly, she'll let you know.
     
    Voula likes this.
  8. Voula

    Voula Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2014
    Thank you so much Amy and Sienne. I will reduce the dose to 1.75 units. For this morning's dose I gave a dose of close to 1.5 units due to inability to monitor closely today and I will continue with 1.75 units from tonight. Lucy's glucose was high this morning and it seems like a bounce so I probably could have given the full 1.75 units. Thank you again.
     
  9. julie & punkin (ga)

    julie & punkin (ga) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2011
    Good catch Voula! I'd also just reduce to 1.75u.

    By the way, your question about increased sensitivity to insulin - that refers to after a cat has had a symptomatic hypo. While increased hunger is a symptom of low numbers, I don't think i'd worry about that alone being enough to reduce the dose more than the 0.25u.
     
    Voula likes this.
  10. Ann & Tess GA

    Ann & Tess GA Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2010
    They love doing that to us! Good catch!
     
    Voula likes this.
  11. Voula

    Voula Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2014
    Thank you Julie. That is good to know as I was unsure about that. All is well this morning and we have a bounce. :smuggrin: I learnt last night that I should have tested a little earlier which I would normally have done but I became complacent as I had been thinking of increasing the dose this week as we hadn't had any glucose levels to worry about and also the numbers could have been a bit lower but you know what happens when you think about increasing the dose. I gave closer to 1.5 units for this morning's dose due to inability to monitor closely and I will continue tonight with the reduced dose of 1.75 units. Given the bounce I could have given 1.75 units this morning but it won't matter too much. In recent weeks our dosing schedule has not been precise in any case due to family and other commitments.
     
  12. Voula

    Voula Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2014
    Thank you Ann. It seems to happen often that when I think of increasing the dose we get low glucose levels and we reduce the dose.
     
  13. julie & punkin (ga)

    julie & punkin (ga) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2011
    so true! we see that over and over again! It's like kitties read their condos and have to outsmart you!
     
    Voula likes this.
  14. Voula

    Voula Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2014
    Never become complacent with cats is my motto now. :)
     
  15. CarolynE

    CarolynE Member

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2015
    Scary stuff! Glad Lucy came up without too much drama.
    You're lucky to have a 24 hour vet nearby. My local vets have much more limited hours, and the closest emergency vets are 25-30 minutes drive away. At least there wouldn't be much traffic to deal with at that hour of the night if I needed them.
     
    Voula likes this.
  16. Voula

    Voula Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2014
    Thank you Carolyn for your message. It was very anxiety provoking when I saw the low glucose level though Lucy did enjoy the high carb feast. I was very relieved when her glucose level came up so fast. We live in a small town and it was the local vet I called but they have a 24 hour service which is great and even better our wonderful vet was on call last night. There are several vets at the practice. It is only a few minutes away so very handy indeed. We have a great vet who is up on the latest knowledge about feline diabetes and has done an extra year of training in feline medicine. She supports home testing and recommended lantus and is also a lovely human being too. Last night we chatted for a while as she said seeing as I called we might as well have a chat until it was time for the next glucose test. This was at 3:00 am in the morning and I emailed her all of the glucose test results this morning and she sent me an email tonight in response. We had such a wonderful vet when we lived in the city but he has retired now and we have been lucky to find our current vet too. Interestingly both vets are also musicians, our old vet plays in a jazz band and our current vet plays classical piano. Anyway thank you again.
     
    CarolynE likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page