Increase from 1unit 2x a day to 2units 2x a day

hey all!

It’s been a while but my Freddie is diabetic again with his numbers between 350-400.

I’ve been told to dose 1unit 2x a day but that only brought him from 450 to 350ish after two weeks. The vet told me to bump to 2units twice a day now and that seems like a steel bump and I’m afraid it’ll spike or do something bad to his system! Any thought? I’m currently using the Lantus pen with the pen caps so it’s only options on the pen are full units.
Should I ignore the vet and do a smaller increase?

I also did a curve at home and it was steady between 350-380 over 12 hrs.
I also currently feed him one can of Nulo/wellness pate twice a day and he’s still super skinny.

Thanks all!

 

I'm not an expert and hopefully more will chime in but 1 unit increases are way too much on either protocol. Read the TR and the SLGS instructions. If I remember at the small doses 1/4 or 1/2 increases and hold those. TR for least 6 cycles and SLGS for a week. Good luck.

 

@MyTitan is correct. 1u increase is too much.

 

The TR / SLGS stickies at the top of the forum are very helpful. I use to reference them often.

1u is double the insulin, too big of a jump. When increasing too fast, you can skip over the "right" dose and end up in a rollercoaster ride of numbers going from too low to too high as well as a possible hypo situation. SLow and steady increases reduce the change of a hypoglycemic event and let you find that right dose while allowing the kitty to get used to the lower numbers.

The handling and shooting fine doses is helpful for those 1/4u and smaller amounts. 1.25u can he hard to measure at first.
The pens aren't the most accurate and almost all users prefer to use regular syringes. You should be able to pick up some from Walgreens/CVS/Wal-mart. U100 30u 29 guage are a common one around here. Most states do not require a script for insulin syringes.

housecleaning stuff: Getting a SS started and linked to your signature will help others see Freddie's numbers and patterns to offer better advice on when and how much to increase.

 

You can use regular syringes with the pens (that's what most folks here do, unless they have a high-dose kitty and use vials). You can poke right into the top of the pen with the cap off.

As others have said, I think you'll find that more gradual dose increases will be better for you and Freddie. Especially if he's super-skinny, adding that much more insulin all at once could cause a hypoglycemic crash-- much better to go slowly and monitor his response to smaller increases until you find a good dose.

 

Good to see you are doing some home testing. Most of us here use a spreadsheet to track the blood sugar values - it's an essential tool when someone is asking us what do do about a dose. The instructions for creating a spreadsheet are here.

As others have said, best to get some 1/2 unit marked U-100 syringes and use those to give the insulin, so you can go up and down in smaller increments than one unit. Typically on the sized dose Freddie is on, we'll go up either 0.25 or 0.5 units, depending on the blood sugar data.

For feeding, you might want to spread the food out a bit, so he has several small meals throughout the day and night, in addition to his mail meal at shot time. He may need a bit more food until he is regulated.