I just got home from work and did a BG reading on Gizmo at +11.25 and it is 54. Again, he has not other symptoms than a ravenous hunger. HIs number at +6 was 277. I just gave him some of his regular FF classic pate and will do another reading in about 15 min. He must have dropped this low in the last couple of hours. My husband took his food away from him at 4:45 pm and there was still quite a bit on his plate and since his only symptom seems to be ravenous hunger, this didn't happen before 4:45 pm. I am almost in tears right now. This is what scares me the most is that he will be in these hypo numbers when I am not home. I leave out two plates of food for him when I am at work now because I want to make sure he has enough if he goes down to low. Obviously he is not getting insulin tonight. I will let you know what his next reading is.
Did you do an immediate retest in case that 54 was from a dud strip? If it's valid you need to reduce the dose to 2 u next time you give insulin. At this point it looks like a no shot tonight and you can try 2 u tomorrow AM, numbers permitting.
Now I have to laugh. I got a package from PetMeds today and in it is a $100.00 voucher off a case of WINE. To bad I quit drinking about 12 years ago. I could really use it right now. I did his +11.75 after his and he is at 80. I am running low on the test strips for the Alphatrak, but I bought a human meter that I have not started using because I have not set up his spreadsheet yet. I may need some direction on the numbers I get from those strips.
Wow, that's a nice discount voucher. You would think they could discount the pet products you buy though? If you don't do wine, how about some chocolate or some really nice flavored tea? You deserve something to make you feel better.
Thank you so much. This is stressful. This is his second hypo episode in less than 48 hours. I am hoping that he is telling me that he wants off of this insulin.
Thanks Kris. I didn't do an immediate retest. I could tell from his behavior that it was correct. He was acting the same way as he did 4 cycles ago. He starts looking urgently around for some food. When I put the food down he can't get it in his mouth fast enough. This is really unusual for him. He is a grazer and only eats a little at a time. I will definitely take his insulin down to 2u tomorrow morning. Thanks again for the advice.
Well, maybe he's not ready quite yet, but looking at the spreadsheet you are making progress. And he dipped, but he didn't crater. You knew just what to do. I think you should build a Heather Hypo Kit, for "these special times". Dark chocolate is supposed to produce endorphins, the feel good hormones. Orange Ginger tea settles the stomach, Bengal Spice tea is just plain satisfying. There's a slew of different kinds out there. Don't forget to pamper yourself, if time/circumstances allow, a foot soak feels pretty good too. Hey...you can soak your feet, while gnawing on a chocolate bar and slurping tea!
I like the way Lou thinks too! Wow Heather! Gizmo is really keeping you on your toes! No worries when you switch to the human meter. It will take a bit of getting used to but it's not hard to switch.
Hi heather. Just got here. Sending you hugs. I know what these episodes can do to our emotional well being. Hopefully you were able to grab some chocolate, tea and gizmo for hugs and cuddles. Xoxoxo
Thank you. I have taken comparison testing the last two BG readings. So the human meter runs lower than the AT2. +3 with AT2 was 167 vs Contour Next EZ 128. +5 reading with AT2 was 269 vs HM at 202. So my reading of 54 on the AT2 is going to read REALLY low on the human meter, right? Just making sure so I don't completely freak out the first time it happens. . I do have more test strips coming for the AT2. I will be using the insulinx test strips with it since those are much cheaper than the AT2 strips. Thank goodness for the good pointers that people share on this site. So, I am bouncing back and forth on my morning insulin dose for tomorrow morning. 2U or 1.75u. I am thinking to try the 1.75u to help keep me sane while at work tomorrow, but I am worried about his numbers being to high. I never know what the doses are going to result in anymore. He started at 355 yesterday morning and it ended the cycle with 54. I know that Djamila had advised this morning before the hypo to take it down to 2u or 1.75u, but I had already gave him his shot. Kris suggested 2u this evening after the 2u. So for this reason I lean towards the 2u. I am so afraid of him going so low again. It gives me some comfort knowing that so far, he his only symptom of hypo as been the ravenous hunger. So I will continue to keep two plates of food out while at work. I don't know if this will always be the case though. Do I need to worry about DKA with every hypo episode he has. I checked for ketones after his last hypo and it was negative, but I could tell there was more sugar in his urine though. it was like trying to dig up concrete from his litter box the next morning. Again, I a super grateful for everyone on this forum. You truly help keep me sane during this process. Thanks again to everyone.
I don’t think you can decide the AM dose without seeing the PS# just remember high for a day is better than risking a hypo. I know it’s hard. I struggle too when lowering the dose and then seeing little go high. Breaks my heart as we want them to feel good and we want to see those good numbers but we will all get there eventually. Little is still messing with me. She’s 109 at +5 so once again I will forgo sleep to test again in an hour in case she is still going lower. I bumped her up a hair the last few cycles and am now worrying about possible hypo tonight so again I say better high than risk hypo. Time to take my own advice!!
Actually Heather, the difference between your AT2 and the Contour human meter will likely be far less at a low reading like 54 on the AT2. The difference between the pet and human meters generally gets bigger the higher the BG.
Not to interject, but how bad is a 50 reading? Billy had a 45 an hour ago, just as I was going to bed. I fed him a ton of food - gravy, treats, some Delectables squeeze-up paste I got for these incidents - and when I checked about 15 minutes ago, he was only creeping up. He was at about 50. He's asleep now, snoring loudly as usual, and I really need to get up for work in the morning. I'm not sure how long it takes to recover after eating. Does anyone have any observations about how long it takes? His insulin shot was about six hours ago and his blood sugar is typically lowest around the five-hour mark. Again, sorry to interject, but I saw people replying and I'm sitting here bleary eyed.
@Sam and Billy It would be a good idea to start a thread of your own if you need assistance so you can get individualized help and no one gets 2 cats with low numbers mixed up. That said, What meter are you using? Is he still on 1.5u of insulin? It sounds like you gave Billy a heck of a lot of carbs and one would expect his BG to have come up a bit more than 5 points. I'd suggest you test him again 20 to 30 minutes after your last test and start a new thread so we can help you specifically. You may need to continue to monitor/steer him until at least +7 hours post shot and possibly beyond if he is not holding at a bit higher BG by now.
@Sam and Billy how long after the shot was that? What was his preshot? We'd be happy to help you out if you want to start a thread too so we can help figure out good dosing for Billy!
