Potential Overdose?

I made a boo-boo tonight... I *might* have overdosed Heart.

I was giving him his injection. He was lying on the ground comfortably, so I thought instead of moving him, I'd try giving it to him as he was lying. It was from an awkward angle, and I was distracted. When I pinched the skin and then stuck the needle, the needle didn't feel right. It kind of felt like it was against a hard surface (it wasn't close to the floor, and it wasn't my hands ha ha!) I squeezed. He didn't flinch at all like he usually does. His fur was then also wet. I figured no flinch and wet fur, I missed completely.

Here's the booboo - I gave him another shot. This time, he did flinch like usual.

It then occurred to me that SOME of the previous dose might have gone in, so now I'm worried that I overdosed him.

PMPS was 371, +1 is 364, +1.5 is 317 (edit: +3 is 191)

I will monitor every hour. When do I know if I'm out of the woods? If I did overdosed him, when would his BG start crashing? Just wondering how long it'll take to know if I'm out of the woods.

The worst part was, being so distracted, I then re-used the same needle. I won't be able to pick up my fresh batch of Lantus until I'm back at work Tuesday morning.

 

Looks like Heart's nadir is about +4 to +6 after injection.

If you don't have high carb food handy -- go out and get some now. Food is better than karo syrup if the kitty can eat.

Basically, depending on how low Heart goes, you will need to feed him extra high carb food (like twinkies or a candy bar if it were a person) to absorb the excess insulin.

Depending on how his BGs look in the next few hours, you may need to set your alarm and test at +7 or +8 if he keeps on dropping. Nadir might be a bit later than usual -- so better to wait until the BGs have started to rise by at least 20 points.

Did you also post in LANTUS ISG?

 

Hey - I just cross posted this thread to your Lantus condo....and alerted others to stop in -

I agree, you're going to need to have HC on hand. And up rather late, just to make sure.



EDIT TO ADD: today's LL condo Heart

 

I did give him a bunch of Temptations treats right after the injection(s) so hoping those will kick in soon.

He of course was thrilled to get them...

At this point, being so late (almost 11pm here) I won't be able to get anything anywhere. Do have syrop and stuff at home though just in case...

 

numbers are ok so far, maybe Heart is in RBC tonight and we'll get off easy. I agree with Phoebe, get some HC food if you don't already have any, and test again in an hour.

How much of the first shot do you think might have gone in?

 

ok, you'll want to go easy on how much food you're going to give, you don't want to over fill Heart and helps to avoid toss up's



You have enough test strips too?

 

Sophia:

Do you want the back up on the Lantus board or here? You shouldn't have to be checking in two places.

In addition to HC, do you have strips -- a lot of them?

 

I remembered I have the HC dry food (Science Diet "Light") that probably made him diabetic in the first place, so I gave him some of that to eat. He enjoyed having his dry food back... He wouldn't eat a new wet HC food if I needed him to, so it's good I didn't get rid of all the dry stuff.

I'm thinking more that I didn't get much in, if anything at all. The needle just didn't feel right, and he almost ALWAYS jerks a little every time I give it to him. He didn't move a fraction of an inch and it was then wet. So yeah, I'm strongly hoping he only got the regular dose... But just in case, I figured I should post here to know how long to monitor him and to get your opinions looking at his SS.

Sienne, I'm not sure what you mean with the backup?

Have another 40 or so strips (just opened a thing of 50 yesterday). Also have my "old" meter and another 50 strips for that one

 

By backup, I mean having eyes on your condo to lend a hand if Heart drops low. Either Health or LL is fine. Whatever your preference is. The beans here often will suggest a LL regular post on the Lantus board since we know you and Heart.

 

I wouldn't worry terribly much (honestly? Not at all...) about the reusing of the syringe. No, it's not good. No, it can contaminate. But...if the needle didn't touch anything other than the rubber of the vial, chances are slim/none that you contaminated Heart with anything other than air. LOL. The only thing w/ reusing syringes (other than contamination) is that they do get dull, and it hurts a bit more. But, again, being honest here...I've reused syringes once or twice, and it hasn't hurt my babies whatsoever.

Not saying make it a habit, of course, but rest easy on the syringe score. Deal?

Best-
Michele

 

He just played a tiny bit with a toy so I'm keeping my eye on him. Will do another BG in a half an hour (or a bit less - don't want to wait that long)

 

Good plan. I was going to ask for an update.

 

At almost +3 (ten minutes short) he's at 191. On the one hand, the big drop in an hour and a half does worry me, but on the other hand, being down a whole 10 mmol (180 points) by +3 seems to be very common with him. I'll keep on watching...

 

Please test by +4 so we can see where this is going.

 

+4 is 182, so a very slight decrease in the past hour. I think this means we're okay

 

+5 is 179

 

holding steady... seems like it'll probably be okay. Are you going to keep testing? Has he been eating? (just wondering if there's anything affecting the numbers that should be of concern - like if it's a spike that will drop or something)

 

Any update? How's Heart doing this morning?

 

I went to bed after that and didn't test anymore since the numbers were steady. He did eat HC food overnight just in case, and this morning was back at 448

 

not surprising the high bg this am - especially after all the stuff you gave him last night....it may take a day or two for the food to get out of his system, so don't be alarmed by the bg's and stick with your current dose as well. and no more second shots EVER!!!!! Unless you want to be up all night again. ;-)

 

That dry food, the kitty krak, will likely take a couple days to work out of his system, so that's the reason you want to leave that dry stuff as an absolute last resort.

The next time you are not sure if you got any of the shot in or very little, just mark your ss as fur shot. Remember that you have the shed so Heart's not going completely without any insulin; you'll just need to fill up the shed on the next few shots.

Pick up a couple cans of HC the next time you are out and mark them with the carb% like 18 or whatever you get and then you are ready if you get low numbers again.

 

Well the timing is good for some carbs to stay in his system, since I have to leave town for a night tomorrow and now won't have to worry about him going hypo

 

A suggestion regarding the HC: Get something that is HC with gravy. The next time you are in that situation, you can use the gravy on top of a little of his regular wet food to boost the carbs without giving him totally new food.

Glad it turned out all right, just no more second shots next time, OK? ;-) It just isn't worth the risk of a hypo/rebound, that will at the least set your progress back. Nobody likes fur shots, but it happens and it isn't a big deal.