So from tomorrow, doing shots 12 hours apart is going to be a challenge I think. I'll probably have to shoot around 13 & 11 hours apart - a little less some days (12/45 : 11/15). Should I do a slightly reduced dose on the shots I give 11 hours later? Also I wonder what people do when they do get home late or want a night out? This change to Lantus has made me nervous enough that I have knocked back a couple of invitations out but it's only been just over a month. I refuse though to become a hermit just to make sure my cat (as much as I adore her) gets her insulin on time. Looks like last night was a fur shot and ketones this morning are 0.1 - still in the normal range but enough to start worrying especially as tomorrow morning I was going to skip her shot as we need to adjust her schedule by about 2 hours......
You want to try to keep on schedule as much as possible. Early shot times (an hour and earlier) can act as a dose increase. Late shot times can act as a dose decrease. So you want to be wary of changing things around too much too severely. We adjust shot times generally in 15 minute intervals, usually not more than 30 minutes in one day. Some cats are more sensitive to time changes than others. We've been able to adjust Lou by 30-minute intervals without any ill effects. Changing the doses can also affect future cycles by making the depot unstable, which would require more time to stabilize again. Obviously, sometimes you need to adjust or skip completely. It happens. We worry about skipping dose more in kitties who have a history of DKA. Has Myrtle ever had DKA?
Thanks for the response. Myrtle has never had DKA. I realise that a 13:11 schedule is not ideal and we should stick to 12:12. I suppose I really asked the question to see if anyone does do the 13:11? I have a work contract for a few months and there is absolutely no choice but for me to be out of the house for long days for the time being. So I would love to hear from anyone out there who does have awkward scheduled and how they handle it?
Oh good, I'm glad DKA hasn't been a problem. I haven't had to worry about that since we switched Lou to depot insulins (first Basaglar, then Levemir). When I have to work 12-13 hour days my husband has to take the night off to dose. I'd be interested to see how others respond. Maybe add the ? icon to your title and see if that gets more eyes on your question.
There's no one size fits all answer to your question. Testing will show you what needs to be done. It'll take some work and probably a lot of trial and error. I do think Levemir is a bit more flexible than Lantus when it comes to deviating from the typical 12/12 schedules. I shot Levemir on an 11/13 schedule every day, for the most part. I dosed consistently. It worked for Alex. ECID. Your mileage may vary. ETA: If I was going out for the evening I would often shoot an 18/18 schedule which put me right back on schedule the next evening. Shoot on time in the morning ---> shoot 18 hours later ---> shoot 18 hours later which was the regular time for the PM shot. It didn't take Alex too long to get back on track. ECID.
This is an excellent question. This is the second week after diagnosis and I was lucky enough to work from home last week and I was already scheduled for PTO this week to do work around my house. I’ve skipped a wedding and a dinner out, which is all fine because I get more time with Velcro, but I admit I am starting to have some anxiety about still being able to be social.
Thank you for this Jill. I particularly like the 18/18 schedule for nights out and I've been thinking - this 18/18 schedule could possibly work well on those days where PMPS is a little too low to shoot confidently - instead of missing the shot entirely, shooting around midnight (if numbers have increased) and then the following evening to get back on track?
