STILL high #'s 600+

Hi there all, newbie here, Putter is still in the 500's/600's +1, +2, +5 on Lantus x 3 weeks. This morning amps: 340, +1=540, +2=621 WHAT??? I did call AlphaTRAK to make sure the meter does not read different if the blood is from the capillary or vein, they told me it is all the same. The only difference is if the blood is from the artery, I pull from the vein as I am a complete failure at getting anything from the ear. Putter is pu/pd this am, eating well, acting normal for the most part but I am absolutely going nutz about the extremely high #'s. Called his vet (I am off this week and won't see him at work) and left a msg that I am completely distressed about the fact that his #'s increasing POST SHOOTING. He is sorta walking more on his hocks. I am so upset and in tears at this moment, I don't want to lose my precious Putter Monster, maybe I should not be doing so many bg checks so early in the game.

He is eating fantastic foods, no grains, no glutens, no dry food ever. I have added Fancy Feast (completely against my feline/canine food snobbery as it contains an un-named meat) I give him boiled chicken as a treat which he loves.

Today we are both CRANKY, thank goodness my civie still loves me.

 

I am sorry this is so frustrating. It is amazing how every cat is truly different. Lots react to the diet change and insulin immediately. Others take longer.

I know you got some suggestions in your earlier post to consider going back and trying 1 unit in case you started at too high a dose and he is rebounding.( http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Somogyi_rebound) The nice thing about this is that you are hometesting, so you should see some action in a few cycles if he is rebounding. You wouldn't be trying it blindly. You would want to be testing ketones regularly if you decide to try this option. Have you asked the folks on the Lantus support group what they think? viewforum.php?f=9

The other side of the coin is that it is possible that he is a high dose cat. The acromegaly section of this site is pretty active: viewforum.php?f=12 You might post over there and see what they think.

 

I don't blame you. I can understand the crankiness with those numbers.

How old is he? Maybe it is a problem with his teeth? That can drive up numbers.

I hope I am not stating the obvious since you are a vet tech. Just thought I would throw that out there. I hope you find some answers.

 

What dose are you giving? Lantus can have a rebound (as linked upthread), and sometimes you have to go down in dose to see the action. It's weird, but it's the truth. Have you done a spreadsheet yet? When you do, look for a checkmark pattern...that's indicative (altho not diagnostic) of a rebound.

I've also used R to bring the numbers down to where Lantus is really effective, but I wouldn't tell anyone else to do that...it's kind of precarious. I did it with Eeyore, and he's doing really well now...just thought I'd put that in for thought - not do, just thought for right now.

Hang in there...you'll get it sorted out. As for home testing, please keep doing it. That's the only way you'll ever know if the lantus is working at all.

Best-
Michele

 

Hi
What I've recently discovered with Fred is that if I free feed him it messesup the numbers. When he is "HI" (600+ on the meter) or in the 500s or high 400s, I give him his lantus (1unit basically) and then don't let him eat for several hours...he drops very slowly--15-30 points per hour, so it may be 5 or 6 hours dep. on his starting number till I let him eat. And then it seems ok. And when his number is in the 200s/300s at shot time, he can eat right away, the Lantus seems to drop it gradually and not much--so if you start high, it's tough to get it low. I found that increasing the dose to drop him from a high number (what vet always suggested) was BAD advice becuase then I'd catch him in a hypo number or near--very low....so I've always been very cautious about increasing the dose. You might experiement with this if your kitty free feeds.

ALSo, when he has a high day, I actually speed up his second shot...and give it to him at +8 or +9, because by then I know that he's not dropping much lower. This is a new approach--I always used to wait till +12. But now I see that I can just start inching him lower and then keep him in the lower range with the same dose. Increasing the dose has NEVER worked for Fred for whatever reason.

good luck