So the U100s finally arrived, and I’m pretty sure they’re the wrong ones ... I think surely I must want something that doses significantly less than 30 units.
DON'T take my word for it (it's been years since I've had to worry about this) but I think those are right. The Conversion Chart goes up to 30 units because that's really only 12 units for a u-40 insulin like Prozinc. It looks like a lot because you're doing 2.5 units in this syringe to hit 1 unit for Prozinc...does that make sense? I feel like I'm confusing the issue sometimes!
Oh! Maybe I’ll draw one dose each on the U40 and the U100 (using the conversion chart now that I’ve actually, you know, looked at the numbers on it. Why yes indeed! They do go to 30!), squirt them into two little finger bowls, and see if they look about right. I get that I won’t be able to see very small differences, but it’ll be obvious if they are, like, six times off.
You could do it with water too to keep from wasting any insulin. I really do think they're the right ones, but I worry that I've been away from the syringe game too long to be sure! @Kris & Teasel @Djamila can either of you weigh in on this when you have a sec?
The amount looks about the same, but either way, I still think they're the wrong ones bc even though I was sure that I ordered ones with half-unit marks, these are only in whole units.
Those are the correct volume (30 units) but you need half unit marks to take advantage of the conversion chart.
Yes to what Kris said. The half unit marks are really important in this. Do you have a walmart near you? They have them super cheap.
Thanks guys! I didn't catch the half unit marks until she mentioned it...it's really been awhile since I bought any syringes!
I have asked at two different pharmacies (a Walgreens and a CVS) and was told at each that they would be so gracious as to sell me ten syringes at a time. One doesn’t need an rx for syringes in this state, but evidently pharmacists exercise considerable discretion when selling them anyway. Haven’t tried at Walmart. Super frustrated with this am’s PS. I don’t understand it.
You were right though that they are the correct size of u100 syringes. Those could be used, it would just be a lot of eyeballing the doses.
What is this morning's PS? It looks like you've already collected data through tomorrow when I look at your spreadsheet?
I just updated it: 337. (I had put the dates in wrong at some point last week! The data is all for consecutive days, and the dates are now corrected.)
Ah! I've done that before too. I should have looked closer. The 337 aside, she's been pretty high and flat lately. Looks like she's due for an increase anyway. Since she's prone to getting bouncy, you might try making a series of tiny increases. You're at 1.5s, so try 1.5, and then 1.5f, and then 1.75s, and hold each one for two-three cycles until you get her to the next step (1.75), or until she starts off on her bouncy way.
Walgreens and CVS around here are pretty stingy with their syringes too. Walmart will let me buy several boxes at a time. Funny how different pharmacies can be. Plus, they are like $6/ten syringes at CVS, and $12/box (100 syringes) at Walmart. Hopefully once you get some syringes you can do the micro-dose changes more easily too.
Yes, nothing but yellow, yellow, yellow. We had brought her down from 1.5 since that dose was making us stall almost regularly and then (maybe) bouncing her. We had hoped that reducing the dose would help her “settle,” which I guess it did (yellow yellow yellow!), but today’s AMPS was *not* expected! I can’t get home for a midday today but will plan to go up to 1.5 tonight and hope this doesn’t set her off again. And in the meantime, I’ll see if I can get my hands on the proper U100s and/or order the correct ones from ADW. I am wondering if perhaps our vial is losing some efficacy. It was opened on 6/19.
Looks like Chewy sells syringes too...but you might not be able to buy them due to needing a prescription.
So that didn’t take long. PMPS= 163. I’m giving her 15 minutes, and if it’s up, we’ll shoot 1.5 (her current dose); if it’s the same or down, I guess a skinny 1.5? Don’t get me wrong — I love a blue PS! — it’s just the uncertainty that’s bringing me down. EDIT: stall = 149
I don’t know!!! I was hoping you or Rachel or Kris might. Basically flat for six cycles on a skinny 1.5 (which we purposefully held long since in the past it has taken her a few cycles to get active on a dose) and then this after just two on 1.5. And of course she did it on the one day no one could get home to get some kind of midday. It’s like she’s actively trying to make me crazy or something! Hopefully today will bring some kind of clarity. At the least, it’ll give us some more numbers to stare at ...
PS. I don’t see how this could matter, but the one thing that was different yesterday day was that, since no one got home for a midday, she spent the whole day in her Diabetes Treatment Center (aka the spare room) by herself. We put her in there on workday mornings so that she can eat her (zobaline-laced) food from the timer at +4 without competition from the civvie. So she was either equally inactive to a day she’s got the run of the place in the afternoon or less active. (I suppose it’s possible that she and the civvie are chasing each other around all afternoon, though I do doubt it.) But in any case, wouldn’t it be more activity that would drop the BG and not less?
It could be, but honestly the long cycle is kind of her thing, so it may have just been her reaction to the increase. I wonder what would happen if you just shoot through it. Have you tried that yet, or always lowered the dose? It looks like you did it on 8/19 and that didn't go so well, but then it looks like the rest of them you lowered the dose and she ran high. Definitely don't try it if you aren't home, but maybe if she does it on a Saturday morning and you can be around to monitor and steer? It depends on what that would do for your anxiety level of course, since there is the chance you could be back at 38 again.
The long cycle does seem to be her thing, but it’s interesting that it is her thing when the dose is 1.5. That 38 freaked us out bc it just came straight out of nowhere, but she was also on 2u at the time, which is too much. That cycle is definitely the reason I’ve been “pulling the dose” if her PS is low and stalling doesn’t help, but in the cool light of 3 weeks distance, there’s no reason for me not to be brave and try to hold the 1.5 dose if someone can be home to check her.
I'd hold the 1.5 u for now. Some cats will throw a one off low and then resume the normal number range. Who knows why?
Having a pretty good day with +6 = 171 on 1.5u (AMPS = 274. Boo! I did that to her bc I only shot 1.25 last night on the 156 with stalls.). Since we missed midday data yesterday, today’s +6 could be helpful to compare with tonight’s PS; i.e., was yesterday’s PS a super-long cycle? or was it actually on the way back up from a nice green nadir which we didn’t get a BG for?
