Yellow, Blue and . . . RED, OH MY!

So Tigger's #'s on 8/16/18 (a day after increasing the dose) . . . is that a bounce? Just trying to learn.

 

It looks to me like he's bouncing off the blue (and what a rainbow kitty!).

 

Yes, he is every color of the diabetes rainbow lol . . . . aaaaaand now he's back to blue. guess I will be waking up in a few hours to re-test, not used to
these numbers yet . . . its exciting but also very scary! Once I have more info about this dose and what his numbers do AFTER +6 I suppose it'll feel a
tiny little bit better? I have a sinking suspicion (that I'm trying to ignore) that I will never sleep well again. Or go thru a day of work without wondering
and worrying what is happening to my baby at home. This surely is not for the faint-hearted!!!!

 

I'm getting higher numbers immediately after each dose increase. I cringe each time but kind of expect it now. After a few days at a new dose I start to see lower numbers. I sure wish roller coasters were only found in amusement parks.

Good luck!

 

At one point, I observed to a member here that sleep is vastly overrated. Gabby had me up rather late on many nights.

One thought... You may want to get a +3 during the PM cycle (or a test earlier than your +6.) It will give you a better idea of where numbers are going versus a surprise. I suspect that most of us leave the house with a certain degree of apprehension. If you look at Gabby's SS, you'll see I'm a bit of a data hog. If I couldn't test, I was never sure. The advantage of having the data is that to some degree, you can predict where you're cat's numbers typically go. You do learn to live with a some degree of uncertainty.

@Beck and Grandpa - What you're describing is "new dose wonkiness" (NDW). No one knows why it happens but it does for some kitties.

 

How long can NDW last and more importantly can it look like, coincide with, or cause bouncing? WTH is up with that 570 AMPS just now?!
Should I retest? I can't afford to be retesting when i'm already spending more than $100 a month on test strips. I don't have the PS generic
strips to compare with yet and I still havent decided about changing to a human meter.

 

NDW doesn't cause bouncing. Like bouncing though, it's temporary but NDW is typically not more than 1 - 2 cycles.

What you're seeing this morning is a bounce. Tigger dropped into the blues during PMPS and they you caught that 408 a couple of hours later. The numbers kept trending up in part, due to the bounce off of the blue along with the effect of the insulin from the PM cycle wearing off after nadir.

You might want to consider switching to a human meter. The strips are a fraction of the cost of AlphaTrack strips. Many people here relinquish their use of a pet meter due to cost. I don't think there are strips you can use in an AT as a means of comparing with a human meter. The AT is calibrated a bit higher than human meters and that's about the best you can do as far as comparison. I used a Bayer Contour meter throughout Gabby's FD.

 

Well last month a generic for AT strips came out - Petsure. There's a few members on here doing a comparison.
They are 1/3 the cost of brand so I figured I'd try those while I thought about switching to a human meter.

But anyway, can he just bounce, bounce bounce bounce??? How can you ever change a dose without seeing what his
"real numbers" with current dose are? I have people on here saying he should be on TR protocol with a history of DKA.
Suggestions I jump from 0.5 to 1.0 since his nadirs were more than 300. If I had done that I could just picture even bigger
swings! Its only been approx. 4 days on 0.75 and he's hit blue twice then shot up to 500!

 

I just ordered some Petsure strips. I have 100 AT strips. I figure that gives me plenty to do some comparison testing.

 

Some cats are rather bouncy and they don't seem to ever stop being bouncy. However, that is not the majority of kitties.

You can change a dose during a bounce. What you want to try to avoid is changing the dose during the cycle when a bounce is breaking. The downward momentum of the bounce breaking coupled with a dose increase can make for a bit of a wild ride. However, if the bounce isn't breaking, it's less of an issue. Keep in mind, that the expectation is that when the bounce clears, your cat should return to around the numbers he was at pre-bounce. So you do have some clue where the nadir should be and when to increase the dose.

You are testing enough to consider TR. FWIW, I used TR and worked full time. I don't think it's an issue to use SLGS with a cat that has experienced DKA. At the moment, Tigger's ketones look good. It's more of an issue to be aggressive with insulin if ketones are present. Frankly, I don't care which dosing method you're using if ketones show up. All bets are off and the single goal is to get the ketones under control. You must maximize the insulin, get water into your cat, and keep your kitty eating. (I've been known to tell people that I don't care if they are feeding their cat hot fudge sundaes -- minus the fudge sauce -- if that's what it takes to get their cat to eat.) It's entirely your call. If it were me, given how high Tigger's numbers tend to run, I'd consider TR as it will be more aggressive about getting him into a better range more quickly.

 

But that will change when I go back to work on Monday. I guess I'll be doing some form of TR/SLGS combo. I can grab more tests in pm but none during the day. I already tried working it out and nothing makes sense as we leave the house at 730am and get back at 615ish pm. I can't shoot too early or I'll always be late for pm shot.

I think we'll take it a bit slow on 0.75 - My wife usually has thursdays off - and then I have the whole weekend. That will be a week on this dose. If it warrants an increase to 1 unit (and i have a feeling it does) I will feel better changing at a time when someone can be home 3 of 4 days. Like you said, if his ketones stay nice and low like this it should be fine.