11/8 Portia AMPS 239 +2-309

Hi all,
Thanks for suggestion on opening a new thread.
Yesterdays condos viewtopic.php?f=9&t=107767

As you can see from my subject, I did a +2 measurement about 30 min back and her BG was 309.

She ate last night around 1am and then dint eat anything all night till this morning. I followed your suggestions and dint feed her till 7:45am, tested her BG (which was 239) and then gave the insulin shot (20 min to feed, 15 min to get a glucose reading (yes Im that slow!!) and them immediately gave the insulin).She ate a little more about an hour after getting shot and her 2+ reading was 309. What does this mean in terms of active cycle? (still not sure what that terms means).

Thanks
Rita

Congrats on your first shot! :thumbup

Perfect job with the new condo. Everything looks normal so far to me.

And if I'm reading that right, you want to get the preshot glucose test done before you feed. So that would be test, feed, then shoot. That will be ok this morning but for future shots get the reading before she eats so the preshot reading won't be influenced by food.

Hi there,
Thats sounds right. Now that you mention it I cant remember whether I fed and then tested or the other way around. I remember wanting to feed first and then test nbut the whole morning was so overwhleming that I might have done it the other way. Thanks for the heads up though. I will keep that in mind.
Rita.

Welcome to LL!! :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :thumbup cat_pet_icon cat_pet_icon cat_pet_icon It will become routine very soon. If you got the test within 20 minutes of food there shouldn't have been too much influence on her BG.

If this is Portia's first shot of Lantus it will take a few days for the shed to build up and then you can expect to see results. W/ Lantus the depot can take 5 to 7 days to fill.

Lantus usually kicks in about 2 hours after the shot, so seeing a slightly higher number at +2 isn't unusual, especially since she ate more food just an hour before the +2 test. Now you need to try to get some tests in to see when she goes lowest. Yes, we are vampires in disguise! :twisted:

Haha.. vampires indeed!! I just took Portia's +6 and its still at 321. So not gone down at all since her AMPS (gone up actually). But I suppose if Lantus takes a couple of days to kick in then this is to be expected? Im trying to enter her values inot the SS but Im not able to modify it. Ive poted on the tech support and someone is helping me out there. But once I can do it, I will post her values so you guys can see it as well.
Thanks for the input.
Rita

Lantus does take a few days for build up and for the depot to form. I wouldn't worry too much about how the cycle is going at this point.

Hi Rita and Portia!!!

Just a warm, warm welcome to our Lantus Land family. We're all here to help and, as Sienne said in yesterday's condo, we've all been in your shoes and remember the early days no matter how long we've been here. We love questions and, as you go, you'll think of a million. There's usually someone on most hours of the day between the East Coasters and the West Coasters as well as our beloved International members.

Now is a good time, as Portia waits for the lantus to fill the depot, to read what you are able to and pick our brains. Most of us test/feed/shoot within 15 mins and you'll get there sooner than you realize.

Let us know how we can help!!

Thank you Marje. I can feel a big difference between how nervous I was yesterday and today. Hopefully, this will only get easier. I think Portia was very stressed from the ear pricks and hid under the bed all day yesterday. So Ive decided to go easy on her today and only did a AMPS. I will take a PMPS as well but I will skip the in between readings. I want to slowly work her up to getting used to it. Yesterday was probably she too over whelming. The first time I did a glucose curve, she dint know what it was so it bother her. but this time, she saw the black kit and started giving me dirty looks. The funny thing is, she doesnt even flinch when I poke her. She minds the ear rubbing more. I only hope she will get used to it. Thanks for the words of support and encouragement.

Rita

oh yes, we definitely have all been there. it doesn't just get easier, it gets routine after a bit! at first i had to pull punkin out from under the furniture by his little arms, hoping i wouldn't dislocate anything! then we burrito-wrapped him in a beach towel to hold him still.

but it was less than 2 weeks til all of that resolved and he accepted the new normal for his life. Portia will get there too. just make sure to give her a treat (we used small 1/2" cubes of boiled chicken breasts) after the poking. that soothes their feelings some for the indignity they've just suffered through!

when you have a chance to pick up the neosporin with pain relief that might help her ears cope. we used it every day.

Hi Julie,
Thank you for your response. I have a quesiton about the neosporin. Is it safe to ingest? And do you put it on before poking or after? Im afraid she'll lick the whole thing off and Im not sure if thats safe. I tried to get a nadir reading today and she ran under the bed as soon as she saw me.. Sigh. I havent gotten a single reading from her today. She's so scared of me.
Rita

if she gets too much of it, it can cause diarrhea. that only happened a couple of times with punkin, and it was so good at taking out the sting that we used it every day. most cats don't seem to have trouble with it and i don't know of anything else that substitutes for it for numbing.

you can do it either way, put it on before and wait 20 minutes or so for it to numb her ear, then test her. or put it on after you've poked. try it on an owie on yourself and see how it works.

you don't want it thick enough to goo up the strip - just a little slick. i put it on punkin's ear once a day, usually, and it was greasy enough that it would serve as a substitute for vaseline in keeping the blood from soaking into his hair.

make sure you're giving her a treat - you might have to tempt her out from under the bed with the treat, then capture and test her. just know in your heart that you're doing it to save her life. it makes it easier to do it.

Spreadsheet is working good. :thumbup

You both should get the hang of this before long.

I always use neosporin with pain relief.

Ill have to try neosporin. I havent taken a single reading from her today. She is soo scared of me I just cant get myself to prick her. This is hard. The thing is she doesnt flinch when I poke her but that maybe her trying not show pain. I dont know.
Rita

i don't think it really hurts all that much. partially because cats ears always seem to be a casualty if they get in a fight, also because punkin really didn't mind having his ears poked unless it was 20 times in a day. then he minded!! plenty of cats here will go to their testing spot when it's time to get checked. it's hard to believe when you're just starting out, but they really do.

she probably doesn't like the whole idea of being restrained and having something done to her. you really want to check her, though, because you have no idea what's going on in her body if you don't have numbers. cats can be all over the place, and it moves. i just told myself that punkin trusted me to keep him safe and i had to do this. cats really do get used to it. lots of cats will come when their test strip container gets shaken. i never tried that with him, but within 2 weeks of poking, he was willing to sit still through it, then he would leap off the sofa and run for the fridge for his piece of chicken treat.

I dealt with quite a few problems ear-testing with my kitty, Michelangelo. He was a feral rescue kitten to start with and then was diagnosed when he was only 6 months old. It took us a while to get the testing down and eventually, it's not only no longer a problem for us, he even seeks me out for tests! Here're a couple of things I wrote down that might help you with the process:
Ear Testing Psychology
Test Time