2/8 Ebby AMPS 541 +2 392 :( Question

2/2

Hello LL.

I reduced Ebby's dose on 2/6 because she saw her 3rd below 50 number on the evening of 2/5. She had really been doing well on the 1 unit, and even though there were still reds and blacks she just wasn't having a lot of clinical symptoms and seemed to feel great. Then came the reduction. Ever since the reduction I've scooped much larger amounts of pee, and have been waking up to large pees on the kitchen floor, and water consumption is way back up.

My thoughts are Ebby gets decent drops on all doses. Her lows seem to be the same on .25, .50, .75, and 1unit. But when I drop down from the 1 unit, there seems to be a loss in duration and she isn't able to counter her strong bounces at all. So, I'm thinking I want to go back to 1 unit because it just seemed like a great dose for her. Yes, she hit the 3rd below 50, but she had been on this dose for over 2 months so it wasn't like it was too common for a below 50 to happen. Thoughts?

On a side note: DH tested Ebby for the first time today. He did a great job! I'm trying to get him trained to shoot and test, just so there is a back up person in an emergency. I told him I'd take the responsibility all other times. ;-)

That's great that your DH tested Ebby for the first time. My husband used to help me with Lovey once in awhile when I was paw testing. Now that I am ear testing he hasn't learned.

I think that Sienne would be a good person to give some advice on keeping Ebby on 1 unit since I believe she has a strategy Gabby's insulin dose to benefit her overall progress. Ebby's' bounces seemed to lessen a lot on the 1 unit.

You are getting nadirs in the 60's at this dose which is a nice nadir. I think I'd hold onto it a bit longer and see if she flattens out a bit. That nasty start today was probably due to the almost 230 point drop in 2 hours to start out last night. I wonder if you should try testing at +1 and based on that, maybe give her some even higher carb food than what you are already doing. Maybe MC or low HC if it's too much of a drop. If you do look at Gabby's SS, Sienne often gives higher carb food early on to try to slow those dives that Gabby loves to do. If you want to ask Sienne to drop in, maybe PM her. She's out of town on business, maybe back tomorrow.

Great news on DH testing - it gave me such peace of mind and flexibility when mine learned to test. :smile:

I was taking a look at Ebby's SS. I have a couple of thoughts....

When I first started here, the "rule" for kitties that were more than a year past diagnosis was that you reduced when numbers dropped below 40. (The German forum hadn't modified their protocol to the 3 drops below 50 option.) Using the drop below 40 may be a better strategy for Ebby.

I think what Catherine is referring to is that with Gabby, I try to use food to avoid her getting a reduction. I want to keep her on as much insulin as possible for as long as possible with the ideal that I will (hopefully) see green nadirs and blue pre-shots. If I see a big drop, I am attentive to where Gabby is going with her numbers. It looks like Ebby and Gabby are both prone to fast, early drops. As a result, I test hourly up until +3 or +4 so that I have more control over the cycle and can intervene with food if I need to.

Thanks for the visits and help!

Catherine, Yes, I'm very glad DH was willing to learn. Hopefully your DH will get the hang of the ear testing too! I always thought paw testing sounded like it would be challenging.

Wendy, I did give that huge drop consideration, but just couldn't keep from going back to 1 unit. She had been doing very well and would really hate to loose any progress we've gained. I think testing at +1 makes a lot of sense. I had not always done that just to try and give Ebby some breaks from testing when I can, but sometimes by +2 she has already dropped to much to even stop the drop. I wonder what percentage a lower HC would be. I'll have to look at the food charts again. I've been using Soulistic Good Karma at the beginning of her cycles and that is listed at 19 grams, although I question whether it really has that many carbs.

Sienne, Thanks so much for taking time to help... I'm sure you're very busy with work and the move. I like the sound of trying that method of reduction with Ebby, so I will reduce when she drops below 40. I think Ebby and Gabby are a lot alike, so I'm going to study your ss again and try and do what you're doing! :lol: What kind of HC do you use?

Thanks again!

Melissa --

Gabby doesn't do well with gluten and most HC foods have gluten in them. So, it's rare that I'll use gravy (although, sometimes she gets form FF gravy lovers). Instead, she gets a small amount of LC with a few drops of corn syrup. The amount of syrup depends on how low her numbers are. It also seems that spreading out her food over the first several hours of the cycle (i.e, pre-shot, +1, +2, and +3) helps to offset her tendency to drop. While it's an ECID thing, it can sometimes take a while to see the influence of changing a feeding schedule.