Need dosing advice please

Discussion in 'Prozinc / PZI' started by PatJ, Sep 13, 2019.

  1. PatJ

    PatJ Member

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2018
    Could someone give me some advice please? My cat has been in the greens for a few days now and I don't want to muck it up by giving him the wrong dose, because his BG this AMPS was at 3.7 and I didn't know if it was safe to give him anything. Am waiting at the moment for his levels to rise a bit, but I need to know for future reference if it's safe to shoot on such a low number? Would be very grateful if someone could take a look and give me their opinion. Thanks!
     
  2. FurBabiesMama

    FurBabiesMama Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2017
    3.7 is a little low to give ProZinc. You have the option to stall without feeding for 20 mins and test again to see if he is rising enough to safely give insulin - that can be repeated 2 or 3 times since you have about an hour window of time during which you can give a ProZinc shot. It sounds like that is probably what you did.

    That low of a pre-shot is probably an indication that the dose might need to drop down a bit going forward.
     
  3. FurBabiesMama

    FurBabiesMama Well-Known Member

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    Jul 6, 2017
    By the way, I don't see the 3.7 on your spreadsheet. It really should be reflected as well as notes about what got you to the 5.6... Did you stall without feeding? Was it 20 mins after the original test or 40 or what? Did you feed him between the two tests? (If you do feed, that can impact the test. It can be temporarily inflated due to the food, so you have to be careful to keep an eye on it in case it starts to drop and intervention is needed.)
     
  4. MrWorfMen's Mom

    MrWorfMen's Mom Well-Known Member

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    Feb 18, 2015
    I would reduce the dose to 1.25u immediately. William has dropped below 5 several times so for safety sake I'd reduce as of tonight. William is looking very good.
     
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  5. PatJ

    PatJ Member

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    Sep 23, 2018
    Thanks MrWorfMen's Mom,

    Thanks for that advice.:) I'll give him 1.25 tonight. Can I just ask you what is the lowest number that it's safe to shoot on? Would it be dangerous, for example to shoot on a number 3.0 or 4.0 with a small amount of insulin because he's definitely going a lot lower at the moment. He was 3.7 this morning and I just didn't have a clue what to give him so waited nearly 2 hours and he was starving!! I love that his numbers are low, but they can be so scary!!
     
  6. MrWorfMen's Mom

    MrWorfMen's Mom Well-Known Member

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    Feb 18, 2015
    I would set a limit for shooting at about 5 but only if you can monitor closely until you see how William reacts and how low BG is going on that particular dose. While BG is still safe down to 2.8, ProZinc can sometimes cause BG to drop quickly enough that you don't want to be flirting with numbers that low when making dosing decisions. Best to leave yourself a little cushion. If numbers keep dropping, or shots need to be skipped, then a dose reduction may be the answer. If you need assistance at any time, just post and we'll do what we can to help.
     
  7. PatJ

    PatJ Member

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    Sep 23, 2018
    Hi FurBabiesMama, I didn't mean to ignore you, I didn't see your post! It was before MrWorfMen's Mom's post. I'm so sorry.Thank you so much for replying. I waited for 2 hours before I gave him his AMPS and I didn't feed him during that time much to his dismay. :( I know enough to stall and not feed, but I am really nervous about shooting on a low number. I do put details of how he got from low numbers to higher ones, they're in the little black triangles in the corner of his numbers on the spreadsheet, but I'll put them in the notes as well, as probably those little triangles aren't very obvious! I appreciate you replying. Thank you:)
     
  8. PatJ

    PatJ Member

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    Sep 23, 2018
    Thank you very much for that advice. It's made me feel much less worried now if he gets a low number because 5 is the limit and I'm rarely not here all day to monitor so I can keep my eye on him! Very grateful to you.
     
  9. FurBabiesMama

    FurBabiesMama Well-Known Member

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    Jul 6, 2017
    No problem. At least you see that both she and I agree on you needing to drop your dose a bit going forward. :) Since there really is only about an hour of 'play' time with giving a dose of ProZinc, it is usually not a good idea to give a shot later than that unless you are going to then adjust your next shot time some. I guess you can just make a call based on the next pre-shot test.

    We cannot see the 'little black triangles'. From this, we would never know that he was really 3.7 at shot time, and you waited 2 hours to get the 5.6 and give a shot.


    screenshot.png
     
  10. PatJ

    PatJ Member

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    Sep 23, 2018
    Wonder why it doesn't transfer? It's as plain as day on my spreadsheet. Never mind, will make sure I put all the data on the notes in future. Thanks for telling me.:)
     
  11. MrWorfMen's Mom

    MrWorfMen's Mom Well-Known Member

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    Feb 18, 2015
    Pat, comments and notes don't seem to show up for those able to "view only" vs those with editing rights as best as I've been able to determine. You're not the first person and won't the last to have this issue. :(
     
  12. PatJ

    PatJ Member

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    Sep 23, 2018
    It's funny you should say that, because I got the idea from Djamila when I saw it on her spreadsheet, so that explains why mine don't show up, because I certainly don't have editing rights! Thanks MrWorfMen's Mom for the info:)
     
  13. FurBabiesMama

    FurBabiesMama Well-Known Member

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    Jul 6, 2017
    Yes you do. She meant we don't. If you did not, that would mean you could not add info to it. :) You could always ask Djamila what she did, but most of us are used to looking in the notes column on the spreadsheet for any notes.
     
  14. MrWorfMen's Mom

    MrWorfMen's Mom Well-Known Member

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    Feb 18, 2015
    I've seen them show up on some sheets in the past and Djamila's sheet is a bit older so there may be something different going on between older and newer sheets. It may also have something to do with share settings. Going to have to explore that possibility a bit more. :bookworm:
     
  15. PatJ

    PatJ Member

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    Sep 23, 2018
     
  16. PatJ

    PatJ Member

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    Sep 23, 2018
    I'll use the notes column from now on as it's going to save a lot of confusion if no-one can read what I've written!! I never knew that no-one could see those notes, so thanks for telling me:)
     
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  17. MrWorfMen's Mom

    MrWorfMen's Mom Well-Known Member

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    Feb 18, 2015
    If I figure it out I'll let you know. ;)
     
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