12/27 Ruby AMPS 113/+2 92/+3 52/+6 83/PMPS 136/+2 162/+4 111

Yesterday. There was lots of playing with string, hunting and stalking, and some good eating was accomplished.

Yes, have tried using those and the arms are so incredibly small that it's very difficult for me to hold them still enough against the side of the needle and they are hard for me to see. It literally takes me a half an hour to measure, with little confidence that I'm getting it accurately.

Sorry, Wendy, I didn't see your post until after I gave Ruby her shot, so she got .5 this morning. Normally I check my messages before I shoot but this morning I was particularly groggy. Have fed her 8% LC and will check her again in a few hours.

Sending healing thoughts to all the sick kitties and hugs to you beans who love them so. Have a delightful Sunday everyone!

 

@Butters & Lyla uses BD Syringes (but canadian ones) so maybe she can help with the lip? I think she's shared before but I can't find the post. I took a picture of my setup this morning (my syringe is empty here for the pic but you get the idea....and my calipers aren't perfectly level as I was holding my phone for the pic ). I have everything flat on my ipad and then wear those jeweler magnifying glasses - Lyla has an eye loupe (better magnification!). I see where things are lining up then pick up my syringe and adjust the plunger to close to where it needs to be then remeasure (and repeat - when I only need to move the plunger a itty bitty bit I twist it). You can practice with water so you don't waste precious lantus Oh I use SureComfort syringes (from adwdiabetes) and I probably watched Marje's videos 100x. Hope that helps a little.

Surf safely, Ruby Have a wonderful day, Katherine

 

I have the magnifier and the app on my iPad for the lightbox but I still find it super frustrating and not something I like to do before coffee! I will get the food coloring today and practice more. The lip on the BD syringes is the real kicker though! Thank you for the photo and the hand holding.

 

Glad Ruby is doing great. Love to see them playing . Have a great day, Katherine

 

@Wendy&Neko since I jumped the gun on this dose increase, please tell me what dose I should give to Ruby this evening. Thank you!!

 

What are you using for magnification, Katherine? I read through your post yesterday, but couldn't find it. Sorry if I'm making you repeat yourself. The magnification and lighting are the most important thing, imho. I had to get a 10x eye loupe with LED lights and no way could I measure using less magnification than that with my wonky eyes. The member who encouraged me to start using calipers was using a 16x eye loupe! Susanne uses a headband with magnifying lenses so both of her hands are free. I found the magnification wasn't high enough for me though.

How long have you been using the calipers? Like Susanne, it took me a month to get comfortable...maybe more. I had to force myself to stick with it. It also set back Butters for a short while because the size of her doses got smaller. Another Canadian member using my syringe type had figured 1.5mm is equal a 1U dose so I used the same. Butters was on a .5U dose when I switched to calipers. I measured 20 syringes when I first started and found the lines were out by over .25U in a lot of cases. So when I began using calipers for .5U, it was almost close to her taking a .25U decrease. In other words, I needed a whole wardrobe filled with patience pants. But I stuck with them and over time her numbers leveled out so nicely.

Anyways, just wanted to mention that in case you are seeing anything odd with Ruby's numbers if the calipers are a recent thing.

My first recommendation would be to switch syringe types. The BD syringes are a pain because of the lip and because even after priming the syringes I still find most of them are rough. I haven't found anything else in Canada. You probably have more options in the USA.

I currently use the small arms to measure larger doses and start my measurement with the outside of one arm pressed against the bottom of the lip of the syringe. That makes it pretty easy to do. I had to use the large arms for smaller doses, though. I'm guessing you encountered the same issues with the small arms and small doses that I did.

All I can really tell you is that it takes a lot of practice. With the large caliper arms, I ended up choosing the bottom of the little plastic piece (I call it a "hat") that the plunger rests in at the top of the syringe as my starting point for measuring. That hat always seemed to be in the same place, from my tests. I think all of the other Canadian BD users only used the small arms.

I put the calipers on the lightboard, filled my syringe to approximately where the dose will be, and then place the syringe as close against the large arms as I can get them while looking through my loupe. I kind of slide lip of the syringe along the top of the large caliper arm until they are at the point where the bottom of the top arm is in line with the bottom of the plastic hat...while looking through my loupe. Then I pick up the syringe, expel or add insulin as needed, and repeat the process.

If you think photos might help, let me know and i will take and post photos. I'll try to get one before tonight.

It is a very finicky, frustrating process in the beginning. All of my condos were filled with so much angst back in August when I was trying to figure it out.

 

Hope you and Ruby have a good day Katherine

 

Morning Katherine, happy to hear Ruby was doing all sorts of playing.
Have a good day Katherine

 

Glad Ruby is feeling good. I hope you get a blue/green surf today.

 

Thank you so much for this detailed post, Lyla! I bought calipers when I first joined the board a while back and have periodically tried to use them, each time throwing my hands up in the air! I didn't actually say what I was using as a magnifier; I have this goofy magnifying glass, but perhaps a loupe would be best. I've been using a BD syringe magnifier just to make sure I've got the plunger lined up to / in between the lines on the syringe which I find helpful, but I haven't actually used the calipers for dosing yet. I've watched Marje's videos a zillion times and she makes it look so simple. I'm also using a lightboard app on my very old ipad which may not be bright enough, so I've placed an order for a standalone one that will arrive on Tuesday. I should get the glasses like Susanne's, too!

I guess I really DO need to make the calipers work because Ruby seems to be so sensitive to these tiny doses now--the difference in her sensitivity to .25 vs. .5 is huge. Feel like we're wasting precious time going back and forth between the two so I'd like to get it right somehow. Sigh.

 

nice surfing, ruby.

 

If you shot 0.5 this morning, you can continue with that dose. Just be prepared for some action.

Regarding calipers, I never used a light board or a loupe. Just a good old fashioned white background (only time I've been happy for the white sink ), good overhead light, and a cheap dollar store magnifying glass. I will also note that not all calipers are created equal - I tried two different ones. The smaller arms vary a lot in width. I hope you have the calipers that lock in the length, also very handy. I will also note that when I started here, no one used calipers and cats still did fine. There was just more angst over fine changes done manually.

 

I also think Susanne made a great suggestion with the coloured water in the syringe. I used to do that before switching to calipers.

I started out without a lightbox/board and with a dollar store magnifying glass (with lights around it) also. I used a white towel as my background. It was all I had. So I agree with Wendy that it can definitely be done without all of that equipment. I started upgrading because I didn't like how long it was still taking me to draw a dose several weeks after making the switch. The equipment upgrades helped me but there was some trial and error (that headband made me nauseous, so I had to then buy the loupe). But I can do it lightning fast now.

 

I was looking for calipers that would lock in length to avoid fiddling with the measurements each time. Can you suggest a brand?

If I can avoid any more angst associated with Ruby's FD, I'd happily throw a small sum of money towards making that possible. I will need another closet for all of my supplies now.

 

A lot of us in the United States use Harbor Freight - I have the 6in ones (longer "handle") but the 4in ones are also recommended here a lot. We have a Harbor Freight store near our house so I honestly ended up with the 6in ones because the 4in ones were out of stock but I like having more to hold on to when measuring.

https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-digital-caliper-63711.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/4-in-digital-caliper-63710.html

So you set the calipers any time you change a dose and then lock it in place. I keep my calipers turned off and just double check from time-to-time by turning them on to make sure the measurement hasn't slipped.

 

I have calipers that I bought on Amazon that are a lot like the Harbor Freight ones.

I hadn’t thought to do this! Thank you!

 

That's exactly what I did when I was using calipers as well. Who has the time to fiddle with it every dose?

 

Good idea to periodically check to see if the calipers are still set right. At one point Neko's numbers were drifting up and I found the calipers were not locked down as well as I'd hoped, so was giving her less juice.

 

PMPS = 113, +2 162. I know I did not do a fur shot this time; I made sure the needle was fully inserted. Perhaps she's bouncing from this morning? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

+4 = 111. Guess I didn't miss after all.