Change of insulin

Hi all,
I changed Bodmin from caninsulin to lantus a week ago following advice from other acromums that it's a better insulin to use and avoid the steep drop & then rise in BG an hour after injection.
Generally he appears to be doing better on it, his BG's are coming down from the low 30's to low teens instead which is great news. He also looks less spaced.
The only thing that's worrying me is that prior to the switch injections were easy, now he's trying to avoid them like the plague, I'm actually having to pin him down now which is rather stressful for the poor lad.... my only instinct here being new to this all is that maybe the lantus is stinging when it goes in or maybe the new needles are thicker. I'm using syringes still rather than the pen but the vet gave me different ones to the usual caninsulin ones.

If anyone has any experience of this please let me know.

Bronwen

 

Human diabetics have mentioned that Lantus does sting when injected cold.

That is why most of the Acromoms use Levemir instead -- it is very similar in action, but apparently does not sting.

For the short term, you could prepare the shot in the syringe and let it rest on the counter for 20 minutes or so to come to room temperature.

For the long term, you may want to switch to Levemir.

Can you tell us / post / the details on the syringe package? Different needle gauges are available in the U100 human insulin syringes.

The higher the gauge, the finer the needle -- so the best that I have seen available are 31 gauge.

The U40 pet syringes are usually 28ga or 29ga.

Smaller needle means less ouchy.

 

I am so glad to hear that you have switched insulin - I also started on Caninsulin for Shadoe but she did poorly. I switched to Lantus on which she improved, then after her dx for acro, I switched her to Levemir as it was mentioned that there was a possibility of sting with higher doses. When I adopted Oliver, he was on Lantus, and I switched him to Levemir after his dx of acro; Shadoe was doing so well, that I wanted him to do well also.Both of them seem fine with their shots, and hold still till the shot is given and then continue with eating. I just thought I'd mention it to you.

What dose are you giving now on Lantus and are you recording your numbers on a sheet?
What meter are you using for testing? It's great to hear you are getting better numbers.

 

ok so weird things are happening this week.
For 3 days we were completely stable between am & pm shots, both pre-tests showing the 16-18 mark which was much better than the high 20's we'd had to that point. Then the last 3 days it's been really strange

17/08/10
AM - 9.4
PM - 22.8

18/08/10
AM - 7.6
PM - 18.3

Today
AM - 5.2

I've only been giving him his insulin on an evening now, daren't with the low morning figures, he's not so hungry either. Is this normal??

Bronwen & Bodmin

 

Hi Bronwen
Do you have any mid cycle test numbers? Also, what dose are you giving and when was the increase last?
When is Bodmin's nadir? I ask because my Oliver has a very late nadir, so an amps of 9.3 for him this morning was a welcome sight and I gave him his regular dose of 21.5u. Because his nadir is late, I know he will rise after his shot.
I have converted the below for others on this site, you can use the converter in this link to convert your test numbers.
BG Conversion Calculator
17/08/10
AM - 9.4 ... 169
PM - 22.8 ... 410

18/08/10
AM - 7.6 ... 137
PM - 18.3 ... 329

Today
AM - 5.2 ... 94

Are you giving only the pm shots? If you are missing shots, you are going to run into problems because his numbers are going to be all over the place.
It could be that you need to decrease the dose and that's why when you give a shot, Bodmin goes low.
It could be that you are seeing a late nadir and it's perfectly normal to still shoot that low number.
Others may have more to say, but it would be helpful to know the dose you are giving, at what times, and also some mid cycle test numbers so that you know what is happening in between shots.
Since dose is based on nadir, and NOT the ps numbers, you need to see what's happening in the middle to be able to know the reasons for the ps numbers.

If you have the mid cycle test numbers, please post them in your reply as they will be most helpful.