How do Elmo's BGs look?

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/help-further-hypo-advice-needed.167495/

Hi ! Kinda new to all of this and was encouraged to join this group since Elmo is on Vetsulin. Had not posted much in Main Forum until Sunday p.m. when we experienced a hypo event...definitely NOT fun..we r doing much better now, thanks exclusively to this wonderful Message Board. Need the advice of those of u who are or have been using vetsulin as to insight on his numbers and where to go from here.

 

I am just adding the link to your other post so others can look back and see what has been happening with Elmo

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/help-further-hypo-advice-needed.167495/


(Are you using a human meter or a pet meter. Maybe you could add that to your signature so you don't keep getting asked )

ETA Ignore that comment about the meter type..I see it is the AT2 pet meter...time for new glasses for me

Overall Elmo's numbers look pretty good and in spite of the hypo number a few days ago he did not bounce up much or for very long. The people who are experienced with Vetsulin/Caninsulin will be by as they come on line and give some better insight into how Elmo is doing

 

Hear u about the glasses ! Eyeballing 0.5 with no half marked syringes is entertaining..have some ordered, thank goodness.

 

I have the same problem with doing 1/4 units even with the 1/2 unit marked syringes....especially first thing in the morning before my eyes are awake. Hope you r new syringes come soon...it will make your life so much easier.

 

oh, i do feel ur pain

 

.5 looks like a good dose right now. When the preshot is on the lower side Make sure you can to get a +3-4 reading just to be sure just like you have been. keep doing what you're doing.

 

last few days have been crazy.....wondering what to watch for?.... keep dose at 0.5 ?.....what is a good nadir(+4 for him so far) to watch for( his have been pretty low before the hypo).....what would be indication I need to change dosage? ....I plan on taking a pm +4 as well for now....has anyone experienced hypo while on vetsulin? would love to hear your experience and wisdom

 

I have had two minor hypo numbers on vetsulin... Caught it before the were any symptoms and was able to steer it up easily with some food or treats. (The lowest was 59, and hit 67 once). Testing is so important. At this point so early in I would aim for around 100 - 120 For NAIDAR. As time goes on and you are confident in adjusting doses it's possible to keep them in safe double digits, but Not until you have lots of data. If your +4 is below 100 keep an eye on it because it may continue to drop at +5 and 6.

.5 seams to be working for you.... You could do 0.75 if you are starting a little higher, but 1 u was too much.

 

Glad to see you found your way over to this forum so you can benefit from the experience of those who use the same insulin. You and Elmo are doing great.

 

Hi Mary Ann...I'm needing to up Elmo to .75 and remembered our talk ab doing "eyeball" doses.. could u advise as to syringes that would help me out. What do u do when u use U 40 syringes to adjust the dose as accurately as possible?

 

When using a U40 insulin such as Ventsulin at lot of people find it easier to do dose increases in smaller increments by using the U100 syringes and using the conversion table:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/insulin-conversions.htm

If you are wanting to do 0.75 of vetsulin in a U100 syringe you could use 2.0 units of Vetsulin with the U100 syringe which would be the equivalent of 0.80 units of Vetsulin with the U40 syringes. It is a little more accurate than trying to eyeball the dose. I hope this makes sense to you

 

I used u 40 syringes with half unit markings which made it easier to eyeball 0.75 or 0.25 doses

 

Thanks , Janet , for ur advice... I look forward to picking ur brain ab all things remission, vetsulin and alpha trak

 

your kitty is so close to it.... I have a feeling you'll get there. any time it's under around 150 then the pancreas has a chance to heal. you seem to really have a handle on the dosing now to get him low but not TOO low.

 

.75 is exactly what I would be doing right now looking at that ss. well done

 

I saw my vet at the clinic yesterday when I brought a different cat in to see a different vet, and she and I talked a bit about CC... so was so happy with how she went into remission and gave me a big high five. she wrote down about the food I was giving her (young again) so she could suggest it to other patients.

Now I just have to get my other fur baby better. He was diagnosed with pancreatitis yesterday. poor baby... he's feeling a bit better today now that he's on pain meds.

 

Oh , bless his heart...will keep him in thots/prayers ....I have two other kitties plus 5 rescues .... I have had kitties all my life with various health challenges but never diabetes...so so grateful and excited to have ur knowledge and similarity between ur CC and my boy....only difference is his thyroid which we were treating with outrageous High carb Hills y/d but now on thyroid meds, very low dose....thank u, thank u for checking on us as u are...please point out anything I need to do or not do...I just want my boy healed of this mess and u and CC are my inspiration!

 

Also, Janet, what would u say is "too low" ... what numbers to look out for ? At what BG would u reccomend not shooting ?? His +4 an hour ago was 82, btw.

 

82 is a safe number, but I would test again in an hour to make sure it hasn't dropped much further since it could still go lower. the call to action number for a reading with an Alphatrack is 68 (meaning heading toward a hypo number). If it is below 75 I would steer it up with a low carb snack. You don't want it to go lower than that. Obviously if it's lower than 68 give something that is a higher carb snack and retest every 15 min until it has raised three tests in a row and is in a safe range.

 

Thank you, thank you !!!

 

And yet another similarity...saw on ur profile u r a teacher !!! I was too !! First the fourth grade years ago. My first group of 1st graders are now 40

 

you may actually want to go to a "fat" .5 at that starting number.... meaning JUUUUST barely over .5 since .75 brought him down into the low 80's. like a .6

You're a teacher too? Great! This is my 19th year teaching art... The last 18 I have been teaching at the same school 1st-6th. My son is only 4, so I anticipate I will be at it for a long time to come... Maybe I'll retire my 40th year. Haha. I'm not burnt out yet, still love it, so for now it's all good.

 

Also, should I shoot .75 again tonight or back off to .5 ? Is it ok to give a different dose at night than the morning? What would be PMPS BG be to back it to .5..... oh my goodness, so good to have u to ask these things !!! So so grateful

 

Didn't see ur above post before asking that.... so go fat at PMPS and again tomorrow morning ?

 

If the starting number is about the same, yes. You are home to monitor again tomorrow, right? See if no one can monitor then I dose on the side of caution. But if the preshot is still around 170-180 a fat 0.5 (0.6) should be a good safe dose.

 

If it's lower (150-170) I'd probably do 0.5. If it's 140-150 I'd probably just do 0.25. Under 140 no shoot.

 

Yes it's OK to do Different doses, although I doubt the doses will be very different. Vetsulin is an in and out insulin. Deposit insulin like Lantus they recommend keeping the dose more consistent.

 

How many more hours until you test your pmps?

 

Mercy...the thot of trying to eyeball these is a bit daunting...r there any syringes/ methods u tried , or did u always eyeball it?? I am ordering u40 half unit syringes tomorrow,the uticare( I think that's the name brand) .....now I'm even MORE impressed u did this and teach as well ....guess I am an overly precise person ....have had suggestion to use u100 and a conversion chart....did u ever try that ?.......oh, and yes I am home all the time....our adult kids live out of town/state and we r enjoying simple days(mostly)....sorry for all the questions... I tend to over ask

 

My PMPS is 3 1/2 hours away

 

Just took a +7 3/4 BG...got a 160

 

https://www.adwdiabetes.com/product/ulticare-u40-pet-29g-3-10cc-1-2in-half-unit-5ca_18554.htm

These are the ones I used when I was doing the small doses. The 3/10 cc size made it easier to see vrs the 1/2 size, and it has half unit markings. I never did the u 100 conversion. I was too worried I'd make a mistake.

I did most of my intense testing over the summer. She was diagnosed in May, but I didn't home test until July. I wish I had started sooner. Once I got started testing I loved it because it really gave me a sense of control, and I found I enjoyed the challenge of finding patterns in the numbers. (We teachers do love our data, eh?) It was my goal to get her as regulated as possible while I was home over the summer, but as time went on and the needed dose became smaller my goal shifted to aiming for remission. Tomorrow will mark two months insulin free. She stopped her shots the day I went back to school. .

 

good. The more info you have the better.

 

My thots exactly on the conversion chart stuff...and oh do i love my control and data!!! A million thanks for the exact syringe type to get tomorrow..i feel so much better with all this info...gives peace of mind and i am grateful for ur expertise and taking the time to coach me thru this...u r Elmo's guardian angel !

 

I just realized I linked you to a 5 pack. This is a single pack. https://www.adwdiabetes.com/product/ulticare-u40-pet-29g-3-10cc-1-2in-half-unit_18553.htm

Adw is also the cheapest price for alpha track strips ...

And if you go to retailmenot.com you can find $5 or 5% off discount codes. They usually send stuff in just a few days.

 

That's ok...I'll probably buy the 5 pack.. I find peace of mind in backups !Again, thanks so much for arming me with all this info and instruction... I feel much better today than yesterday..was a lot to absorb but u have made it simple !!!

 

Great numbers lately!

 

Looking good!

 

Thank u for checking on Elmo and I !!!

 

Thank u so much,Janet, for checking on Elmo and I...feel free to share any and all direction /advice...hope ur fur baby being treated for pancreatitis is improving by leaps and bounds to full healing and health !!!! What is his/her name ?

 

His name is Zimmy... He's actually doing great, thanks! He's back to eating almost normally and seems to feel good.

 

Awww, a tuxie !!!What a sweetie..love his name! We had one named Socks and he lived to be 21...just left us a year ago...have a question that is probably silly..Elmo's +4 BG was 78 on his left ear so i double checked and was 85 on right ear?? What is that , if anything?

 

That's just normal variance. You could do a test on the exact same drop of blood one after another. and get those kinds of different readings.

 

Love a tuxedo cat! Teasel's sister, Meadow, is a grey and white Tuxedo with no white on her face, just a little "frosting" on her nose.

 

Yup!

 

In this picture Zim looks black and white but he's actually grey. With one exception all our cats are grey or black. We have one orange and white, four grey, two black. Here's a bunch of them keeping Zim company as he recovers from a bout of pancratitis. 6 girls and Zim is the only boy. He's laying in the middle.

 

So cute! What a lovely herd!

 

Two are not in the picture. Cc my diabetic, and Julie the orange one. Truth be told the two of them would be perfectly happy being only cats.... The other 5 travel like a pack. Haha

 

Sorry for getting sidetracked by cute kitty pix, Beth.

 

Are u kidding ??!!?!! I love it and love u guys !!! Being a part of this community is a HUGE blessing for me and Elmo !!! Really have no words to express my appreciation and admiration for each of you.

 

Wondering about todays numbers...the 192 tonight startled me a bit...thoughts???

 

Meter variance. The 184 this AM and the 192 this PM are well within the 15 - 20% expected variance.

 

Was just checking in to see how things are going Beth and pleased to see Elmo is looking good!

 

It's not high but if it's over 180 and you can catch a +4, try giving 0.75 just to get that low closer to the 80-100 range.

 

Thank u ! Got a silly question..does size of blood drop affect BG reading? ? Think I probably did give close to .75 last night .....this morning his AMPS is 152...

 

No, it shouldn't have any effect.

 

Not really... Although sometimes it has read weird for me if it is a REALLY tiny dot. When in doubt you could always do a second test and split the difference. .

152 is a GREAT preshot number. !!!