switched to lantus today

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Delma and Frank

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Today I switched to lantus from Vetsulin. Frank always needed at least 3 units of vetsulin for acceptable BGs. Today, as per the Vet instructions, I started Frank on 1 unit Lantus and his BGs are high, as I expected.

+3, 470
+6, 511

This is high and I HATE to see these high numbers. The vet wants me to keep at 1 unit for a week. Is the vet expecting the numbers to go down?? Can't I assume after one day with these BG numbers that Frank is having a minimal response to 1 unit and safely increase it to at least 1 1/2.
 
Welcome to lantus land--Your journey here will be informative & inspiring..There is always someone on the board here 24/7, so..if you need..
Please Read the Stickys and articles at the top of the posts--Each one holds valuable info needed for your stay here.
1.00 unit is the starting dose and we hold a new dose for 6 cycles=3 days before we see any results, most of the time...
Look at how people post their daily numbers in each one's condo..We post all day & nite in one condo & tomorrow we start a new one.
We all try to help each other & have many experienced people here.
Lantus is the most gentle insulin & has the highest remission rate--Increments of 0.25 units is the increases or decreases we give, in response to the cat's BG's over a period of time. This is to be decided by the people here who know dosing..and how the cat is responding to their dose..
Consistancy and patience are the top priority here..It takes time--Every cat is different(ECID) and we hope that Frank will be getting well real soon--
Ask questions & read read read..It will all fall into place--
By the way, you will need to open a spreadsheet so you can keep track of your cat's bg's as you do spot checks-someone will guide you there..
This board is a combined knowledge of thousands of cats experiences & their parents(beans) experiences...Your vet, with all due respect, hasnt had the knowledge that has been accumulated here...Yes we do depend on our vets, but when It comes to Feline Diabetes, hey it is our life's work here...GlAD YOU CAME..
 
Hi Delma - welcome to Lantus Land! Lantus is a bit different in how it works. Starting with me and then probably most everyone else that posts today we will tell you to read the stickies at the top of the Lantus board. These stickies contain great information and you will be refered back to them ad nauseum. ( I used to want to yell back at everyone in the beginning - I HAVE READ THE STICKIES!!). But they are good to read and reread.

So regarding Lantus - it needs to build its "shed" (see stickie :) ) You will not see significant number changes until the shed is built up. It can take days. Your starting dose is good - Are you dosing 1 unit twice a day?? Lantus is given every 12 hrs (there have been some whose vets start on just once a day - but that isn't how lantus is used).

See the stickie called - tight regulation - or it might say Tillies or Rand protocol. Basically when starting with Lantus we hold a dose for at least 6 doses before uping a dose. And when we increase a dose we only usually go by .25 units. You can blow right by a good dose by increasing too fast - the sugars can then stay high cause they are in a chronic rebound.

Are you testing for ketones? Good idea if his numbers are high. Has Frank ever had ketones or DKA? Glad you are home testing. If you haven't yet set up your spread sheet which would record Frank's BG's then please try to get that done. It is much easier for us all to look at an ongoing sheet with his readings than having to search back in post. I am not the best computer person - there are good instruction usually in tech to help you get a spread sheet going (SS) and then how to link it into your signature.

One more thing - with all this coming at you - BREATH! and make sure you have chocolate on hand for yourself incase of emergency ;-) Oh, speaking of emergency - do you have your hypoglycemia kit made up yet?? Yeah, you guessed it - see stickies. You should make sure you have high carb food in the house (HC), honey or karo syrup, a printed up copy of hypoglycemic symptoms and your vets number/er vet's number printed up too. It's all in the stickies!

Welcome again - start a new condo (post) every day. Good idea to start it with Frank's name AMPS - you can edit the title thru the day to include subsequent BG's.
 
Hi Delma

welcome to Lantus Land

Sorry if this has been brought up before, have u had a chance to start up a spreadsheet yet?
While you're here visit some other threads/condos to get an idea on how we post.

Couple of questions, when was Frank diagnosed? What is his weight currently? Any other health issues? This info will help others get to know Frank and to help with feedback ok?

Glad to see you here. If you're not sure of things, just ask in your daily thread, one thread/condo per kitty.

:)
 
Welcome Delma and Frank!

Pepper and I made the switch from vetsulin too... What a difference it has made for him!
Give it a few days and you will see the magic of Lantus... Right now you are filling the shed - and gathering data.. You already received some wonderful information from the other Lantus peeps..

Just takes a little patience .. but you'll get there!
 
hello and welcome to the group!
as soon as you're able to get a spreadsheet together we can offer suggestions as to dose. include the last couple of weeks frank was on vetsulin. if frank was doing well on 3u of vetsulin a starting dose of lantus may not be quite enough. make sure you read through the starred posts at the top of the forum. there's a lot there to absorb so refer to it often.
see you tomorrow...
 
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