Up to 488 at +4.5, really scared?

Jonas has had some trouble with the reds again but came down nicely last night. This morning he was 412 AMPS, ate cod, sole, and shrimp pate and some baked chicken. He is somehow at 488 at +4.5 (he was 494 at first and I retested praying it was wrong) and I am panicking. He is always dropping at this hour, not rising. His ketone meter won’t be here until tomorrow and I can’t calm down. He seems fine, he’s had a long nap today because he was up a ton yesterday, he was bright and alert when I woke him for his check. His breath didn’t smell fruity or like acetone. I feel like I’ve done something wrong and I’m so scared. Any reassurance/advice would be deeply appreciated. Does insulin not always kick in at the same time? He had 3.5U of ProZinc this morning. It did great for him last night so I don’t know what’s happening now.

I’ll be checking him every hour for the rest of the afternoon.

 

Darn pesky red... I dont think I would panic with one reading one number. Of course I'm no expert but I feel your angst.
Dont forget to breathe and try to keep the fear in check. Of course I'm no expert so lets see what the experts say.

 

This is the highest I’ve ever recorded him at so I’m just a wreck... testing him again in a few minutes. He came down great last night so I don’t know why in the world he went up instead today?

 

Understood. One thing you have to keep in mind is diabetes is not a sprint, its a marathon. @Nan &Amber(GA)

Lets see what others have to say.
j

 

Thanks so much Jeanne <3 he’s 436 at +6 so at least he’s dropping instead of going up even if that’s still way too high. He’s acting great still and has gotten a nice drink, chased after one of his sisters, pawed at me for his purebites after his shot, and generally acts like himself. He’s giving himself a bath now trying to breathe.

 

I am far from an expert and in fact came here just to think about asking a similar question. Dora has been on Lantus for two months and she's had a couple of dose adjustments (down) and now is back up to where she started and she does what you're describing, is frequently in the 400s, often in the 300s and very rarely do we see anything in the 200s. We had her in the 100s early on, I'm so afraid that we have crushed the early momentum and can't get it back.

Even when Dora is in the 400s, her urine tests negative for ketones (so far!) so I don't think you have to panic simply because you are seeing high numbers right now. I'm trying to understand the concept of "bouncing" and am wondering if that's what is happening to Dora. Last night we had 278 and I thought we were on the right track. Woke up to over 400. And then at +7 she was even higher :-( (She did eat some more food at around +3-4 so maybe that was why. She finished some leftovers that one of her frenemies didn't want.)

Anyway, just wanted to lend some support. Seems like it can be a roller coaster at times. We are supposed to do a curve on Dora this week so looking forward to seeing what that reveals. I've been told that we may be missing lows with our sporadic testing, so anxious to see.

Edit to add: I should have read first, I see you have years of experience! Still wanted to share that Dora does well when she is high. Hope it all works out!

 

Ugh. Those high numbers are tough to see. The good news, though, is that they aren't dangerous, at least not in the short term, not the way low numbers are.

You're right to worry about ketones, but it usually takes more than high numbers to trigger them (in fact, sometimes cats get ketones without high numbers!). As long as Jonas is still eating, drinking, bugging his sisters , I wouldn't worry about it too much.

What goes up, must come down....

 

He's down to 405 at +7... I'm definitely baffled by why his nadir is happening so much later this time but hopefully he will fall into the 300s, at least.

@Dora the Explorer - Gosh I understand SO much. I was so excited when Jonas had a few days in the 200s and 300s even though that's still not perfect, I was hoping to kiss those 400s goodbye. I went to bed so happy when he was at 270 but then he spiked back up to 412 for his AMPS, followed by that high spike when his insulin is usually kicking in It sounds like Dora and Jonas are having very similar days. Unfortunately even though Jonas is a not new to diabetes, I am still very new to hometesting so I'm afraid he's been out of whack for a while... his vet never recommended hometesting and it wasn't until a hypo episode a few weeks ago that I came across this site and realized the importance. I've been giving him insulin blind after all these years. I have kicked myself over and over for it, but I'm hoping we are on the right track (and blessed that he went so many years without any worse episodes). I appreciate your support so much. It definitely seems like a roller coaster; I've loved the analogy I've heard that it's a marathon rather than a sprint. I hope Dora comes down soon too! I'm new to this side of things in so many ways but please let me know if I can help you at all.

@Nan & Amber (GA) - Thank you so much, that is really a reprieve for my frazzled mind than that <3 He's definitely still alert, drinking, eating (in fact he really wants more food right now!), using the restroom, and playing. He seems totally alert. I'll still be relieved when his ketone meter gets here tomorrow so I can check just to make sure, but this helps me hope that we will be alright until it does.

 

398 at +8... I wanted him to be in the 300s, I wish it wasn't that high but I guess I got my wish

 

388 at +10.5... really not sure what to think of these readings today at all, but I'm glad he's not going up at least. He's taken a nice nap and I think he's going to doze a bit more since I woke him up for that one. I am so stressed out over today and so ready for that ketone meter to come tomorrow so I can hopefully quell all of these fears a bit better.

 

What you're seeing is a bounce. Jonas isn't used to being in yellow (or lower) numbers. As a result, his pancreas and liver panic when his numbers drop into those lower ranges. When that happens, a stored form of glucose along with counterregulatory hormones are released which causes numbers to spike upward. While this is supremely annoying to us, it's not dangerous and, in fact, is a protective mechanism. A bounce can take roughly 3 days (or less) to clear.

 

Sienne, thank you so much for this. I heard the term bounce used but I didn't really understand it, this makes a lot of sense (@Dora the Explorer maybe this will help you and Dora too?). It definitely scared me after seeing him do so well and I worried I was doing something wrong... I guess now I will try to see it as his body doing what it's supposed to even if it's maddening to us I am afraid he has probably been running pretty high for several months now, so those yellows probably were a bit of a shock to him. I hope it will clear sooner rather than later.

I just have to comment on your beautiful signature... I had to sit here and have a good cry over it. I lost my first baby, Oreo, to CKD a few years ago. I was blessed to see him reach 19 but of course it's never long enough. He was and is my best friend. I miss him every day and your signature is so true, all my love and thoughts of him came rushing back to me the moment I read it. As much as I cried, it was a wonderful cry. Thank you for that and for your insight on bouncing <3

 

I wanted to post on this thread again to update everyone who has helped me and Jonas today He was down to 347 at PMPS! I am taking the day off work tomorrow because I've been a bit under the weather all weekend with a combination of my anxiety, some worried nights, and some endometriosis troubles. So I'll get at least two tests in before bed (probably around +2 and +3/4) and possibly one during the night since I won't be up. His ketone meter is scheduled for delivery in the morning!

 

I am New here and Bee is also on Prozinc. You should hold a dose for at least 1 week (7 days)