Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

[HugosMom]

Haven't been on in a while due to an insanely busy schedule - my spouse and I accidentally both just gave Hugo his insulin shot!!

The shots were about 10 minutes apart and were given about 10 minutes ago. He isn't showing any signs yet. I have maple syrup if needed. He received 12 units of Humulin... his normal dose is 6 units. How long will he be in danger? 12 hours?

Any advice is appreciated!!

Kirbi

[pgcor]

Re: Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

I am no expert but, I would certainly feed him something right away. Will he eat his dinner again?

[Patty]

Re: Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

If it was me I'd give extra food and maybe a small bit of syrup as well. I'd also test every hour and feed/give syrup as needed.

Extra insulin also can increase the duration so I'd watch until he continues to rise through the 12 hours.

I know someone who just went through this and also used jelly bread to help keep her dog out of the lows.

[HugosMom]

Re: Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

Thank you both. I made sure he ate extra and gave him a bit of syrup as well. I have some ready to go when needed. I'll keep monitoring. So far, he's ok but we'll be watching.

Kirbi

[Patty]

Re: Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

Glad you can test Kirbi. That will really help. I'll keep checking in on you.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

How much syrup did you give?

I wouldn't be afraid to overdue the syrup a bit in the beginning if his blood sugar starts downhill.

What does his curve usually look like - when is his lowest blood sugar?

Gosh I'm glad you home test!

I used to fill Chris' insulin syringe first and then prepare his food. That gave the insulin time to warm up. Maybe that would help prevent double injections? Some people have used checklists or put the syringe someplace that signified that it had been given already when more than one person was involved.

Natalie

[peggy0]

Re: Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

Hows Hugo doing? Anxious to hear whats going on with him.

[CarolW]

Re: Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

OH, Kirbi, what a bummer! Glad you'll be monitoring closely.

I too signal myself by putting things in certain places "before" and "after" giving the shot - well, I did, till Kumbi died, and Camellia, my new dog, isn't diabetic, so my entire schedule has changed in INTENSITY, though I'm feeding her on a diabetic schedule; it works so well for other things, too.

I echo the thought, thank goodness you can test those glucose levels yourself!

I'm deeply trusting your monitoring and extra feeding and syrup will help avoid a hypo. Probably you're stuck monitoring for a couple of days.

You can believe that though I'm also in an insane schedule ("moving day") is tomorrow, but that's only the basics and I have a lot of other stuff to move, get rid of, and so forth; will be totally swamped and out of it till the end of the month. All the same, I'll be watching for your reports. If I can just get enough sleep to read anything!

You too will be short of sleep (again?)

Best of luck to you and Hugo! De;lighted to hear from you again, but for what a reason!

Love and hugs,
Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:38:08 (PDT)

[HugosMom]

Re: Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

Kept checking and had him on the bed (as always) and never saw any low numbers. I just checked him for the morning and he's at 24. I'm assuming I should not give him his morning shot today?

Immediately after we realized what had happened, we gave him a few tablespoons of syrup. Glad he is ok!! Thanks everyone!

I was in teacher's college through the summer and was so busy with that and being a mom of small children and of course our large animal family. I'm doing my practice teaching now until Christmas and it's been absolutely insane! I can't believe how much work this is! I've missed being able to check in but never stop thinking of all of you on this forum.

Kirbi

[peggy0]

Re: Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

I'll wait for patty or natalie on this one. If it was me, I'd feed normally and give him half of his dosage. his reading is pretty high but its hard to say if he dropped too low during the night or the syrup.

[Patty]

Re: Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

Kirbi,
You can look for Natalie's advice on this one too. I hear what Peggy's saying. There could be some residual background insulin going on that could overlap. But I'm thinking you fed the anticipated lows and he wound up high at 24 (432).

Are you going to be home today or are you teaching? Or someone else that knows how to test him and respond? You could always give 75% of his usual dose to be safe. When is his typcial low point?

Patty

[k9diabetes]

Re: Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

What was his lowest blood sugar last night when you checked him?

If he rebounded, then I'd expect his blood sugar to be high all day today as it usually takes a while for the effects of those hormones to clear...

If it was me and I was going to be home to keep an eye on him, I'd give him his usual dose of insulin and just go back to normal.

If I wasn't going to be home, I might cut his dose a little bit mainly so I wouldn't have to worry about him. I think I'd give him at least 75%.

But a lot depends on your knowledge of your dog and how tightly regulated he normally is. If his blood sugar is usually in the low 100s under normal circumstances, it wouldn't take much extra insulin to push him into low blood sugar. If it's typically higher - high 100s, 200s - then even a little extra insulin is not so much of a concern.

With his high starting blood sugar, basal need today, and a full meal, he should be able to handle most if not all of his normal insulin dose. I'd temper that with you don't want to worry yourself sick if you have to work all day so it would be okay to reduce the dose some for the next 12 hours and then go back to your normal routine tonight.

And I would let any excess blood sugar you see tonight wash out on its own. I'd give him his normal dose tonight and in the morning and he should get back on track in a day or so.

Natalie

[janspack]

Re: Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

Hope he is doing OK now. Sounds as though you looked after him really well and that he has come through without too much of a problem.

[Patty]

Re: Accidental Double Dose of Insulin!!

Kirbi,
How's Hugo doing? Did you wind up giving insulin that morning? I wondered if you'd already left for the day by the time we all posted. Hoping all is well!
Patty