Hershey

[Phyllis Diot]

Re: Hershey

That is so kind of you.

[Phyllis Diot]

Re: Hershey

Received yesterday afternoon and my strips should be here tomorrow. Anxious to see how the results compare if I can get enough blood for two tests. She doesn't seem to bleed easily.
I do have a question thought on the subject of food. I feed Hershey about a Tbls of pumpkin once in a while, green beans are mixed in her food most days, but not all days. I was reading mostly about a need for fiber and found peas have more fiber then the green beans, so got some to try, but reading today all the talk is about a need for carbs. What are the best things to insure she gets daily with her dry food to help insure all is well.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Hershey

It's hard to predict how various vegetables will affect an individual dog's blood sugar.

Take, for example, green beans. Most people who've given them have been able to use them as a "free" snack because they have little sugar and few calories. But a few dogs who are really sensitive to such things actually got a big boost of sugar from green beans.

I've seen other really carby stuff such as oatmeal have the same very different effects in individual dogs.

Whether a diet needs more carbs depends on the curve - carbs are usually digested pretty quickly so supply sugar early in the 12-hour period between injections. So they can be really helpful if a dog's blood sugar drops hard and fast right after eating - that's a sign of a quick jolt of insulin with little sugar from the meal to go with it. Replace some of the meal with a quickly digested carb gives a quick shot of sugar at the same time as the insulin is working.

Curves are the best way to figure out what, if anything needs changing. It takes a while to learn to interpret them, but we can help you with that.

Natalie

[Phyllis Diot]

Re: Hershey

Okay. Help please. I thought insulin was to reduce her glucose. Am I reading into this too soon. also if you look at the mess she was in after all the jumping around the vet had her going through I thought at keeping her at the 19units he had last prescribed a while would allow her to stabilize or adapt to it. Been about 3.5 weeks, maybe not long enough yet but getting scared all over again as I knew the Relion was not accurate, but had no idea it was so far from the actual (like 50-60 percent lower) Here is how today went with the alpha 2.
7:15 morning meal 2.5 cups dry(baneful) and 1/4 c brown rice with few peas mixed in.
7:25 insulin (19u)
8:10 1.5 mile walk
10:58 370 on Relion
12:44 327R and 517 on Alpha
14:51 310R and 452 on A
18:12 ( 1 hr before supper) 1.5 cups - 370 Alpha
19:20 pre insulin meal 1 cup
19:25 19 units
20:22 (1 hr after insulin) 391R and 590 on alpha
22:15 (2 hr after insulin( 358R and 557 on alpha

What am I doing wrong. Seems more active and less drinking so thought things were going good until I saw the real numbers.

[jesse girl]

Re: Hershey

Jesse started on a true trak meter from walgreens . Took it with jesse to the vet for a curve and they compared it to there lab analyzer ( not another handheld human or pet ) . the good thing jesse was high and low so it gave a wide comparison at different levels

Testing in the 100s the true trak was spot on with the lab analyze Now testing jesse at about 500 with the true trak the lab analyzer was reading about 350 . So the true trak was reading about a 150 points higher

The lab analyzer is the most exact way of testing blood sugar . Now could your alpha trak be reading higher in this higher range ? Could the relion be reading lower ? Could the real number be somewhere in the middle

I have used a human meter on jesse the entire time she has been diabetic . I compared this meter with the one touch ultra to make a comparison and they were pretty close at all levels

I understand the alpha trak is supposedly the gold standard but i have not seen a comparisons to a lab at the higher range from others using it which i think all hand helds can get a bit squirrely .

the only way to know for sure is compare with a vets analyzer not another handheld . Most meters do much better in a lower range and the closer to normal the better they get

I think you will have to choose what direction you want to go as far as meters and pick the one you want to use . Constant comparisons can drive you a bit nutty

My thought if jesse was reading in the 500s she would show signs of diabetic symptoms of thirst and urination . Usually in the 300s and possibly the 400s those symptoms seem to go away for most dogs

[amydunn19]

Re: Hershey

I am wondering if maybe it is the food that is giving you a tough time, too. So, you are feeding dog food and rice both? That is double carbs and probably too many. Just my thought. I would add something like boiled chicken or lean protein if you need a topper and maybe something like pumpkin or green beans for fiber.

If you have been at the same dose for 3 and a half weeks, you are probably a bit overdue for a curve and increase. Any changes need 5 to 7 days to settle. So, there should be some action every week to week and a half as far as doing full curves and deciding on increases or any dosage change.

Just my two cents....

[Phyllis Diot]

Re: Hershey

Thankyou. Yes I was adding a couple tablespoons of brown rice/peas mixed to her dry. Yesterday I added Chicken. I will discontinue the rice and see what happens. Ate and insulin at 730pm last night and alpha at 10pm was 599. Yikes. Past three nights back to midnight water runs.

[Daisydog10]

Re: Hershey

It may be the peas.

[Phyllis Diot]

Re: Hershey

Ok, update. Increased insulin to 20 units twice a day and no change and continued midnight runs. Her tests have been running high, 517,452,317,515,448,439,487,491,599,541,458,562 and then through all my research I tried sprinkling a little turmeric on the chicken and last night no longer a midnight run, more active and tonight test results 297. I know too soon to celebrate and have to be careful as the turmeric if given too much or too often can reduce too much but finally seeing some progress and welcome any thoughts on this. I wasn't even sure it would help and definitely didn't expect that kind of difference in just one day so will be monitoring to insure it does not go too low.

[Raysaint]

Re: Hershey

Remember it takes a few days for the body to adjust and process the new dose.

[Phyllis Diot]

Re: Hershey

What can I do to put some weight back on Hershey. She looks so sickly and see ribs as if she is starving, but know controlling food with insulin is key. Any advise. Going to try to get her to vet next Tues. for weigh in and curve.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Hershey

At one point, we simply weren't feeding our diabetic dog enough for him to gain weight since the prescription diet was low in calories. If the blood sugar is decent, more food could be needed.

Natalie

[Raysaint]

Re: Hershey

Once blood sugars come down, and stay in a better range, the weight will come back, albeit slowly. My dog had lost 4.5 lbs., almost 20% of his normal weight. Eventually he gained it back and is even slightly heavier than he was.
Just be careful with giving more food when the sugars come down, as the weight can come back more than you want, and extra weight affects insulin absorption. The heavier you are, the more insulin you need.

[Phyllis Diot]

Re: Hershey

Thank you. I will be careful.

[Phyllis Diot]

Re: Hershey

So yesterday her numbers never got to the 400's. Today was day at vet for curve. I took in my test results with her. After about 45 minutes after we dropped her off the vet called and said as long as I am doing testing that no more curves from them would be needed but dropped her insulin from 20 units to i5. thinks somogyi effect could be in play. a big drop. anything in particular I should be watching for?