Newbie needing help

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: Newbie needing help

drop back one unit of insulin

[jesse girl]

Re: Newbie needing help

Actually the low reading was probably an error more than likely . I seen this on occasion when I did not get enough blood on the strip and had to retest . You would think you would get an error code but that may not occure

In that situation you would like to make another test . I have done many back to back tests with numbers that I was not sure was correct and especially at the low end.

Another factor you dont want to exercise a dog at low levels as it can drop them further as it can speed the action of injected insulin

You do need to get to a dose where you can leave your dog and be confident that he wont go low . 48 is to low and you probably need to reduce the dose

The higher number was probly a dump of sugar off the 48 and maybe exacerbated by the walk

Remember you want to get away from reactionary and move to stability even though sugar level maybe a bit higher . Once you get the lowest level up above a 100 you can hold the dose

[MomtoMax]

Re: Newbie needing help

Yeah, I do think it was a misread and I did lower his units back to 6.5...
Here are his numbers today:
Thursday
5:30
Unknown
Breakfast and Insulin
7:00
368
Resting
9:30
233
Resting
12:30
150
Resting
3:30
372
After Walk
5:30
Unknown
Dinner and Insulin
7:00
465
Resting

Donna and Max

[MomtoMax]

Re: Newbie needing help

I think reducing the dose was a mistake... After breakfast we got to 135, but subsequent readings were all high, including 539 just before dinner...

Donna and Max

[jesse girl]

Re: Newbie needing help

Its possible even the 6.5 could be to high and all you have is less insulin working to remove excess sugar

You do have a problem with large swings in blood sugar

My jesse went from 70 to 500 in just 4 hours

Now you must remember if the dose is to much its going to take time for the body to recognize this foreign substance is not dangerous to the body

You already sort of proved you do have rebounding with the cookie application

The key is reducing those large swings and nothing has changed that thought to get to more stable blood sugar which is either reducing the dose and or a food application that slows down the dump of sugar . Remember you dont have to see a lower number for a dump it can also occur with a big drop so interrupting that drop can be helpful

Most results do not happen immediately . It takes experimentation with one thing at a time if you have success you continue if not you move onto the next thing

The forum is not able to fix anything all we can do is point you in a possible direction but the work has to be done by you

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: Newbie needing help

hey Donna

to see the results of reducing the insulin does takes time. 7 days
keep testing you and your husband are doing great

patients

if max goes low again reduce another .5

[MomtoMax]

Re: Newbie needing help

Quite the opposite - He hit 550 before dinner at 7 units...
Donna and Max

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: Newbie needing help

looks like you got fasting test in a couple of times, try again for a morning test before food if you can.

you dropt to 6 1/2 just the other day and now back up to 7 . fluctuating his blood sugar.


its recommended to stay on one dose wait 7 days , do a curve then adjust the insulin according to the lowest number

[MomtoMax]

Re: Newbie needing help

Here's the latest. He threw up his breakfast this morning... I know the rule of don't eat, don't inject, but this doesn't seem to fit into that category. He ate, I injected. He vomited about half of it.???
I don't expect a vet opinion here: As I've had an EPI dog, a couple of DM dogs, and IBD dog, and been on many lists, just seeking experience...
Of course I checked his glucose throughout the day and it did run as it normally does. I injected after he ate tonight as his glucose was 338 before dinner.

Donna and Max

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: Newbie needing help

see if he,ll eat his vomit next time. sounds gross but it works. rule of thumb from a diabetic dog owner with 12 yr forum experience (i.m the youngest here lol) inject 1/4 does if they eat nothing, 1/2 dose inject when half the food.

you can test at fasting then feed then test again then wait till the blood sugar is over 200 .

here about the chicken crossing the street in rushhour traffic trying to get to the other side, every day he made it until one day his luck ran out.

[jesse girl]

Re: Newbie needing help

I only fed jesse one meal a day and a shot of insulin for most of her diabetic life without a meal but i did give her a vitabone with that injection . I think it worked out to a quarter to a third of the normal dose with her full meal

Its general knowledge that you can give a quarter of the normal dose without food and incrementally take it higher depending how much food is consumed

Something to be aware of and you probably know this from other dogs you had with digestive issue that diabetic dogs are prone to pancreatitis and so you might know it can be serious . I am usually on the 3 day program . If things have not improved in 3 days and have gotten worse it maybe time for a vet visit

I usually fasted my jesse for 24 hours if she has digestive issues and that incudes her stools like diarrhea and I have gone up to 48 hours and that worked for her every time she had an issue which I believed was her pancreas heating up . She did have a severe case of pancreatitis early in her diagnosis

[MomtoMax]

Re: Newbie needing help

OMG, I am a Poopoligist by need, not desire! LOL I watch poop like a hawk – I dissect it, examine it and pick it up as soon as they do it!!! Been that way since Tara, my EPI GSD was diagnosed with EPI…We lost her to DM, but had EPI WELL under control for many years… Was even told by my dear vet that she may benefit from a diet, but thoughts were always, she needs wiggle room. LOL My husband and I had a system when she was first diagnosed just before a nasty NE winter. One of us would go out with a headlamp to examine in the dark and our signal to whoever was in the house was a touchdown if it was good and a fumble if it was not. Our neighbor’s must have thought we were certifiable, but it worked for us…

Max has never had Pancreatitis, but occasional bouts of vomiting, which are resolved within a day, as was this case today. He LOVES bunny poop and sometimes overindulges in this habit. We call the rabbits around here Pez dispensers…. His poop has always been a perfect tootsie roll, except when I tried the I tried the Ketona Natural, which is why I quit it…

Also, I’m thinking of getting his B12 tested as I know how important that is to proper digestion – Gave Tara B12 shots for years before switching to Petfactor B12 with intrinsic factor. That said, the B12 test alone is like $350 and as I know excess is peed out if not absorbed, would it hurt to use it in a diabetic dog? Thoughts? Anyone supplement B12?
Donna and Max the Corgi, who would create a riot if not fed twice a day!

[MomtoMax]

Re: Newbie needing help

So we were at 166 last night, before dinner, so I made the call, Frosty paws for all! Max was in his glory! It's been a year since he had one!
One very Happy Corgi Max was!
Donna and Max

[MomtoMax]

Re: Newbie needing help

So today's curve was higher after insulin in the morning, but dropped much later than usual rather than earlier... He's fed at 5:30 AM, but remained in the 300's until late afternoon. An hour before I injected him he was 169.
After I injected him he's now 330 at 8:30, so this tells me what? He's holding insulin better? Worse?
Donna and Max the Corgi who's quite tired of being stabbed

[jesse girl]

Re: Newbie needing help

Methyl b-12 has been given for back end weakness . I gave it to my jesse at the back end of her life as its not uncommon for older dogs to display this . For Diabetic dogs they say high sugar can interrupt that communication to the rear end and methyl b-12 may help with that . Other than that I have not heard of any additional benefit for a diabetic dog

Just to give some perspective it was close to a year when thing's settle down but jesse still would have some 300s on occasion . I think her last 5 years she had really good sugar and reached a point I did not test her very much

You maybe able to put the meter down a bit especially in the higher parts of the day or more stable as you have been doing this for a bit . Numbers seem to be ok . Only thing y7ou can do is tweak the dose or experiment with food .
What I have noticed if Jesse started higher at shot time she would drop early if she started lower than she would rise which kind of makes sense as the body may recognize where blood sugar is at the time of injection and reacts or dont react to it

No one knows what is exactly going on . Its all a theory of what maybe happening . There is not test where sugar is coming from in the blood stream. I am confident with my Jesses diabetes that the bodies stored sugar supply played the largest part in her flow of sugar .