Newbie needing help

[jesse girl]

Looking good and a job well done . Keep up the good work and congrats .

[MomtoMax]

While I felt I had his diabetes under control, I did a curve today and this is the results:
5-Apr
Breakfast and Insuline
5:30
Unknown
BG Test
8:00
180
BG Test
10:00
55 (Karo Given)**
BG Test
11:30
67 (Karo Given)**
BG Test
1:00
40 (Karo Given)**
BG Test
3:30
235
5:30
Dinner and Insulin
Unknown
BG Test
6:00
545
Is the Alpha Track II the best meter? All of those lows, in which I gave Karo, he showed zero signs of being Hypo.I gave it based on the meter readings and now I'm sorry I did...
Donna

[Riliey and Mo]

you brought his blood sugar up and saved a hypo incident. retest when u get a low. the alphatrack is good Nothing to be sorry about

40 is low and warrants at least a 1/2 unit reduction.

yes it would help to get a fasting number.

you can prevent a hypo by testing after you feed him!!!

inject only when the blood sugar is over 200, wait till it is, if not not over 200 start reducing by half .5 a unit

[MomtoMax]

Forgive my ignorance, but I'm having a hard time understanding. Today he was totally normal!
Why is this happening?
BG was 180 this morning, and 320 before dinner. Yesterday was a total fluke! Why???

Donna

[jesse girl]

My Jesse never showed any problems at lower levels. Dogs maybe more resilient to the affects of low sugar . There tolerance for pain is high from what I see . You do have to consider those numbers low . Whether your dogs body would have naturally responded to lower levels is hard to say . It seems rare to see a true hypo event in a dog that's not heavily overdosed . If you have to worry about low sugar events it maybe worth cutting the dose as mo suggested . It's just not worth the risk keeping numbers at that level .

[MomtoMax]

Here are Max's numbers today - Keep in mind I've done nothing different since my last post. Food and insulin are fed the same time every day:

8-Apr
Breakfast and Insulin
5:30
Unknown
BG Test
8:00
223
BG Test
4:30
167 (cookie given)*
Dinner and Insulin
5:30
Unkown
7:00
237
I'm at my wits end! He's blind and has no excitement in his life except going for an occasional ride and Ive BG tested him at those times too, with no additional info as to why he isn't stable as he should be.

I can certainly cut down his dose to 8.5, been there, done that, and it led to readings in the 500s...
His current dose was advised to me from Tufts university.
I don't know what road to follow...sad
Donna

[MomtoMax]

I've had an EPI dog, two Hypothyroid dogs and two IBD dogs, but a diabetic dog has me completely at a loss...
Donna

[jesse girl]

There is nothing that says a diabetic dog has a specific kind of regulation . Everyone is different . Some take longer than others
Some dogs never get below 300 . Some battle low numbers like you are seeing but most have a little of both

Like I suggested it's rare to see a dog have a hypo event . Maybe a handful since I have been on the forum .

Remember a dose reduction may need a week to maybe 2 for the bodies hormones to settle down . You have to ignore the highs during that time

Managing this disease is more of an art than a science i believe . It ebbs and flows . You can't wrap it up in a nice pretty package . Some get that but they are the few and far between . My Jesse took 6 months to get her stable and another to get to her regulation place and lived another 10 years after that . I never complained . It's the cards me and Jesse were dealt . It was a wonderful time we had together and I would do it all over again without hesitation.

[MomtoMax]

I've lowered his dose to 8.5 units of Vetsulin vs 9 units and he's in the upper 300s to 400s, which his endocrinologist does not want to see...
I have an appointment with the homeopath doc in June, but I am at a total loss...
Donna

[Riliey and Mo]

might as well go back up to 9 units

another option would be to inject the 9 units of vetinsulin and then feed more food. no more than 1/4 of a cup.

the other option is to change insulin

nph is known to be more stable. its more conentrated than vetinsulin. to start it reduce the dose. check for lows. if youve changed insulin before only means nph might work better this time.

whats his weight?
how much food is he eating?

smile