Ace Update

[Bpcooper14]

Just took a BG reading and he's at 560 after 2 hours since feeding. Is it possible the enzymes are breaking the food down causing the spike in blood sugar? I'm going to monitor him hourly through the night and hope that things are trending downward.

[Olesia711]

Just took a BG reading and he's at 560 after 2 hours since feeding. Is it possible the enzymes are breaking the food down causing the spike in blood sugar? I'm going to monitor him hourly through the night and hope that things are trending downward.

Hi Bill,

That is not a good number, but don't freak out too much.... stuff like this happens and this is what you have to record and try to figure out the pattern and then what to adjust...

Since this is the two hr BG..... my guess is that it won't go higher or not much higher within the next 2 hrs.... my experience has been that some will spike up to 4 hrs after a meal.... so i agree with you do every hr (if you are planning to stay up) until it starts turning downward. Then get some rest... cuz once it turns, you can drop the blood curve to every 2 hrs then.... i don't think you have to worry about too low of a nadir at this point......... but it will be something you will need to figure out, during a a'waking hours"' curve..........

Call the vet tomorrow - -tell her what happened. Maybe check the blood before breakfast to get another read and then if you are home, check 30 minutes after the meal, 1 hr after the meal and then 2 hrs after the meal so that you can really see what the heck is going on.....

To short circuit everything.... ask your vet if she would be willing for you to try all homemade (and if you are willing) and no kibble... see what the blood curves yield with this limited diet.... and if this works with your current amount of insulin units twice daily..... THEN work on adding kibble to the meal (in small increments to see how much the insulin can comfortable cover) .

Sometimes it is easier to add to then wonder what you have to subtract from.......

[Olesia711]

oh crap, i just thought of something else..............how many unit of insulin is Ace on twice daily? Reason why i am asking is that it "might" be a possibility that Ace might be getting too much insulin- -but please check with your vet first and ask her if she even thinks this is a possibility......

I know we discussed a little today about the Vetsulin dosing situation.... but the Somogyi effect sometimes happens with EPI as a concurrent condition... (even though it happens not just in the morning... but after the meals)

" Somogyi is a rebounding high blood sugar that is a response to low blood sugar.[1] When managing the blood glucose level with insulin injections, this effect is counter-intuitive when high blood sugar is experienced as a result of an overabundance of insulin"

[Bpcooper14]

She wants me to give 4 units twice daily. They administered 3 units this morning. It's possible there was a cumulative effect from the humility-r administered at the ER over night plus the Vetsulin this morning.

[Bpcooper14]

We survived the night. His levels stayed about the same until about 12:30 (560ish) and then came down through the night. Feeding was around 8-8:15 for reference. 413 at 2:30, and 250's at 4:30 and 7:30. Appetite is good, energy is good for me not letting him sleep all night, no obsessive thirst. Feeding him, giving insulin and going to monitor any changes for the next couple of hours.

[Olesia711]

Hi Bill,

So sorry you had such a rough night. Hopefully you will be able to get the curves to come down sooner rather than later.

Although i did not save all the BG curves i did on my gal, (too many!!) i did save a few, and just thought i would share a snapshot of one of our high BGs... just to let you know you are not alone in this, it happens, it is scary, but you will get it under control, it just takes trial and error, sometimes more trials then what you were planning on, but you WILL get there....


Not that you could have done this last nite... but i lived way out in the country when Izzy was diagnosed and what i would do to bring down the extra high BG (daytime) was go play xxx minutes with the frisbee... of course i still had to find out why it was happening, but for us, a short burst of controlled exercise helped bring down the blood sugar.

I am also attaching a worksheet (or at least i am going to try to attach it) as it shows how we did better with a little less insulin as Izzy was having the Somogyi effect - -this can happen sometimes with EPI + Diabetes... BUT it is really hard to say for sure that is what is happening. my vets did not think so until i showed them the stats.... and even then they felt it wasn't typical Somogyi but when treated as the Somogyi effect (reduced the insulin dose) , Izzy's BG improved........ not sure if this is even happening with Ace, but just tossing it out there so as to leave no stone unturned.............

Unfortunately to ascertain what the heck is going on, it can take a lot of time...... so hang in there, call me if you need to. Read as much valid scientific veterinarian research (don't let Dr. Google be your only guide) .... work closely with your vet while still doing your own research.... and remember.... the biggest helpful thing will be the multiple blood curves you do and the details you record of insulin, diet & activity,

516 curve.JPG (110.03 KiB) Viewed 5640 times

[Bpcooper14]

Thank you for all of the information. You have been a calming voice in my chaotic thought process. I went through the vet this morning but my Dr was swamped. I gave them a copy of the readings from last night and this morning and she is supposed to call me today. I tried to purchase some test strips as I am down to the last couple but they didn't have any to sell. I've ordered some online and will hopefully have them in a couple days. I might call around to a couple of the other offices in town to see if anyone has any on hand for sale.

[Olesia711]

if you really get stuck with not having easy access to test strips.... scrap the doggie meter and just get a human Ultra Touch II meter... and that way the test strips are available everywhere... This is what i use.


The Ultra Touch II monitor closely adheres to the doggie one... the deal is... when the readings are low, they are most accurate, either right on the money or only 1 or 2 pts off..... however.... when the readings are high.... the human glucose monitor will be off more points.... the higher the reading the more points off the reading will be (on the human monitor)

Just as an example, if the Ultra Touch II is reading 400.... and you calibrate it to a doggie monitor, it will be 10-15 points off (Ultra Touch will read lower than what it really is)
if the Ultra Touch II is reading 600..... and you calibrate it to a doggie monitor, it will be 20-25 points off (Ultra Touch will read lower than what it really is)

SO.......... as long as you are aware of this, you can accurately use the human monitor and strips if you want to

Bet you are learning more about Diabetes than you ever thought you wanted to know!!

[Bpcooper14]

I've thought about going out and looking at the human monitors. I knew there would be some variation compared to the animal ones. That is good to know how the trending differences are when comparing one to the other. I know that the human ones are more readily available and the strips can be significantly lower in price.

This has definitely been a huge educational experience. I am a cross country and track and field coach and have had athletes who have dealt with diabetes. SO this could be helping me be better at my job. At least we'll use that as the positive nugget for the day from all of thise. haha.

You had mentioned taking Izzy out to play frisbee. I actually took Ace out for a little bit of a walk around 11:30 last night understanding that physical activity is always good for diabetics. I didn't want to over exert him at that point and I think it was more to clear my head then any potential good it was going to be for him.

[Madelon]

So glad things seem to have stabilized for now. Olesia is our savior for sure - hate to think of where we would all be without her guidance and knowledge. Please do keep us updated on Ace.