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Using my new Caresens Dual ketone meter

LittleGreyCat

LittleGreyCat

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Retired Moderator
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4,420
Location
Suffolk, UK
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Diet drinks - the artificial sweeteners taste vile.
Having to forswear foods I have loved all my life.
Trying to find low carb meals when eating out.
I finally plucked up the courage to explore new technology and after a bike ride (always makes finger pricking easier) I tested for the first time.

Easier than I feared, with the blood zipping up the test strip and the 8 second count down beginning.

Sadly, the reading was only 0.6, which is the top end of normal ketones.

Last time I used a Ketostix it was in the range of "T1? Think about A&E".

I now need to organise myself to take a Ketostix reading and a Caresens blood ketone reading to see how they relate. I may have been in ketosis and dropped out, or I may be chucking loads of ketones away in my urine whilst there is only a little in my blood.

Anyway, disappointed.
 
What time of day was it? Mine seem to be higher in the afternoon.. Also the urine ketones and blood ketones are quite different beings so there maybe little if any correlation between the two. Nutritional ketosis starts at 0.5 so you are there.. higher doesn't really mean much.. in my case usually that I haven't eaten.
 
Yes, mine are at their highest about two hours after lunch. (I'm being careful to check mine while on ND - they are at the highest they've ever been).
 
bulkbiker said:
What time of day was it? Mine seem to be higher in the afternoon.. Also the urine ketones and blood ketones are quite different beings so there maybe little if any correlation between the two. Nutritional ketosis starts at 0.5 so you are there.. higher doesn't really mean much.. in my case usually that I haven't eaten.
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image.axd

`According to the usual suspects I am brushing against the edge of nutritional ketosis and nowhere near the "Optimal Ketone Zone".

I posted soon after testing and soon after a one hour bike ride so in theory my ketones should have been in the higher "post exercise" phase.
 
From what I have read anything over 0.5 is nutritional ketosis according to Phinney and Volek and like blood sugar and cholesterol it varies throughout the day. You haven't said if it was morning or afternoon. Because of the cost of strips I haven't measured ketone levels more than once per day. Also I have read that for some exercise can reduce ketone levels as they are used for fuel rather than hanging around in the blood. If I were you I wouldn't be disappointed with that result.
 
bulkbiker said:
From what I have read anything over 0.5 is nutritional ketosis according to Phinney and Volek and like blood sugar and cholesterol it varies throughout the day. You haven't said if it was morning or afternoon. Because of the cost of strips I haven't measured ketone levels more than once per day. Also I have read that for some exercise can reduce ketone levels as they are used for fuel rather than hanging around in the blood. If I were you I wouldn't be disappointed with that result.
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Testing was soon after the post - however not sure if you can see the exact posting time.
It says (as I write) 3 days 20 hours since the post so 4 hours later than now which would be 13:15 + 4 = 17:15.
So somewhere around 5 p.m.

Just done the dual test and the Ketostix said between 1.5 and 4 and the blood test said 1.6.
So it does look as though I am properly in ketosis, and for me the Ketostix seem to be fairly accurate (on a single test so far).

I would expect blood ketones to reduce after exercise in the same way that I would expect BG to reduce; fuel being burned. I was perhaps confused by the "post exercise ketosis" which might be an indication of the level of exercise which has burned any available glucose stores and then fully mobilised the ketone production mechanism to keep the fuel flowing. Logically there might be a "ketone dump" similar to a "glucose dump" where the body ups production when it thinks it is about to run out of fuel.
 
LittleGreyCat said:
Logically there might be a "ketone dump" similar to a "glucose dump" where the body ups production when it thinks it is about to run out of fuel.
Click to expand...

I would not expect this to be detectable in someone who is in ketosis most of the time.

From what I have read, provided blood ketones are detectable (however low) all of the time, then you have your carbs and proteins low enough. At that point to lose weight faster it's total energy intake that needs to reduce in whatever form the energy is coming in.

Some peoples body burns energy slower if the fat intake is reduced but the carb intake is not, being able to detect ketones is one way of showing this is unlikely to be going on. (This is the same group of people most at risk of Type2.)
 
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