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Ketones

C

CavJ

Member
Messages
15
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi All, I had my first appt with my diabetes consultant today and he said the T2 diagnosis I was given was incorrect, I’m T1 but don’t need insulin yet. I’m being tested for Addisons due to a few other things going on but the hospital gave me a new glucose monitor with some ketone strips and told me to test my ketones when I got home. I did and they were 0.8. I retested 3 hours later and they are 1.1. My blood sugar is 7.6 so a little high for me for daytime (usually between (5.5-6.5). I have tried calling the diabetes team but of course they have all gone home for the weekend and I was told I would get a call on Monday but googling (which I probably shouldn’t have done) I am
now panicking that this is something bad but I have no clue if I need to do anything to try fix it.
I am on a low carb diet and have been for 2 months so could it be this? Sorry for the post but can’t quite believe I was
Told to test with no real explanation or guidance as to what any of it means!
 
This will tell you all you need to know about ketones
www.dietdoctor.com

What Is Ketosis, What Are the Benefits, and Is It Safe? — Diet Doctor

What is ketosis? What benefits can it bring? Is it safe? In this guide, you'll find everything you need to know: how to use ketosis for weight loss, health, and performance; the optimal levels of ketosis; and how to measure and get into ketosis.
www.dietdoctor.com www.dietdoctor.com
The numbers you are seeing currently are fine
 
CavJ said:
I am on a low carb diet and have been for 2 months so could it be this?
Click to expand...
Are you on metformin only, no other diabetes medications?

In that case, yes, can easily be your diet.
A very low carb diet is called a keto diet because it aims at getting into ketosis and thus producing ketones.

Were you instructed on a particular blood glucose level when you should test for ketones?
It's not usually advised to test for them unless you're over 13 or higher, but your doctor may have some reason to want you to test for them at normal numbers?
Did they explain when and why to test for ketones?
 
Ketones are generally dangerous in the presence of high blood sugars. 7.6 wouldn’t count as high in that context. The official NHS advice is to test for Ketones if your blood sugars are over 11 mmol and you have symptoms of DKA.

If you are eating very low carb and not taking insulin then the ketones could be a result of that.

If you feel ill or have the symptoms in the link and your blood glucose goes up, I’d advise calling 111.
 
Thanks all so much for this info. The Doctor gave no info at all just said ‘when you don’t feel very well like today test your ketones’ I was at the time emotional and crying over the discussion around potential Addisons so didn’t think to push for more info. So annoyed I didn’t. Yes I’m just on Metformin and a low carb diet at the moment.
Thanks again for all of your help I do really appreciate it!
 
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