Ammonia smell?

Hi everyone! I am currently on high dose steroids and have been diagnosed with steroid induced diabetes. Currently there's no guarantee about whether or not it will go when I come off the steroids or whether I will be diabetic for life. Because of the uncertainty I am obviously trying to do my best to manage my blood sugars while I am on the steroids in order to give myself the best chance of recovery to my normal levels when I come off them.

I've lost 2 stone in the last two months and have been following a moderately low carb diet (around 70-120g of carbs a day depending on the day). My blood sugars have become really stable, which is great, but I've noticed a faint smell of ammonia on my body/sweat since I've been low-carbing. The internet is a minefield when you google this, and tells me I'm either dying of liver disease or that it's a normal part of a low carb diet. I wondered if any of you had experienced this? I don't feel unwell and I'm hydrated enough. I do have a very strong sense of smell and no one else can smell it unless I've literally just exercised and even then they have to sniff my skin to get a whiff! So it's not a very strong smell but it is there. Any input on this?

Thank you for your reply!

My blood glucose levels have been good, and I don't have any other symptoms of my ketones being too high but I will definitely investigate the blood testing strips. I see my GP regularly so I will mention this. From my quick googling it did seem as if it was fairly normal for a low carb diet, but it's always good to ask others who might have experienced it too. My diet isn't extremely low carb and I'm still getting lots of veggies and fibre etc., I've just essentially cut out bread, rice, pasta etc as they were really causing my blood sugar levels to rise and I've noticed a dramatic drop since I started watching my carbs. Really hoping to reverse this when I come off the steroids!

I was, unfortunately, at risk before - Family risk as well as being overweight and having a bad diet. However I have been working so hard to change as much of that as I can! And given that I'm still on a fairly high dose of steroids and have managed to see such a significant drop in blood sugars so quickly I have some confidence that it will go away. My first week on the steroids my blood sugar levels were getting as high as 28! I'm now sitting between 6 and 9, so it's been a dramatic drop in 6 weeks. I'm not too concerned about the smell because my blood sugars are so stable, but I'll definitely keep an eye on it if it gets worse and/or my blood sugars rise.

Thank you John