• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Gluco Rx hct. Ketone test while sick with cold

B

batrico

Member
Messages
15
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi ive had a cold for 3 days and being the holidays its hard to get specific help about my type 1 diabetes.ive been hydrating and constantly checking my blood sugars and more importantly my ketones every few hours. I have managed to reduce my ketones to 0.1 at 4pm uk time todsy but when i tested at 7.30pm i got the result lo. I tried again and i got the same result.i rewashed my hands and tried again. Still lo.as you can see thpugh ive had type 1 for 25 years i still have some things i need confirmation. Earlier i had a lo but retested and i got 0.4. The problem i dont want to waste any more strips till i know whatvis going on.Can someone here help me. Is it possible to to have under 0.1 ketones and show up as lo.or does this mean i need to retest till i get a result between 0.1 and 0.6.this is the first time ive really had this situation.last time 6 months ago i had nausea with a stomach bug which meant i had to go straight to a+e.
Sorry for writing such a long message.
 
Hi @batrico and welcome to the forums . So sorry you are unwell.

Here's what glucorx say about ketone testing

Testing for Ketones | GlucoRx

GlucoRx is the UK’s largest supplier* of innovative, ISO-conforming, quality yet cost effective management solutions for all diabetics.
www.glucorx.co.uk

My googling suggests that "Lo" is a potential result if you are using GlucoRx HCT Ketone Test Strips ? I'm struggling to understand how ketones being too low could be a problem for a T1 because my meter happily reads zero on occasions and I was told 0 to 0.6 was normal...


says

The β-Ketone test measures Beta-Hydroxybutyrate (ß -OHB), the most important of the three β-Ketone bodies
in the blood. Normally, levels of ß -OHB are expected to be less than 0.6 mmol/L.
ß -OHB levels may increase if a person fasts, exercises vigorously or has diabetes and becomes ill. If your
β-Ketone result is "Lo", repeat the β-Ketone test with new test strips. If the same message appears again or
the result does not reflect how you feel, contact your healthcare professional. Follow your healthcare
professional’s advice before you make any changes to your diabetes medication programme. If your β-Ketone
result is between 0.6 and 1.5 mmol/L, this may indicate development of a problem that could require
medical assistance. Follow your healthcare professional’s instructions. If your β-Ketone result is higher than
1.5 mmol/L, contact your healthcare professional promptly for assistance. You may be at risk of developing
diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).
 
Thanks for the reply. What confused me is in the manual it says lo could mean no ketones which would be ok . But it also say sample might have been to small.The meter beeped so im thinking the test was ok. Normally i wouldnt have to test my ketones its just while im sick and trying to not be dehydrated which increases keytones. Im hoping this cold only lasts another 24hrs.
 
I don't suppose you have any urine testing strips for ketones? (Much cheaper so you don't have to ration them as much.)
 
Thanks for the reply. I dont have any urine ketone strips. I have 26 ketone strips to get me till monday so i should be ok. My urine is clear at the moment. Once i know lo is not a mistake then i should be ok. Ive got a jug for water and my phone for youtube lol
 
Maybe try to get an extra big drop of blood for your next test ???

Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.
 
Got a test to work but reading is 1.2 . Blood sugarsc18. My app says only one unit of novarapidcas i have 2 units onboard insulin.i was afraid the long wait of a test to work would end up at over 1.0.
 
Gave myself 2 more units after recheck bolas calculator.will check sugars in half an hour.hopong to fluck ketones and inulin to do its job too. Will test at 12am. Then i will think about the situation.
 
Do you have access to sick day rules for insulin dosing @batrico ? My guess is that your calculator may not use them???
 
My latest check of ketone is now 0.7 .i am hydrating every hour and checking bs every 2 hours giving insulin if needed (have a bolus calculator on my diabetes m app)and ketones every 3_4 hours. Ive read the sick day rules.i have an omage of ketone results and what to do about it. Hopefully the nect test will be under 0.6 and then we keep up the regiment till this fdamn cold goes away.
Thanks for your replies.
 
My bolus calculator has a sickness percentage you can add into the equation to increase insulin from normal.ive also gave mysrlf 15 units of toujeo long acting insulin instead of my normal 14.[that was 10 oclock last night.
 
Sounds like you are getting things under control. I just hope you manage to get some sleep amid all the checking.

Get well soon.
 
Hi been in hospital since 8am. My ketones are now 2.3 my bloodsugar is 13.6 but according to the nurse my blood test is fine no acidosis. Anyone heard of that were a doctor is not worried about a 2.3 ketone result.
 
Nurse said i could take fast insulin with a ham sandwich as normal.im lost and noone to talk to.in tallaght hospital in ireland on a sunday your out of luck
 
Until very recently, when I got a ketone meter to see what endurance exercise did to ketone levels, I'd not tested my ketones in 20-odd years. There seems to be quite a lot of fear about ketone levels. With the advent of pumps there is a much higher risk of accidentally not having any insulin on board, but for those on MDI my personal feeling is that it's not such a worry. YMMV of course. Reading the link (internal NHS DKA treatment guidance - linked in 4th paragraph) below I see that deaths due to DKA have also fallen considerably over the last 20 years, so perhaps the fear has been useful - difficult to know whether this reduction in deaths is due to better treatment once admitted or simply fewer admissions/less severe cases due to the patient having done something about it too.

There are some threads with people giving their ketone values, here's one with a final post by me with 2.3 mmol/l ketones post-exercise and quite happy about it: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/th...llness-and-low-carb-diet.203026/#post-2691982 I use a GlucoMen areo which apparently also tests Beta-Hydroxybutyrate concentration (https://www.glucomen.co.uk/wp-content/themes/glucomen/assets/pdfs/4 areo_ketone sensor_Insert_slide 10.pdf).

I see in the strip data pdf above it also says that if your ketone value is above 1.5 mmol/l and BG above 16.7 mmol/l you should contact your healthcare professional, which strikes me as being a case of the meter companies being somewhat conservative just like the public 111/nhs guidance.

If you look at the link below, which appears to be an internal hospital document, it looks as though if ketones are above 3 mmol/l the medical profession will do a blood acidity test, and above 6 mmol/l they crack on a start treating irrespective: https://www.whittington.nhs.uk/document.ashx?id=6086

Before reading @EllieM's post above I'd not even considered that perhaps different ketone meters read different things, though without doing any in-depth investigation I'd bet they do all measure beta-hydroxybutrate so the numbers are comparable. If anyone knows different please do say so.

Some more threads with background and people talking about their ketone levels, which might be of general interest:

Normal ketone values?

I note a distinct fear of ketones amongst those new to the fold. Some people are diagnosed and are in DKA at that point, which will obviously make you weary (I've no idea what state I was in when diagnosed, long long time ago.) There's a risk for T1 on pumps if you have a diffusion set failure...
forum.diabetes.org.uk

Random ketones

I have been type 1 diabetic for over 20 years and have in the past year gone in to a closed loop system. I was away on holiday last week and as I know I tend to run on the higher side on holiday I reduced my carbs intake and ended up with ketones at 1.9. after advice from my diabetic nurse to...
forum.diabetes.org.uk

What level of ketones is normal for, like, a non-diabetic?

What ketone level would we need to be to be the same as a non-diabetic? An average person, average day kinda thing. Like, would it have to be literally 0.0, or, for example, anything up to 0.3, or 1.4 "normal" etc?
forum.diabetes.org.uk
 
Last edited:
The doctor in the hospital said the cold/viral infection was the problem not the ketones.blood tests are fine .they havent checked my ketones after the blood test at 2.3.they told me not to worry. Being referred to find out what was causing the infection
 
Poor you, thank goodness you’re in hospital!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…