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levels to high

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sugarfree2

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21
Location
coventry uk
its me again reading posts about sugar levels and hospital visits how high are readings when you need to go to hospital do they not drop lower in time what causes the need for hospital
 
We would not go to hospital because of a high reading unless they are persistently high and ketones are showing in the blood. Usually a high reading can be corrected with extra fast acting insulin. If the person is unwell and the readings are still not falling even with extra insulin then I'd start checking for ketones in the blood. If the level of ketones are rising and are not coming down together with the BG then I'd contact our DSN for further advice and that may possibly lead to admission. Personally if the BG is high but there are no ketones then I'd try to treat at home first. If ketones start to show in the blood and go above about 1.0 mmol/l and won't go down then I'd start getting concerned and phone for help. Ketones above 3.0 mmol/l means the person is seriously at risk of DKA and needs urgent help.
 
sugarfree2 said:
hi thanks what is dkn very rarely have ketones come up on my tester is there a separate ketone tester last time was after rice crispies so never had them again
Click to expand...

I'm a little confused by your post. Are you actually testing for ketones when you say they "rarely ...come up" on your tester, or are you doing a regular BG test and not seeing any reference to ketones so assuming they're not there?

To test for ketones you can do a urine test but that way of testing is not very helpful as ketones can still be present in your urine even after they have already lowered in your blood. The best way to test for ketones is with a blood test. The Optium Xceed test meter by Abbott can test for blood ketones. You get different strips for testing ketones so you're not using the same strips as you would for blood glucose. Other than using different strips it is very similar to testing for blood glucose, you need a little more blood on the strip but not a huge amount. If you don't have the meter or test strips speak to your diabetes care team and ask them to give it to you on prescription. It's important you have the kit at home to test if you become unwell. The strips expire so always keep and eye on their expiry date and order new ones in good time.

A one off high reading like after having rice crispies in your example is unlikely to cause ketones in your blood. If your blood glucose levels return to your target range within a few hours you'll be fine. Obviously you want to avoid those sorts of spikes often as it's not healthy for your diabetes but it's unlikely to put you at immediate risk of DKA. Ketones usually occur when you're unwell and/or have had an elevated blood glucose for many hours.

DKA is Diabetic Ketoacidosis. Ketones can naturally occur in your blood but when your body is not getting enough insulin over a longer term the ketones begin to build up and the number of ketones become too high. Ketones are produced when your body burns fat for energy (lack of insulin so glucose in your blood can't be used for energy). When the level of ketones become too high it can poison the blood resulting in Ketoacidosis.

Here is a link to a pdf file which will explain it better than I can. http://www.dmforum.org.uk/DMF/PDF/blood ... ing_A4.pdf
 
Hi,

I think that you seem to be a bit confused about diabetes so i would recommend you talk to your Diabetic Nurse about it or explore the Diabetes uk website to see if you clear up a bit of your confusion

Josie
 
Without it sounding like i am 'advertising' i have a glucomen lx plus which tests for ketones, have to say it is a good meter... if you go on the diabetes uk website has lots of information on
 
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