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

Querying relating to presence (or lack of ketones)

R

Rstanton

Member
Messages
8
Hi, (hoping someone can help with my query.

For the past week I had been getting a strange taste in my mouth, sometimes salty but mainly sweet, this seems to be localised to the top back upper section of my mouth.

Everything seems to taste sweet, even water.

I had also been peeing more (but this is kind of normal for me when I get health anxiety).

I called my local GP and was passed on to the practice Nurse, who advised I come in for a urine test.

Following the test the Nurse said that there was no presence of ketones / glucose or infection in the urine.

I explained to the Nurse that I had been peeing a lot during the morning and went for the test just after 14:00 (when I had eaten at 12:00.)

I asked the Nurse if my frequent urination would have affected the presence of ketones and she explained that it is not possible to dilate them as they are either present or not.

Apologies for the ramble of text, but would the amount I had urinated affected the presence of ketones. should I ask for a blood test?

Thanks very much for any help!
 
What exactly are you looking for? Do you have diabetes, and if so, what type?

I, a Type 2, always have ketones present as I eat little to no carbs. So I am in ketosis, following a ketogenic diet to keep my blood sugars low. When there are ketones present in a Type 1 with high blood glucose readings, they run the risk of ketoacidosis, which is potentially deadly. Hence my questions about whether you're a diagnosed diabetic. Ketones in and of themselves are not problematic, when combined with very high bloodsugars though, they indicate your body's shutting down. If there's no glucose in your urine and no sign of infection, and no ketones.... It looks like you are fine. If you are, however, worried about being diabetic, you might want to ask for a HbA1c blood test. It'll show your blood glucose levels for the past 3 months. When in doubt, always go to your GP.

Good luck,
Jo
 
Hi Jo,

Thanks very much for your reply - I have been reading many posts on here and see you are a very active and helpful member of the community, so thanks for taking the time to reply.

I am not currently aware that I have diabetes, but it is the sweet taste and in mouth that made me consider the possibility.

I will ask for a HbA1c blood test (which may be difficult with the current covid situation, and may also get a blood glucose monitor just to check for myself.

I have bought some ketostix and these usually show readings in the negative / traces range but in the morning, or if I have not drank so much then sometimes the readings looks to be between 1.5 and 4 mmol/L.

I guess my main query was to do with frequent urination and whether that would impact the amount of ketones that may be present.

Thanks.
 
Frequent urination should not affect keytones as they are being pretty much constantly released if you are not getting insulin... traces etc can be seen from time to time even in non diabetics

If you are concerned that you are diabetic then ketones are not the way to check for it.. I’m T1 but have never had a positive keytone test... I did however have glucose in my urine.

The correct way for them to test would be by blood samples. Ie hba1c test

You could get yourself a blood glucose monitor and do a bit of pre/post meal checking to see how high your blood glucose is


But there are plenty of reasons why you could get frequent urination and not all of them are bad
 
Thanks for your reply Searley.

I have just ordered a blood glucose test kit so will see how I get on and report back, from a bit of research I guess a normal range should be 4.0 to 5.9 mmol/L before meals and under 7.8 mmol/L around an hour and a half after meals.

I have suffered with an overactive bladder for a long time, probably the amount of coffee and tea I drink does not help, and also I may simply be drinking too much fluid - plus having health anxiety issues makes it worse.

If I do end up having diabetes, this certainly looks like a good place with good people to help.
 
Ketones, as Searly mentioned, isn't the way to check for diabetes. Anyone can have them, Type 1, 2, T3c, or perfectly healthy individuals with no issues whatsoever. A glucose meter would help (test before a meal and 2 hours after the first bite), though a HbA1c would be less hassle for you. With what you're currently experiencing though, I don't think T2 has to be a particular worry. (But when in doubt and anxious about it, just get the HbA1 done and/or test at home. If for nothing else than peace of mind!)

There's lots of reasons why you might urinate a lot, and yeah, a lot of coffee and tea could certainly cause it. Coffee and thee make you wee more as it is, than regular water would.
 
Only reason I suggest a glucose meter is it’s currently difficult to get blood tests and as he seems already to have been dismissed by a urine test a glucose meter my just set the mind at easy as far as diabetes goes or if really high enough to go back to gp and request hba1c
 
Thank you both very much for your replies...!

I should have a meter arriving tomorrow.

As my frequent urination has been a long term issue (I have had other checks to see if there were any issues but nothing came back) - so I am less concerned about that and was mainly curious about the potential to skew any dip test results.

Any thoughts on the sweet taste in my mouth (as mentioned above this does seem to be predominantly towards the back right hand side of my mouth) it may be both sides but its difficult to tell.

I brush my teeth twice a day and floss every day so I don't think its a dental issue.

Food can taste extra salty when eating and then sweeter afterwards. I have also been taking vitamin supplements on a daily basis for the past couple of weeks - 'Sainburys multivitamins and Iron' and a generic 1000 mg dose of vitamin c.

I do not think this would be contributing to the strange taste though.

At the moment I have simplified my diet, cut out as much sugar as possible and am just drinking hot water to see if this will make any difference.

Thanks again for your comments & suggestions.
 
I keep forgetting we're in a Corona world now! I should've had my HbA1c done 2 months ago too.
 
I don't know if you're on any medication? There's a bunch out there that'll alter your perception of taste. Not to mention a couple of conditions (mostly harmless) that can cause it too. If you're worried about it, take it up with your GP. Might not be exactly easy to get an appointment right now, but might be worth it.
 
Thanks Jo, no not on any medication (at the moment..!)

Checking the other symptoms I do get pins and needles in my arms and legs (I work at the computer all the time so not sure if this is due to poor posture or diabetes).

Hopefully the blood glucose machine will help shed some light one way or another (the worst thing is not knowing).

If I do get any high readings tomorrow I will be calling the GP for a HbA1c test.
 
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.…