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Can someone recommend a ketones blood meter
- Thread starter Totalwar
- Start date
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I believe you only dip it in the urine for 15 seconds but you have plenty more time after that to read it. Try taking a photo of the test strip with the comparison chart on the tube, so that you can then zoom in to read the details and compare it better.
I have a dual BG and ketone meter which is a CareSens Duo. The test strips for blood ketones are quite expensive, so if you are testing regularly with blood test strips it could prove expensive. I don't think I have needed to test blood ketones since diagnosis 5.5 years ago, although I did once use a test strip that was going ot of date just for curiosity.
Are you aware of when you actually need to test for them or are you just testing randomly?
I have a dual BG and ketone meter which is a CareSens Duo. The test strips for blood ketones are quite expensive, so if you are testing regularly with blood test strips it could prove expensive. I don't think I have needed to test blood ketones since diagnosis 5.5 years ago, although I did once use a test strip that was going ot of date just for curiosity.
Are you aware of when you actually need to test for them or are you just testing randomly?
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Are you testing when they spike above 13 but come down again an hour or two later or when they are persistently above 13 and don't come down for hours on end. The latter is when you need to test for ketones. Personally I just inject more insulin to bring me down if my levels go into the mid teens and don't come down. Ketones develop because there is insufficient insulin, so dealing with the high BG by injecting a correction makes more sense to me.
I think perhaps some of these guidelines and strategies were developed before we had CGM or an easy way to monitor our BG levels but now that we have more transparency with what our levels are doing day and night, we can be a little less cautious with corrections, provided that we keep a close eye on things.
Which BG meter do you have? Just wondering if you might already have one that will measure ketones as well as BG like mine and then you would just need strips, if you really wanted to go this route.
I think perhaps some of these guidelines and strategies were developed before we had CGM or an easy way to monitor our BG levels but now that we have more transparency with what our levels are doing day and night, we can be a little less cautious with corrections, provided that we keep a close eye on things.
Which BG meter do you have? Just wondering if you might already have one that will measure ketones as well as BG like mine and then you would just need strips, if you really wanted to go this route.
Hi @Totalwar
I am a little confused at what you are using today to test your ketones and how often.
Can you help me understand.
The reason for my questions is that the blood test meters and strips are expensive and have a very short shelf life compared to BG test strips.
If your BG is only over 13 for short periods, DKA is unlikely (although not impossible) and if your diabetes team want you to test ketones, they should be providing something.
The cheaper option is Ketostix which I think is what @rebrascora is referring to which are required to dip in urine. These have a longer shelf life and last for longer than 15 seconds.
I am a little confused at what you are using today to test your ketones and how often.
Can you help me understand.
The reason for my questions is that the blood test meters and strips are expensive and have a very short shelf life compared to BG test strips.
If your BG is only over 13 for short periods, DKA is unlikely (although not impossible) and if your diabetes team want you to test ketones, they should be providing something.
The cheaper option is Ketostix which I think is what @rebrascora is referring to which are required to dip in urine. These have a longer shelf life and last for longer than 15 seconds.
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
What about a magnifying glass.
You could probably download the colour chart from the internet and zoom up on your screen.