Help! Ketones!

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Freddie99

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Type 1
Morning all!

It's six am and I've got damn ketones. A little back ground information first; I went to sleep with a blood sugar at 11.5 mmol/L around 2300. Now at 0600 it's 16.4 and I have medium strength ketones. I've done what my SADIE course has told me to do, that is double my corrective dose, I've had eight units of Novorapid and I'm about to hit large amounts of water. Has anyone got any more advice?

Tom
 
My son was in a similar position to you last week. But he had rose to 20 with high ketones before we were able to get advice. We were told to correct (as you have done) and drink lots (as you have done) then to check blood and ketones every hour to ensure all coming down. We did this and he gradually lowered to normal blood and no ketones.

We did nothing more than you have already done as we were not given any more advice than that. So i unable to offer you anymore advice.

Don't panic, stay calm and keep checking that all is going in the right direction. Obviously, if it is not then get further medical advice.

Keep us posted on how it goes.

Mand x
 
Right, drama over, well, nearly. Tested blood and ketones at 0800 and blood was 8.5 mmol/L with traces of ketones. Will check again at about 10:00.
 
Hi Tom ...

Your doing the right thing ... extra insulin and water .. which will aid the flushing out of ketones from your system ... As Mand said .. Please don't panic .. I had the same problem with Nathan when he had swine flu .. and the advice I was given is exactly what you are doing .. 🙂 .. Just keep monitoring the ketone level over the next few hours ...

Heidi
xx🙂
 
Sounds like you've done the right things, with the right results following. Another reasuring symptom that shows the drama is over, is when you produce normal coloured urine (not pale) - but that comes after blood chemistry returns to normal. However, can be useful to look for if you don't have access to glucose or ketone blood strips or meter.
 
Hmmm, not too sure about right results. Two hours after breakfast my blood is 16.5. I've corrected for that but it also tells me that I need to change my breakfast ratio. The upside is that I've checked again for ketones and it came back negative.
 
Hi Tom
Don't beat yourself up about getting [slightly] less than ideal results. Just keep everything in review - you've got lots of changes coming up when you head to uni.
 
Hope all OK Tom, I don't have alot of experience with Ketones.

Can I please ask,
K is type 1 and has never been offerd ketone test strips, is this someting I should ask for (on prescription I presume).
Or is she different because she is on 2 inj a day and I get the feeling most are on Basal/Bolus inejctions?

DP
 
Last edited:
DiabetesPartner said:
Can I please ask,
K is type 1 and has never been offerd ketone test strips, is this someting I should ask for (on prescription I presume).
Or is she different because she is on 2 inj a day and I get the feeling most are on Basal/Bolus inejctions?
Click to expand...

Hi DP, I think all Type 1s should have access to ketone testing. You can either use urine testing strips or there is a meter that allows blood testing for ketones as well as blood glucose. The blood ones are better, but also considerably more expensive. The urine ones are ?5 for 50, but the blood ones cost several pounds per strip I believe. I have urine ones on prescription - I'm sure K's doctor would be happy to provide these. You do, of course, need to learn when to use them and what action to take (as Tom has done on this thread).
 
Seems that Tom already had the answers from his SADIE course, even before this thread. He has shown that it's best to have essential information about how to deal with emergencies to hand - either memorised or written down somewhere convenient / to hand, rather than having to find a computer with internet access and wait for response. Please note, I only mean this in relation to incidents which need quick action, not about general enquiries about longer standing issues or wanting to have a rant during / after frustration. Of course we want to encourage questions, but not if it delays getting specific advice from diabetes care team or if it delays taking action.
 
DiabetesPartner said:
Hope all OK Tom, I don't have alot of experience with Ketones.

Can I please ask,
K is type 1 and has never been offerd ketone test strips, is this someting I should ask for (on prescription I presume).
Or is she different because she is on 2 inj a day and I get the feeling most are on Basal/Bolus inejctions?

DP
Click to expand...

You should have them on prescription, they are very helpful to have around. They could make the difference between going into hospital or not.
 
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