Hi all,
Merry Christmas! Hope everyone is having a fabulous time this festive season.
( Type 1 diabetic for reference )
In usual style, I fell ill last week ( always do in the run up to Christmas Day ). It started with feeling run down and a bit of a sore throat, so I got an early night with my boyfriend with a raised glucose of 14mmol/L which was proving hard to budge down. Gave a dose of short acting insulin and passed out. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling worse, so decided to check my blood ketones on my metre, which at this point showed to be 1.5. I injected some more insulin and drank a load of water and patiently waited a hour to test again, to see my ketones had risen to 2.5. At this point I was feeling very unwell so decided to call 111 for advice. They told me a healthcare professional would ring back in half an hour. We fell asleep again and I awoke at about 4am ( 2 hours later from the 111 phone call ) to find I had still not been contacted by 111. Tested my ketones again to find they were 4.5. At this point my blood sugar had slipped a little down to 13mmol/L, so I drank more water and took more insulin. A hour later I tested my ketones again and at this point we were at 4.9!!! I had noticed my skin hurt to touch, I was shaking, sweating, had blurry vision, I felt nauseous and confused. I told my boyfriend it was time to call 999 as I was concerned I was heading towards DKA ( something I have never had but had been warned about a million times, as we all have !!! )
The paramedics arrived within 20 minutes, which for the NHS these days was remarkably fast. The paramedics had never heard of ketones or DKA so were a little confused while I was telling them what was going on. I did a ketone reading for them and urged them to check the NHS website to prove I wasn’t being overdramatic. One of the paramedics took my temperature while the other looked online for ketone guidelines. They found my temperature was 40degrees and my heart rate was 120 and agreed I was most likely heading towards DKA.
They gave me fluids by IV in the ambulance and fast tracked me through a local A&E. Once in A&E the doctors took my bloods to check for DKA and informed me, rather condescendingly that I was no where near DKA; my bloods were perfect; they seemed confused why I was there. However, when they checked my ketones they found them to be at a level of 5.5. At this point my blood glucose had dropped to 9mmol/L ( and stayed that way the rest of the day ) and my temperature was at 41degrees. They knew something was wrong and started treatment immediately.
I was kept in the bed for another 6 hours, given a total of 5litres of IV fluids, I had my chest and lungs scanned, my urine tested, blood work done again. My ketones would rise and fall, rise and fall, but not quite go below 2.
After testing me for loads of different things I was diagnosed with Flu type A. That’s it ! The dreaded flu they tell us diabetics could f**k us right up- and they were certainly right ! This pesky illness drove my ketones through the roof, despite my blood sugar being ok in the end, my insulin dosage being adequate, my carb intake being sufficient.
This has never happened to me in all the 23 years I have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I didn’t even know you could have ketones that high without heading towards DKA ! I have had extended high blood glucose in the past, along with illness and never had my ketones rise above 1.5. I have a theory that it was my severe fever driving my ketones up - they only seemed to drop once my temperature did. And the only way my temperature managed to drop was with the endless fluids they gave me! The science behind this, I have no idea. But perhaps a lesson in future to get my flu jab….
Anyone else experienced ketones of this level without being close to DKA ? Or a fever that propelled their ketone levels ? I have certainly learnt that even if you do not feel like you are experiencing DKA, if you have high ketones, please go to A&E. Despite the doctors initial disregard to me because I wasn’t in DKA, they ended up becoming concerned about my hydration levels and how that could effect my organs long term- High ketones are a sign our bodies need a bit of extra help, even if DKA isn’t on the cards !
Love to all of you, soldiers we are xxx
Merry Christmas! Hope everyone is having a fabulous time this festive season.
( Type 1 diabetic for reference )
In usual style, I fell ill last week ( always do in the run up to Christmas Day ). It started with feeling run down and a bit of a sore throat, so I got an early night with my boyfriend with a raised glucose of 14mmol/L which was proving hard to budge down. Gave a dose of short acting insulin and passed out. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling worse, so decided to check my blood ketones on my metre, which at this point showed to be 1.5. I injected some more insulin and drank a load of water and patiently waited a hour to test again, to see my ketones had risen to 2.5. At this point I was feeling very unwell so decided to call 111 for advice. They told me a healthcare professional would ring back in half an hour. We fell asleep again and I awoke at about 4am ( 2 hours later from the 111 phone call ) to find I had still not been contacted by 111. Tested my ketones again to find they were 4.5. At this point my blood sugar had slipped a little down to 13mmol/L, so I drank more water and took more insulin. A hour later I tested my ketones again and at this point we were at 4.9!!! I had noticed my skin hurt to touch, I was shaking, sweating, had blurry vision, I felt nauseous and confused. I told my boyfriend it was time to call 999 as I was concerned I was heading towards DKA ( something I have never had but had been warned about a million times, as we all have !!! )
The paramedics arrived within 20 minutes, which for the NHS these days was remarkably fast. The paramedics had never heard of ketones or DKA so were a little confused while I was telling them what was going on. I did a ketone reading for them and urged them to check the NHS website to prove I wasn’t being overdramatic. One of the paramedics took my temperature while the other looked online for ketone guidelines. They found my temperature was 40degrees and my heart rate was 120 and agreed I was most likely heading towards DKA.
They gave me fluids by IV in the ambulance and fast tracked me through a local A&E. Once in A&E the doctors took my bloods to check for DKA and informed me, rather condescendingly that I was no where near DKA; my bloods were perfect; they seemed confused why I was there. However, when they checked my ketones they found them to be at a level of 5.5. At this point my blood glucose had dropped to 9mmol/L ( and stayed that way the rest of the day ) and my temperature was at 41degrees. They knew something was wrong and started treatment immediately.
I was kept in the bed for another 6 hours, given a total of 5litres of IV fluids, I had my chest and lungs scanned, my urine tested, blood work done again. My ketones would rise and fall, rise and fall, but not quite go below 2.
After testing me for loads of different things I was diagnosed with Flu type A. That’s it ! The dreaded flu they tell us diabetics could f**k us right up- and they were certainly right ! This pesky illness drove my ketones through the roof, despite my blood sugar being ok in the end, my insulin dosage being adequate, my carb intake being sufficient.
This has never happened to me in all the 23 years I have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I didn’t even know you could have ketones that high without heading towards DKA ! I have had extended high blood glucose in the past, along with illness and never had my ketones rise above 1.5. I have a theory that it was my severe fever driving my ketones up - they only seemed to drop once my temperature did. And the only way my temperature managed to drop was with the endless fluids they gave me! The science behind this, I have no idea. But perhaps a lesson in future to get my flu jab….
Anyone else experienced ketones of this level without being close to DKA ? Or a fever that propelled their ketone levels ? I have certainly learnt that even if you do not feel like you are experiencing DKA, if you have high ketones, please go to A&E. Despite the doctors initial disregard to me because I wasn’t in DKA, they ended up becoming concerned about my hydration levels and how that could effect my organs long term- High ketones are a sign our bodies need a bit of extra help, even if DKA isn’t on the cards !
Love to all of you, soldiers we are xxx
