Keytone Sticks

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Dawney

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Type 1
Hi
Just looking for a bit of advice. A couple of weeks ago I was in hospital with high BS and keytones.

If I want to test for keytones, (pardon me for sounding thick) as I am not sure, how or what to do.

Do I need a machine or are they sticks to wee on, can I get them from my chemist on a prescription. Do I need to see my GP etc......

Being in hospital gave me a fright and I have a busy job get stressed so BS up and down. Tough year as been in new job for five months after being made redundant, enjoing my new job but being a sales rep is busy and lots of driving.

Any advice would be great. Best wishes 🙂🙂
 
You can get urine ketones strips, but much better is blood ketone strips which you can get on prescription but you need an optimum xceed meter as thats the only meter that tests for ketones aswell as glucose. It might be worth getting one even if you only keep if for testing ketones. I like mine so uses it all the time. Your DSN should be able to give you one.
 
Def. best to get the blood ketone strips as Nikki says. Urine (Ketostix) i believes only shows the ketones in your system up to 2-4 hours later and by then that is really too late. Blood ketones give you the answer straight away and so you can act on them quickly.
 
You can get Ketostix from the chemist without a prescription for around ?5.
Useful if you don't have the time to visit your GP.
 
Hiya...

Nathan has the Ketostix and an Optimum Xceed...for Ketones....Although we cant get the monitor to work..which has been a bit of a nightmare for us over the past couple of days...the DSN is going to bring us another monitor next week..once Nathan is out of isolation....

Heidi
xx🙂
 
I have the Optium Xceed and use Blood Ketone test strips , Ketones show up in the blood first so you can act on the result immediately. As a back up I also have urine test strips in the house too.
 
llyods have them in for a fivva you get 50 x
 
Becca said:
Def. best to get the blood ketone strips as Nikki says. Urine (Ketostix) i believes only shows the ketones in your system up to 2-4 hours later and by then that is really too late. Blood ketones give you the answer straight away and so you can act on them quickly.
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Not necessarily 'too late' but certainly later than a blood ketone strip. The main gripe for doctors is cost - I believe the blood strips are about ?10 each, but urine strips 10 pence, so a significant difference. Ketones are a bigger problem in children as they rise more quickly, so blood strips are certainly better there.
 
What i meant was that with urine strips as the ketones take longer to show in the urine than in blood, taking action to get rid of them is later as they have been in your system longer and thereforecould lead quicker to higher ketone levels and more of a medical emergency than if testing in the blood which shows what is happening now as you can act on them, reducing them quicker, in theory.

Sorry wasn't clear 🙂
 
today i tried to get some ketosticks on prescription from my GP, she refused, telling me that I had no need for them and she'd never prescribed them for anyone before 😡 yes love, thats all well and good, but if my BGs go a little on the high side, I'd like to know I don't have ketones. Its better to be safe than sorry...

any other ideas people? I can't afford to buy them over the counter...
 
Thats ridiculous, hospitals are all for people checking for ketones and acting early to prevent DKA. Get your DSN to phone Gp and get them to prescribe them
 
sofaraway said:
Thats ridiculous, hospitals are all for people checking for ketones and acting early to prevent DKA. Get your DSN to phone Gp and get them to prescribe them
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aye i think thats the best idea. I'm gunna phone her on monday 🙂
 
I agree, ask you DSN to speak to the GP, that's how I've always got new things prescribed.
 
For interest, the Optium B Ketone strips for testing blood cost the NHS ?19.55 (according to the British National Formulary which all the Doctor's use) so they are ?1.95 each
 
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