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Keytones

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DavidG89

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Good evening.

Before I ask a question about keytones I'll give you some background firstly.

On Monday night I didn't sleep well and on waking on Tuesday morning I had a very sore head and was tired. I then started to feel a bit better but then I started to feel quite sick and shaky about lunchtime. I checked my blood sugar which was 5.6 and I checked my blood keytones which was 0.6. I only did this as I felt sick/unwell. About an hour later I checked both again as I still felt ill and a bit faint. Blood sugar was 6.0 and keytones was 1.0.

At this point, I then contacted my G.P, as my keytones seemed to be rising quickly. Spoke with my G.P over the phone and he told me to go to my local A and E due to potential risk of diabetic ketoacidosis

I went and got seen at A and E. Blood pressure, oxygen levels, temperature all fine and on leaving the keytone level was back down to 0.4. They did a urine and blood test in relation to ketoacidosis and it was clear.

In my 15 years as being type 1, even when I have been very ill previously with a flu or a bug and blood sugar has been very high, my keytone level has never gone above 0.4 so I was anxious as to why it was so high at 1.0 but the doctor couldn't really explain that to me.

Has this happened to anyone else, especially when sugars are within range? I have left a message for my diabetic nurse to contact me as they initially phoned me during triage at A and E but just wanted to see if anyone else could explain this.

Thanks
 
Did you eat anything while you were feeling unwell? You can get starvation ketones with normal blood sugar, my daughter has had ketones up to 1.5 just from not eating anything when ill. Other than that, I don't know :(
 
My understanding is the same as @Sally71. The Ketones can come from high blood sugar, but also from starvation, as the body needs to use others sources of energy.
 
That could certainly be an explanation, if you hadn't eaten. When I had emergency surgery and didn't eat for a week, my bs were normal but my ketones anywhere from 4 to 6.
 
My latest episodes of dka due to tummy bugs and not eating for a while, they put the high ketones down to dehydration.
 
Thanks for the replies. I believe it could be down to a combination of both, not eating and being dehydrated. I was ignorant to think that keytones only came from high blood sugar and not down to other factors. My diabetes nurse has been in touch and I have had a good chat. I feel bad now for being concerned when mine was at 1 when @stephknits was 4-6 lol
 
Don’t feel bad @DavidG89 Better safe than sorry 🙂

I’ve had what they call ‘starvation ketones’ before and also ketones from illness. If in any doubt at all, it’s best to speak to your team and get advice, so you did the right thing.
 
As I understand it, Ketones in themselves are not a problem. I believe that people who follow a low carb diet will have ketones in their blood quite regularly. The way I understand it is that it is the combination of ketones and high BG levels which causes a problem. This may be why we are instructed to test for ketones when our BG reaches mid teens. I seem to have a memory of reading somewhere that the high glucose levels cause the blood to become acidic and this triggers a chemical reaction with the ketones.
 
@Nebrascora That’s right but I recently found out about euglycaemic DKA and it scared me a lot. I think it’s rare but it’s always at the back of my mind now when I’m ill. I had no idea it existed until a year or two ago.

It’s basically DKA with normal blood sugar.
 
DavidG89 said:
Thanks for the replies. I believe it could be down to a combination of both, not eating and being dehydrated. I was ignorant to think that keytones only came from high blood sugar and not down to other factors. My diabetes nurse has been in touch and I have had a good chat. I feel bad now for being concerned when mine was at 1 when @stephknits was 4-6 lol
Click to expand...
I'm so sorry - didn't mean to make you feel bad! Always good to be concerned by ketones.
 
If it's Covid 19 though - we get the proper 'DKA sort' at BGs in high single figures - so it's scarier when we're at home self isolating cos at that level - our meters wouldn't tell us to test.
 
@Inka
I will always test now when ill, twice bitten and all that, especially if not eating or drinking..
 
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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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