High ketone levels

[Trypt]

Hey there MDs… Well, the highly knowledgeable among you at least, I need help.

So, I’ve been on Keto for over 6 months now, and it’s done wonders for me. My wife just started keto about 2 weeks ago, and went in and out of keto for the first week, then was in mild/moderate ketosis for the last week constantly. But in the last three days, every time she tests on the strip, it’s deep purple, completely purple, I’ve never seen it like that for me in all of my 7 months, the highest I’ve ever peed on a strip was probably 8mmol but that was rare, usually below that, but above 1mmol.

I have included a picture, this is the third day of the same result, at any time. The reason I worry now is cuz she feels a bit sick today, but she’s getting better already (but still deep purple).

No, she’s not a diabetic and has no health problems. She is usually doing 70/20/10 macros, and pretty well.
The strips I have measure mg/dL, which show levels above 100mg, or mmol/L which show between 8 and 16 mmol for three days in a row now.

Edit: I already know about the accuracy issues of strips, however these strips have been pretty constant for the last 6 months, I have seen levels from 1 to 5 mmol on my tests, sometimes 0 if I cheated, and they showed mild ketosis in my wife for 2 weeks, but went crazy three days ago, and there’s nothing wrong with them as when I test I still come out in mild ketosis according to the strips.
I don’t know how to test blood glucose levels, if you think we should do that, let me know what you think…!

[beccs]

Ketone Strips: Are They Legit? [New Research]

[amwassil]

Don’t worry about it.

Fat Adapted and Still Excreting Ketones in Urine: Survey

So we’ve all heard the reports that the lowly urine keto stix aka ‘pee sticks’ are only useful for the first few months for newbies. Once you’re beginning to fat adapt the wasted ketones, specifically acetoacetate, slowly and steadily decreases in the urine until the test strips show nothing. End of story. Maybe not. I recently became aware of anecdotal reports by fat adapted or presumably fat adapted individuals also showing colour on the strips months after they should be showing nothing. Wha…

[Happyheart]

Is she well hydrated? My understanding is that dehydration causes darker results as well. Just a thought. Also I’ve heard that some people over produce ketones in the begining and then they get better at making a more usable amount. If she’s feeling badly she may need to drink more or have more electrolytes or more likely, both.

[RobC]

My wife just started keto about 2 weeks ago

I think this is the issue.

The liver finally got the message that no glucose is coming in so started producing ketones (and maybe way too many as this - like fasting - is probably unusual for her - a survival reflex has been triggered).

But, the brain hasn’t got used to the idea of using them so she is spilling some.

This will likely work out just fine - brain starts using (and enjoying) ketones and liver becomes efficient (stops over-producing) and levels in the urine will go way down (maybe to zero if all produced are used).

[Trypt]

Thanks all, puts my mind at ease. This morning she did it again and it’s pink but not purple.

I came up with the hypothesis that it’s most likely a lot of ketones are being excreted through the urine because her body is not using them, it appears that may be the case.

[PaulL]

The liver finally got the message that no glucose is coming in so started producing ketones (and maybe way too many as this - like fasting - is probably unusual for her - a survival reflex has been triggered).

I believe that, not only does the liver overproduce while the skeletal muscles adapt to fat-burning, but also the kidneys need to relearn not to excrete ketone bodies so readily. They appear to get more efficient over time, especially once the muscles become fat-adapted and the lilver begins to cut back on ketogenesis.

There is also a high degree of individual variation in all this, as well, so one person’s results are almost guaranteed to differ from someone else’s.