How can this happen?


#1

I did nothing wrong today. Had 2 eggs and bacon, had some pork rinds, and then a caesar salad with some chicken and an avocado. Just checked the keto sticks and I am not even slightly pink- I am NOTHING. No ketosis whatsoever. How can this be? I did nothing out of the usual? Since 2 months I have been in ketosis, and now suddenly I am not? I am wondering if the keto sticks are faulty. Cronometer said I had 9.9 g of carbs today.


(Jody) #2

Remember … Pee Strips are ketones you are dumping out of the body and NOT using. As you get better at using the ketones, the pee strips SHOULD show less.

For a better (still not perfect) representation, you could switch to a blood ketone meter. But know, if you keep you carbs low (especially under 20) … you WILL be in ketosis.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #3

If your carb intake was below 20 grams and you are breathing, you are in ketosis.

It is entirely possible that your sticks are bad, yes, and it is also possible that your kidneys have gotten better at grabbing acetoacetate from your waste stream and putting it back into your bloodstream for your body to use. You don’t say how long you’ve been eating ketogenically, but it often happens that the sticks stop showing ketones in the urine as the body gets more efficient at matching ketone production to need, and the kidneys get better at not allowing them to be wasted.


(Polly) #4

I don’t measure ketones because feeling well and losing fat are my goals. The pee sticks could become a surrogate endpoint so I prefer not to go there.


(Scott) #5

I just do the keto thing but have never tested or checked anything. So far it is working.


#6

Thanks everybody. It sure was consoling.
But I did the keto stick thing 2 hours later and it was DARK purple. So it must have been a wonky keto stick. Who knew? They have duds in the package?
I like to measure my ketones because it just makes me happy. Simples. I always smile ear to ear when the thing turns purple. Maybe it is a form of reassurance for me as well.
But good to know that if it doesn’t turn dark, I am not necessarily out of ketosis.


#7

OK, so it wasn’t a wonky keto stick. It happened again and in fact it is happening a lot lately. If I check my ketones early enough, I have none. This while eating keto the whole time, mind you. And then maybe 3-6 hours later after a keto breakfast and/or lunch, THEN I have ketones in my urine. So I guess this must mean that overnight I am actually using up my ketones for energy? So I have to eat my fats in order to produce new ketones in my urine. Like you all told me- the ketones in the urine show the SURPLUS of ketones one has in the body. But if the ketones get metabolised for energy, then I guess the urine shows none, in spite of being in ketosis. Hope I understood this right. I mean even if I eat something with a sweetener in the evening and I do have an insulin reaction, I don’t have any sugars for the insulin to work on? And last night I had nothing sweet at all because I didn’t feel like it ( oh wonder of wonders ) and still the keto stick was pale this morning. I just have to keep on keeping keto, and by later today the keto stick will show purple again. So this is the conclusion I come to from my own personal study of myself. LOL
Do you guys agree? Did it happen to you too?


(Jane Srygley) #8

I would recommend a Keto Mojo to measure blood ketones if this concerns you. The pee sticks really aren’t reliable. Dark purple can mean that you’re dehydrated. I quit using them when I learned how unreliable they are.


(Richard Hanson) #9

Chantarella,

My goal, and I will assume yours as well, was not to excrete ketones in my urine, it was to become keto adapted where my body is using ketones as a fuel.

Having no ketones in your urine is awesome for someone eating a ketogenic diet.

Congratulations!!!

I would recommend not bothering to test for ketones at all. Save the money on testing to spend on more butter.

Keto for Life,
Richard


#10

@FatMan
:rofl:
Guess I just found out how right you are!!!
After 2 months of eating keto I must finally becoming fat adapted! Hurray!


#11

@AuntJane
No not dehydrated. I used to be a diet coke fan. Not so much wine but a diet coke on the rocks. Yum. To compensate I now drink mineral water on the rocks with a touch of apple vinegar. It gives that sour twang on the sides of the mouth. But you have to dose it juuuuust right, otherwise it is more acidic than tastes good anymore. At least I dont miss the coke anymore. I did have a glass on New Years Eve as a treat and was disappointed because I had it a lot better in my memory. So no big loss.


(Jeff S) #12

My thing is mineral water with a touch of lemon juice. To my mouth it feels just like soda.


(Bunny) #13

That may mean your body is not over-producing ketones, it’s using them that’s why your not seeing any thing.

You might see something or trace with a blood meter.

Your probably no longer making lots of acetoacetate or acetone and more beta hydroxybutyrate or BHB.

There will come a point like after 6 months or sooner that you will be in ketosis and the urine strips will not show even a trace, it will be negative because your body is fully utilizing the oxidized fat for energy.


#14

@Backspin
Yeah lemon juice is good too. And ice. Anything to make the mineral water taste less BORING.


#15

The only time I’ve shown colors on theses strips is the morning after a night of drinking, which means that I was either very dehydrated, or that I was peeing ketones out because the wine the night before kicked me out of ketosis. In both cases, not something to be excited about… Ignore the strips!


(Rashmi Bhatt) #16

Please help…I am on my 32nd day of Keto. Have lost just 1 kg but I am feeling quite lightheaded. I am keeping my carbs below 20g. What can be the problem here…?


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #17

Welcome to the forums!

Lightheadedness is usually a sign of lack of salt. Other signs are headache and constipation. The kidneys excrete sodium more readily once we lower our carbohydrate intake and our insulin drops, and sodium is the key to regulating all the other electrolytes in the body. Various studies have shown that the healthiest sodium intake is in the range of 4-6 g/day, which translates to 10-15 g/day of sodium chloride (table salt). This includes salt already present in food.

So the first thing to try is to increase your salt intake. Once salt is in the right range, keeping the magnesium and potassium in the right range is easier, since the bodily mechanisms that regulate them are all interlocked.


#18

Eventually, you’ll ditch the pee sticks and, if you get one, the breathalyzer. The reality is that neither of those are very accurate, AND, more importantly, it doesn’t matter. If you stay low in your carbs (20 g), you’re doing it right and it will be reflected in how you feel, your weight, your size and a myriad of other factors. I did the exact same as you, and, eventually, I just stopped due to reasons above.