Keto-Mojo Flashing HI

(Nickie) #1

I am 72 hours into a fast and when testing my ketones I received a HI flashing message. Has anyone experienced this before? I’m a little worried and wondering if I should break my fast.
Thanks in advance!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

We have been having a spate of threads like this in the past couple of days. I wonder what’s going on.

You are experiencing the “ketosis of fasting.” If your pancreas is functional, you have no need to worry about diabetic ketoacidosis. In any case, while ketoacidosis is diagnosed at levels of 10.0 or above, symptoms don’t generally start to appear until serum β-hydroxybutyrate reaches 20.0. This should be explained in the manual to your meter.

Since your name makes me think you might be a woman, I will note that there is a condition called eugylcaemic ketoacidosis, which can happen to pregnant or lactating women on a ketogenic diet when they fast. It can also happen to people taking certain medications, such as SGLT-2 inhibitors, but if that applies to you, your doctor should have warned you about it.

The distinguishing feature between diabetic ketoacidosis and euglycaemic ketoacidosis is that in the former condition glucose rises abnormally along with ketones, whereas in the latter glucose remains normal.

(Nickie) #3

Thanks for your response. I am T2 but my glucose is 71 right now. Not pregnant or lactating.
It is so strange because I have been on 10 day fasts and have never gotten this high before. I guess I will keep going until Friday as planned unless I feel unwell.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

There is a video of Dr. Phinney talking to the audience at a Low-Carb Down Under event a few years ago, in which he asks people what was the highest ketone level they’d ever seen. I seem to remember one guy saying that he had once reached 12 (or possibly even 14), and Dr. Phinney didn’t seem fazed by it at all.

(Nickie) #5

Ok Thanks. That makes me feel a lot better.