Ketone strips

(Shona) #1

Hi all I have a kinda situation hoping someone can tell me if I should be concerned I was diagnosed with type 2 3 weeks ago and decided keto might help.Bought some urine test strips today and the directions say a high level is dangerous for a diabetic. Now I don’t know what to do.I’m 62 and have almost no appetite caused by depression When I do eat I make sure it’s a carb and a protein and a fat but cal all my macros are below what I should be eating. Any advise would be appreciated

(Full Metal KETO AF) #2

Dietary ketosis is safe. The danger spoken of is ketoacidosis. That applies to T1 diabetics only. In fact those sticks are designed for T1 diabetics to warn them that higher ketones are developing. This means they haven’t been using enough or any insulin usually. Sometimes T1 folks will intentionally not use insulin to lose weigh since insulin causes weight gain. That lets blood sugar build up until an acidic condition exists. It doesn’t get really bad until close to 20.0 from what I hear after that you’ll die. But that’s T1 and not you. You will not develop ketoacidosis from dietary ketosis. Not gonna happen, so you can relax Shona. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Shona) #3

Thanx for setting my mind at ease .And nice to know the diet is working.Weight lose has stopped after losing 15 in 3 weeks.Maybe now my body will start healing itself. Urine stix are reading moderate this morning. The dark purple scared me lol

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #4

Weight loss will likely start and stop for no apparent reasons. But your body is healing. Look for NSV - Non-Scale Victories. Smaller dress sizes, more energy, less hunger, etc.

Welcome to this way of life.

You will hear about people that loss weight more easily than others. It is not a weight stall unless your weight is flat longer than 8 weeks.

(Rebecca 🌸 Frankenfluffy) #5

I’ve heard of this, sadly, and it’s something that is sometimes talked about at my type 1 diabetes check-ups. It’s a devastating mental health condition called ‘diabulimia’ - people stop taking their insulin in order to lose weight, and can very very quickly find themselves potentially in a similarly life-threatening state to their pre-diagnosis state.

Type 1s can lose weight extraordinarily quickly - and the risk of death is significant - if not treated with insulin. I lost 2 stone in 6 weeks pre-diagnosis (28 pounds - and that’s a lot for a prepubescent 11-year-old child as I was at the time), despite being ravenously hungry and eating a huge amount of food as my body seemed to be eating itself alive.

I’ve never suffered DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) since my diagnosis, and although I am in ketosis with this WOE I am absolutely certain that this ‘dietary’ ketosis is no harm to me at all.

Bad luck with your type 2 diagnosis - I’m sorry to hear that.

A ketogenic diet does not cause ketoacidosis, but ketosis. It is my understanding that ketoacidosis is only at risk of developing if you are producing zero insulin of your own and are taking no - or far too little - exogenous insulin to treat it (ie if you are an untreated type 1).

@Kittykatz please don’t worry about this. Ketone strips are intended for monitoring diabetes patients, that’s fine - but that’s why there’s the warning on them about high ketones being dangerous for diabetics, because heck, that’s what type 1s are using the sticks to test for. But they’re not talking about ketosis, they’re talking about diabetic ketoacidosis, which as I say, is a type 1 risk.

As a type 1 I very occasionally use ketone sticks, for instance if I have an infection (leading to uncontrollably high blood glucose) or if I have an insulin pump failure (ditto). It is important that I can test for ketones so I know to head off a medical emergency.

(Disclaimer: The above in my own understanding of it. I am not a doctor.)

:slightly_smiling_face:

(Joey) #6

Everything said about not worrying about ketoacidosis (unless someone is a Type 1 diabetic) is entirely accurate. I’ll simply add that those urine test strips will likely begin to disappoint you at some point when you get far enough into your body adapting to burning fat instead of carbs.

At that point, there will be less ketones excreted in your urine - because your body is becoming more efficient (i.e., not wasting ketones!) … so it will appear that you are falling out of ketosis based on the urine test results.

Most folks who start out using the ketone urine strips simply give up as they cease to be a useful indication of ketosis after a while. Do not despair… if/when this happens, it will be the strips’ ability to detect what’s going on inside you that is no longer showing up in the urine. It is not anything you’re doing wrong in keeping the carbs out of your system - assuming you are still doing so :wink:

Congrats on taking these important steps. And best wishes! :+1:

(Shona) #7

That was going to be my next question. Thanx for the heads up .When the keystones disappear I am getting better. I won’t stop low carb. I have a real fear of insulin needles