Ketosis in a non Fat Adapted, causes Nausea and sugar lows?

#1

The quick question is that my kid has not been eating due to an illness and is in ketosis (urine strips). The pediatrician is pushing food on him because she says he will be nauseous. She claims ketosis will cause that in someone who is not fat adapted. She was pushing sugar because otherwise his glucose levels will get low and he will also feel sicker and will be even less inclined to eat.

Not a newbie but one of my preteens is sick with some type of stomach ailment. He is an otherwise healthy kid whose stomach has been bothering him for a week. After an X ray and a sonogram no one can figure out what it is but do not seem to think it is anything serious. This kid needs to lose 15 lbs, eats a partially Sad diet (not going to debate that) although I do not provide as many carbs as we used to and would normally have a 3rd helping of whatever was available. In contrast today he ate a chicken nugget and that is it the entire time and keeps saying he is not hungry. After eating one chicken nugget he gave the rest to the dogs. While in the ER they did a urine test and he is in ketosis. I think this accounts for part of his lack of hunger and do not see why he needs to eat. My pediatrician is not particularly enlightened about diet and I am well aware but I honestly do not need that except when the advice is simply silly

(Consensus is Politics) #2

I’ll be frank, because this sounds like it could be serious. Please forgive me if I sound, distant or cold.

Please clear up your question. It’s dificult to tell if you are saying the kid(s) are on a Keto diet. It sounds to me as if they might be quasi-Keto, but not really there. Eating too many carbs to get into or stay in Ketosis.

If the child feeling ill is in Keto, it could be an electrolyte problem. Keto strips detect ketones, but they detect other things too. I don’t know what else off top of my head, I just know they do.

If you could give more info. Keep it organized, try to keep it in a timeline. Don’t worry about being “too verbose”. I myself tend to do it all the time, and I still get the intermittent ‘like’ or positive comments. Define what you mean by “in Ketosis “ as in on purpose, or that the nurse/dietitian says it’s Ketosis because of the Test strip, they should be doing blood work ups. See if you can get a copy of the blood work.

#3

Thank you for your reply.

My son is not intentionally eating a keto diet and would not encourage him to under most circumstance since he is about to enter a big growth spurt and height is not something our family is blessed with.

He normally eats Sad and I am ok with that. He is a heavy kid and in general I try to limit extra helping (beyond 2) and encourage him to wait before taking more. I make very little carbage so at most it is a small side. I do not plan to have him go keto until he is done growing in 5 years.

Since last Saturday his stomach has been bothering him. As a result he is not eating almost at all. When they did labs in the ER they found he was in ketosis based on urine.

He has seen his pediatrician twice and saw about 8 different doctors in the ER and had a whole bunch of imaging done and nothing conclusive showed up except for some lymph nodes in his stomach (not considered serious) and some constipation. He has a gastro appointment next week.

Since he is not eating due to his stomach, he seems to naturally be going into ketosis. This does not bother me but it bothered my pediatrician who we saw today. She claimed ketosis will add to his stomach upset by causing nausea, she also claimed he needed sugar since he is not eating and his blood sugar will otherwise stay low and he will continue to be sick.

I think this is bs (although I did have some bouts of nausea at the beginning), so my question is, is it BS (the nausea, not the sugar which I know without a doubt is BS)? I think it probably would not hurt him to stay in ketosis until he is ready to eat again (to be honest this kid has never skipped a meal so this is concerning to me) but I would like him to pass some of that stool he seems to be hanging on to and possibly eating may get his bowels moving so that he is able to

(Consensus is Politics) #4

I keep getting stuck on them saying he is in Ketosis after only one week. I would expect it to take longer, but I’m no expert either. Nor am I a doctor, not even close (though my mom keeps telling me I should be🙄). So don’t give any weight to my thoughts more than the doctors. They see him. They have ideas of what’s going on. They may even be thinking several diagnosis’ simultaneously. As much grief as I give doctors, when it comes to them diagnosing an issue, I listen closely, even take notes. And I don’t envy them for the position they are in.

If he isn’t diabetic, the sugar shouldn’t hurt. It might even loosen his bowels.

[slighty graphic description follows. You have been warned]

A couple of years ago, a friends 9 yr old had an impaction (sp?). She hadn’t had a BM in nearly two weeks, and she wasn’t interested in eating at all. The gave her something to drink to make it move. When the movement happened, it was comical. The poor girl spent hours in the bathroom. It was seriously scary at first because she cried, she had to go, but couldn’t. She was in pain. The impaction passed, and the dam broke. She was back to normal in just a few hours. [I decided to leave out the funny part, it was also disgusting, even that is TMI, sorry]

#5

Interesting, so it may be constipation. If it is it will be one of the most expensive bowel movements ever as our insurance is pathetic so I shudder at the bill I will get. They said the xray showed an impressive amount waiting to come out. So far it has not even on miralax and other things. He gets loose stools but I have a feeling that whatever is blocking is still there. I gave him some sweetened hot coca with sugar and cream. I hoping either the sugar or cream helps get things moving

Kids can go in and out of ketosis very quickly in a way that adults cannot because they are much more insulin sensitive. They determined he was in ketosis based on his urine. They were not looking for that, more checking to see if his urine showed anything like protein which would indicate bacteria