Sarah Howard
Sarah Howard (nee Tackett) has dedicated her career to supporting the T1D community ever since she was diagnosed with T1D while in college in May 2013. Since then, she has worked for various diabetes organizations, focusing on research, advocacy, and community-building efforts for people with T1D and their loved ones. Sarah is currently the Senior Marketing Manager at T1D Exchange.
Sarah and her husband live in NYC with their cat Gracie. In her spare time, she enjoys doing comedy, taking dance classes, visiting art museums, and exploring different neighborhoods in NYC.
I used to. It was also my blood glucose meter. But my insurance stopped covering that brand, so I switched to a different one that only tested blood glucose instead of glucose and ketones.
I didn’t know they exist.
I have never felt a need for one. I don’t do ketone tests at all after 65 years T1. I have never been hospitalized for anything relating to my diabetes.
Didn’t know this existed.
I have ketone strips for urine testing and they work just fine. In helping me know if I need to go to urgent care, etc
Wish I did
IMHO, ketone testing is a
IMHO, ketones is a superfluous measurement. If my blood sugar is high, I need insulin. If my blood sugar is _very_ high, I need _more_ insulin. Whether my ketones are high or not, I still need the same amount of insulin. The ketone measurement would not impact my treatment in any way. I would consider ketone testing to be appropriate in a clinical setting for someone in DKA.
I’ve been a Type 1 for over 50 years. I’ve never been in DKA. I no longer own anything to test ketones.
I agree with both of your posts.
Somewhere. But no strips. And I have never figured out when I am supposed to use it.
No and and I haven’t tested for ketones in over 30 years. I used to keep ketone strips on hand but I rarely ever used them. However, for urgent care testing for ketones is useful to determine clinical medical information.
I didn’t know this existed. My doctor is the head of endocrinology for a major teaching hospital. If he thought it was necessary, I would have it.
I didn’t know a ketone blood meter existed.
Didn’t know there was one.
I can tell I have ketones because I get very nauseous, fast beating heart and my chest, throat, face get red and itchy, but not all the symptoms happened all the time.
It has happened at different times in my life but not often.
I recently began playing Pickleball and in about a month is happened twice. The problem is that my sugar goes on the low side from the exercise, the pump shuts off my basal, and exercise needs insulin to burn off carbs, so with no enough insulin my body starts burning off fat and it gives the keystones.
I don’t like this situation and have sent a message to my endocrinologist asking for a solution to this problem. I never been hospitalized for DKA and wouldn’t like this to happen.
I do keep strips and check for it if I have any symptoms. At least I can confirm what the reason is for my feeling sick and I can try to find a solution to this particular problem.
Yes, I have one. I joined a year-long Medtronic trial for the 670G system and they gave me the one I have along with the strips. They were insistent that if my BG was higher than 250, I was to test and treat. I could be kicked out of the trial if I got DKA.
No, insurance doesn’t cover the meter or strips. In 67years with T1D I’ve never been in DKA.
I bought one when I found out they now have blood meters. The urine strips would always expire before I used any. However, I haven’t used the blood meter either. Fortunately I very rarely need to test ketones.
Yes, but I rarely use it and I suspect my straps have expired.
No. Last year I bought urine ketone strips for the first time in decades and they’ve probably already expired. I have a CGM so I know when my BG is getting high and if it doesn’t make sense, I change my infusion set. My BG rarely goes above 180 because I keep an eye on my CGM.
Never heard of such a thing!
I do only because my endocrinologist ordered it for me, without me knowing; when I started chemo and huge doses of steroids. Otherwise I wouldn’t. When I worked in the hospital we did, mostly used them in the trauma center/ER.
I never hear of a ketone blood meter. I use ketone test strips about once or twice a year. They are outdated again. I needed them this month. I used the outdated ones.
I have never owned a ketone meter as I rarely go so high that I feel the need to test for keytones. Long ago when I did urine strip testing for glucose (before glucose meters became the norm for testing blood sugar) I also did ketone testing if my urine test result was high (bright red–250+).
The Freestyle Libre readers have a ketone meter built in, though I’ve never purchased any strips to use it. I just use the readers for my glucose sensors.
The do everywhere except in the US. In the US, the place one would use to test for ketones will only work for testing blood sugar levels using strips.