Sarah Howard
Sarah Howard has worked in the diabetes research field 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.
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Have you ever experienced elevated ketones without high blood glucose levels? Cancel reply
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Many years ago I used to be a bit of a fitness ‘freak’, and one of the sports that I used to participate in was boxing. I used to ‘starve’ myself purposely to keep my weight down so that I could meet the requirements for the weight category that I used to box in. This resulted in ketone production as my body would deliberately break down fat reserves in order to ‘feed’ me.
I have never had a problem with ketones. I was even given ketone sticks to test. Even when my sugar was high for a few days. This was an indication that I had some kind of virus or some other infection
I was on Jardiance…while on a pump…I am type 1. I started spilling ketones after taking it a few years. My Dr took me off immediately.
Yes, it is called nutritional ketosis resulting from a low carbohydrate diet.
isnt this what killed karen carpenter?
Hi Christina –
No. What killed Karen Carpenter was Anorexia – which is, basically, not eating at all… no or too low of a caloric intake.
A low carb diet does not preclude caloric intake from non-starchy vegetables or meat or fat.
A low carb diet means the person is avoiding breads, fruits, starches and pastas also.
I hope this information helps!
i would not know….not something I am concerned with.
I just don’t know.
Not without any kind of high, but the one time I had ketones that landed me in the hospital my sugar was not super high, high 200s.
My endocrinologist told me not to bother testing for ketones even from an occasional high blood glucose. Probably on my lab tests. No one ever said anything.
Don think. Been a long while since I’ve checked for ketones. At what bs reading do people check for ketones.
I know many people have been told to test if sugar levels go above 250, but not sure if that is what the people who are answering in this survey do.
I’ve never had high ketones, regardless of BG level.
I have no idea. I don’t test for them.
I’ve never tested for ketones. So far my doctor has not required it.
My endo never asked me to test or provided me with an Rx for test strips.
I put no, but I don’t ever measure ketones so I don’t really know.
I answered other. I have only tested for them a couple of times and found normal levels. The strips are usually expired whenever I try to test. It is sort of useless in my opinion, unless your glucose levels are really out of of control.
This question is automatically and inherently biased, though, because we Type 1s are taught to not even check ketones unless glucose levels are above 250 mg/dL. So – One of the answer choices should be “I don’t know”.
When I was first diagnosed I was told to check for keytones every so often. And when I tried a somewhat ketogenic diet I had to test my levels everyday to make sure I wasn’t making way to many keytones. I think the healthcare for type 1 diabetes is so… in progress that different professionals have different understandings of treatment.
My husband was in post-op after surgery and nursing care was thin. I wasn’t on the pump at the time and had BGs in the 150-170s for several hours. Waiting on training for wound care delayed my meal so I was very dehydrated after waiting all day at the hospital. That evening, I went into ketoacidosis even though my BGs were still in the 170s.
Happens almost everyday due to the current diet that I’m on.
Ooh, that doesn’t sound good. Maybe the diet needs to change in some way.
Whenever I go low carb I make keytones too, people always think keytones are bad but they aren’t they are also a sign that your body is burnin fat for fuel instead of carbs or sugar.
Why would I even check for ketones unless my BG was high? Maybe it I was feeling dreadful, but so far that hasn’t happened.
Some people produce keytones more easily than others. I think mostly due to diet, hydration,and activity. I did a somewhat ketogenic diet for awhile and produced a lot of keytones most of the time, my blood sugars were always on the lower side tho.
Only once – it was after surgery – My body didn’t ‘like’ the anesthesia, so had to be kept overnight after a ‘day surgery’ as my heart rhythm became erratic…. I couldn’t eat due to extreme nausea, and thus ketones made an appearance (as explained by the doctor).
Back in the test tape days I tested for ketones when my urine tested very high glucose. Haven’t tested for ketones since I first started using a blood glucose meter in the early 80s.
I said other because I’ve never felt sick enough to check for ketones and my Endo never says anything about it.
I put No, but I’ve also never checked unless my BG is high and I’m feeling unwell.
N/a…in 15 yrs it has never come up. Never checked. Is treatment for high ketones different than treating high blood glucose? When high I try to quickly correct to low normal. Assumed that was all that was needed. That said I do use Keto diet at times.
I don’t really know what ketones are, so I put “other”
While in the hospital recovering from surgery, I had keto acidosis. My sugars were high the whole time I was in the hospital and I kept telling them I needed more but they just didn’t seem to listen. My sugars weren’t astronomically high, but even staying between 200 and 250 the whole week I was there was enough to put me over the edge into keto acidosis.
Yea I actually went into dka without having a high blood sugar. It was frustrating in the hospital a lot of the doctors and nurses didn’t understand that dka happens when you don’t have any insulin in your body regardless of blood glucose levels. I was luck my endocrinologist was on a shift at the hospital and was able to come in and lay down some education not just for me but also for the other medical staff.
The wording doesn’t allow answers like having never experienced ketones or measuring ketones even though having T1d for 3 decades
I was breathing out and urinating ketones when I first became T1D. Within a week my observant mom had me seeing an endocrinologist. That’s the only time. And I have checked for ketones over the years. I felt so much better after starting insulin. But I’m on a low carb diet now and may go ketogenic. Keto acidosis from high bg = very bad. But keto acidosis from ketogenic diet may not be so harmful & there may be some real advantages. I’m open to trying it.