Ketones?

Juliebird8307

Has anyone else had positive ketones? The past two days mind have come back 'moderate'. I googled, but I'm not quite sure what this means. I thought my dietician said that it meant I wasn't getting enough calories. Can anyone offer any advise or thoughts on this?

Edit: the more I'm googling, the more confused I am. My numbers have been high, but not that high. I'm supposed to be under 120 one hour after meals. When I've been over, I'm usully only in the lower 120s. I'm over once or twice a day still learning what I can/can't eat. Also, I check for ketones in the morning, and my fasting numbers have all been good.

elishabelle

It was explained to me as not having enough carbs in your system if you tested above trace. After a week of negative/trace tests the Dr. told me to just test once a week.

Juliebird8307

Hmm I'm not sure how I would add carbs and stay below 120.

manditxg

the point of testing for ketones is to make sure you are getting enough carbs.  if you are not getting enough carbs your body will burn fat and muscle for energy and that's not what you want.  

 

if you are not eating the recommended amount of carbs right now, you need to start even if you go over on your numbers.  if you are consistently over then you will have to go on medication but you don't want to do anything harmful by cutting carbs too much!

 

if you are eating what they recommend for carbs then call your doctor or dietician. 

Juliebird8307

manditxg:

the point of testing for ketones is to make sure you are getting enough carbs. nbsp;if you are not getting enough carbs your body will burn fat and muscle for energy and that's not what you want. nbsp;nbsp;if you are not eating the recommended amount of carbs right now, you need to start even if you go over on your numbers. nbsp;if you are consistently over then you will have to go on medication but you don't want to do anything harmful by cutting carbs too much!nbsp;if you are eating what they recommend for carbs then call your doctor or dietician.nbsp;

That's great news :. I won't talk to my doctor until Monday. I'm eating the amout of carbs that were recommended. Sometimes I'm slightly over, most of the time I'm not. I guess I'll be on medication soon because I know I'll be over if I add carbs :

manditxg

Juliebird8307:

manditxg:

the point of testing for ketones is to make sure you are getting enough carbs. nbsp;if you are not getting enough carbs your body will burn fat and muscle for energy and that's not what you want. nbsp;nbsp;if you are not eating the recommended amount of carbs right now, you need to start even if you go over on your numbers. nbsp;if you are consistently over then you will have to go on medication but you don't want to do anything harmful by cutting carbs too much!nbsp;if you are eating what they recommend for carbs then call your doctor or dietician.nbsp;

That's great news :. I won't talk to my doctor until Monday. I'm eating the amout of carbs that were recommended. Sometimes I'm slightly over, most of the time I'm not. I guess I'll be on medication soon because I know I'll be over if I add carbs :

 

good luck on monday!  I only had one moderate ketone reading so I retested and it was 0 so I think I had a bad strip.  sorry I can't help further.  hopefully it's just a diet change.  

DFico21

This was exactly the question I was just going to post!  I had a moderate reading this morning and am waiting for a call back from my doctor.  My numbers have all been great but I think sometimes my night snack is not high enough carbs.  I'm going to up it tonight and see how I do.  I typically get 8.5 hours of sleep a night so maybe that is just too long for my body unless I have a higher carb snack?

Juliebird8307

DFico21 said:

This was exactly the question I was just going to post!  I had a moderate reading this morning and am waiting for a call back from my doctor.  My numbers have all been great but I think sometimes my night snack is not high enough carbs.  I'm going to up it tonight and see how I do.  I typically get 8.5 hours of sleep a night so maybe that is just too long for my body unless I have a higher carb snack?

What did your doctor say about it?  I told mine that it seemed to happen when I woke up hungry and thought I needed to eat more at night.  She said to try that this week.  But I did and it didn't seem to help.

memali26

A moderate reading just once probably isn't much to worry about. I was told to call if I had more than two readings above trace in a week, otherwise I could just wait and report it at my appt.

I was spilling ketones in my second pregnancy, so they had me carb load at my bedtime snack. I was eating 45-60g carbs before bed. I was already on insulin (rapid during the day, slow at bedtime) so we just increased my dose accordingly. 

Also, being dehydrated can cause your ketone readings to be higher. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water, in addition to enough carbs and protein.

Juliebird8307

memali26 said:

A moderate reading just once probably isn't much to worry about. I was told to call if I had more than two readings above trace in a week, otherwise I could just wait and report it at my appt.

I was spilling ketones in my second pregnancy, so they had me carb load at my bedtime snack. I was eating 45-60g carbs before bed. I was already on insulin (rapid during the day, slow at bedtime) so we just increased my dose accordingly. 

Also, being dehydrated can cause your ketone readings to be higher. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water, in addition to enough carbs and protein.

I've had a trace to moderate pretty much every day for the last week. I'm not on medication so I'm not sure what to do. I'm trying to add more carbs today hoping I can keep my numbers where they need to be and see how that effects my ketones tomorrow.