Thank you all for your input on this post!

I can see how back to back could be confusing. I thought about it after!! LOL Let say I check Tristan at noon and he’s 345, I correct and then I check him again at 2 or 3pm and he’s at 305, well that would qualify for back to back checks with high number. We would check ketones.

Hope that is clarifies a little bit. Sorry for the confusion.

@Rachel – Thanks for the comment. I think the common theme is to push liquids and no exercise until things are under control.

@Scott – That’s scary stuff. I’ve had very high blood sugar numbers in the upper 400s and have never been to the point where I couldn’t keep liquids down. Thanks for the info and comment!

@Jill – I believe the ketone strips I have now are the foil wrapped ones, which is a good thing. Like you said, I would open a bottle (old style) and they would expire before I used more than a few. Thanks for the comment!

When Kacey was on shots, we had to test for ketones when she had 2 back to back readings of 300+ and now that she is on the pump, we have to test when we get anything over 250.

Another thing to consider is foil wrapped ketostix instead of a whole bottle. Once you open the bottle, they are like insulin and only good for 30 days. You may only have to test 2-3 times in 30 days and then you’ve wasted the whole bottle. We got the foil wrapped ones and now we use them as we need them.

Thankfully we haven’t had ketones since she was diagnosed. She got the flu and was really sick a few weeks ago and instead of her blood sugars going up…they plummeted and she never did get ketones. LOL…weird little body she has

This is wonderful information though Thanks!

If I can drink water and keep it down, I can usually deal ok.

I’ve experienced ketones from two things. One, like you mentioned was from exercising, and it makes a bit of sense. When your body turns to fatty sources for fuel, one of the byproducts is ketones. I like to be aware of them because I get more resistant to my insulin with ketones in my body. The other time I dealt with ketones was from something going wrong with my insulin and I had to go in to the hospital to be rehydrated and get cleared out.

Great post on a topic that we’ve all heard about, but like you experienced may not know what to do!

I also believe it is much different with children, especially when they are sick, as Rachel mentioned.

Lots of fluid is very important. Keep in mind also that if it’s due to illness and the person won’t eat, it’s important for them to drink stuff with carbohydrate so that they have to give themselves insulin. For example, Tristan is currently sick, he’s not eating, high blood sugar and ketones moderate to large. We were told by his diabetes team to push liquids, try to get him to eat but if he won’t, apple/orange juice so that we have to give him insulin.

The no exercise is also very important. Great post!