Gestational diabetes and ketones ?

funnythingsthathappen · 2022-04-02T18:22:12+00:00

Sorry for posting here.. I am hydrated and well fed. My blood sugars have been a bit high, as I've been unwell the last couple of days. I can't seem to get my ketone urine strips to go light. They're very dark, no matter how much I'm eating and drinking. I was in triage yesterday and had baby checked as well as myself. As sugars were high and lots of ketones in urine. I'm also measuring big. Baby fine on monitor. Still moving plenty. But these ketones seem to be hanging around. Does anyone have any knowledge of what I should do ? I don't want to call and just be told to get a grip. Not sure if I should just stop worrying about it.. sugars were still higher today than they should be. What does it actually mean when you have GD and ketones? Despite being well fed and well watered ?

dangermouseisace · 02/04/2022 19:38

Dunno about GD but I know about high BG and ketones, as I have a type 1 son. High BG and ketones means that your body is not able to covert the glucose in your blood into energy. The ketones are produced because your body thinks it's starving. With my son, this is a serious situation as the blood can become acidic. Do you feel ok? If you get a stomach ache, or start vomiting it's an emergency situation (ketoacidosis). Though, TBH I’d suggest getting checked out before then and ask to speak to someone who actually knows about diabetes. Mention concerns about diabetic ketoacidosis.

Thisisbatshit · 02/04/2022 19:42

Go to the Gestational Diabetes UK website it is brilliant and has a fantastic Facebook group with great support and people who can answer your questions.

Original poster

funnythingsthathappen · 02/04/2022 19:45

Thanks !! I will go to the website as I just don't get it.

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JustOneMoreStep · 02/04/2022 19:45

Are you being treated for the GD? Or just diet managed? I'm on insulin 4x daily for GD to prevent keytone but I dont routinely test keytones, in fact they are on tested in clinic. I test my blood sugars though.

Isonthecase · 02/04/2022 19:49

Ketones can also be due to a b12 deficiency, as I discovered last pregnancy. Not sure on the details as I was a bit out of it. Worth going back to triage and asking for bloods.

Original poster

funnythingsthathappen · 02/04/2022 19:50

@JustOneMoreStep

Are you being treated for the GD? Or just diet managed? I'm on insulin 4x daily for GD to prevent keytone but I dont routinely test keytones, in fact they are on tested in clinic. I test my blood sugars though.

No I've literally found out only this week ! So they just said control with diet. I randomly tested with the urine sticks because the doctor tested yesterday and I had some at home and thought I should have a look. But no one told me I needed to do it. So probably driving myself crazy for nothing.

I have the ketosis strips as I suffered from severe vomiting in my pregnancy and used to check because I was chronically dehydrated.

As you can tell, I've had a fun pregnancy.....

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imeanwhy · 02/04/2022 19:53

Have they booked you with a GD nurse/dietician? They should be able to give you some information on what to eat/ not eat. Ketones means you need carbs and you are not getting enough, although you need to up them carefully to not raise your blood sugar levels. With GD some times it depends on the person which carbs are tolerated better. Do some carefulexperiments to identify groups of food that work better for you. Good luck oP! And always call somebody if in doubt. They are always pleased to help

Rowgtfc72 · 02/04/2022 19:56

I had GD and just tested my blood sugars. I was on insulin 3x a day and my sugars were usually high in an evening. Perhaps ask your doctor about ketones? I just had to check in with my doc every now and then for a urine dip. How high are your sugars? Dietician wanted mine around 4 which was just not doable.

Original poster

funnythingsthathappen · 02/04/2022 19:57

@imeanwhy

Have they booked you with a GD nurse/dietician? They should be able to give you some information on what to eat/ not eat. Ketones means you need carbs and you are not getting enough, although you need to up them carefully to not raise your blood sugar levels. With GD some times it depends on the person which carbs are tolerated better. Do some carefulexperiments to identify groups of food that work better for you. Good luck oP! And always call somebody if in doubt. They are always pleased to help

Yeah I've had quite a lot of carbs you see. So I just don't get it !i had whole meal toast for breakfast and some rice for lunch. Together with protein etc. as advised.

I've also drink almost 2 litres of water today. But when I pee on the stick, it's still mostly dark purple ! Blood sugar is slightly higher than should be, but not extreme.

I am just waiting to test again after dinner.

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Original poster

funnythingsthathappen · 02/04/2022 19:59

@Rowgtfc72

I had GD and just tested my blood sugars. I was on insulin 3x a day and my sugars were usually high in an evening. Perhaps ask your doctor about ketones? I just had to check in with my doc every now and then for a urine dip. How high are your sugars? Dietician wanted mine around 4 which was just not doable.

They want between 4-7.7 an hour after each meal..

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Lb603 · 02/04/2022 20:11

I found this website really useful when I had GD in my pregnancy....the NHS meal advice doesn't always work for GD.

www.gestationaldiabetes.co.uk/

Also it may be you won't manage with diet control and they may need to medicate to help control your sugars. I think its metformin first then insulin. Do you have an appointment with the gd team booked in? They delt with me not my gp- so all at the hospitalp, every 2 weeks I'd see a gd nurse, midwife, dietitian, and consultant.

Original poster

funnythingsthathappen · 02/04/2022 20:27

@Lb603

I found this website really useful when I had GD in my pregnancy....the NHS meal advice doesn't always work for GD.

www.gestationaldiabetes.co.uk/

Also it may be you won't manage with diet control and they may need to medicate to help control your sugars. I think its metformin first then insulin. Do you have an appointment with the gd team booked in? They delt with me not my gp- so all at the hospitalp, every 2 weeks I'd see a gd nurse, midwife, dietitian, and consultant.

Thanks for the link.

It's really strange because I hardly had any high readings and didn't have to change much about my diet at all. Then I got some sort of flu and a fever a couple of days ago and now it's all over the place and the ketones are high too. But I've drunk and eaten loads !

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Vanillaradio · 02/04/2022 20:43

Disclaimer-I'm a type 1 diabetic and know very little about gd specifically and have no idea about managing with diet
But illness has a huge tendency to raise your blood sugar levels. Mine shoot up when I'm ill and I got ketone very quickly. Pregnancy also means you get them quickly.
Eating lots of carbs will also raise your blood sugar levels. Ketones will develop if your blood sugar levels are too high for too long. So eating lots of carbs where your blood sugar and ketones are high is likely to make them worse .
I think you need to talk to someone and look at whether just diet is enough to manage your gs- it sounds like maybe not.

Darkstar4855 · 02/04/2022 21:07

It may be that you need to start insulin. Insulin converts the sugar in your blood to energy. If you are insulin deficient/resistant then the sugar builds up in your blood and your body makes energy from fat/protein instead which produces ketones. If your ketones and blood sugar are running high then you probably need to get seen by antenatal clinic or your GP.

JustOneMoreStep · 02/04/2022 21:12

When you were diagnosed they should have given you a clinic to contact. I'd ring them first thing in the morning and get some advice. As someone else mentioned it's likely they will start you on a drug called metformin. If you don't have a contact for the diabetic clinic then call your midwife first thing, explain you're worried and need advice/assessment urgently. In the meantime lay off the carbs and drink plenty of water. I'm willing to bet that you've freaked yourself out testing for ketones which is unnecessary.

Featuredcreature · 02/04/2022 21:19

I had gd with my youngest son and obviously took it really seriously, I was on insulin and logging my blood sugars 4 times a day. My bloods were often really high on a morning, but I think maybe because I was overweight my ketones on a night time were always ++++. The consultant told me to eat malt loaf with lots of butter before bed . I did follow his advice because it was delicious however didn't seem to make much difference. Ds2 was born via elcs at 8lb something, despite being predicted to be 10lb +. I lost at least 2 stone whilst pregnant, I could not avoid this whilst still following the low gi index diet recommended.

Featuredcreature · 02/04/2022 21:29

I have also ended up with type 2 diabetes, it was fairly predictable. Ds2 who I had the confirmed gestational diabetes is now 12. I'm pretty sure I had borderline gd with Ds1, i passed the test, but had mega polyhydramnios, the surgeon said it was like a paddling pool in there

Original poster

funnythingsthathappen · 02/04/2022 21:42

Super weird guys. My blood sugar after dinner was 6, which is fine. But the stick is still really dark. I'll call them in the morning.

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EcoCustard · 02/04/2022 21:51

I had GD in 3 of my 4 pregnancies. I only ever had ketones in pregnancy one and I also had HG in that one. In my experience any cold, bug or feeling rubbish used to play havoc with my blood sugar readings after, then they would settle. I didn’t regularly test my ketones though. I would also avoid the NHS diet advice for GD it’s awful. Avoid rice, toast and potatoes and exercise after a meal, walk, gentle cycle, anything you can. You should have regular clinic appointments with the diabetes nurses and a consultant mine were fortnightly where my readings were analysed. The link above is great and their Facebook page was a great group of information, support and advice.

Bitconfusedhmm · 03/04/2022 00:07

I’ve got gd and have never tested once for ketones. Didn’t for any of my other gd pregnancies either, I think you’re worrying for nothing with those

However, if your blood sugars are still high once you’ve got over your illness, it’s likely you aren’t able to manage the diabetes purely with by diet and will need metformin or insulin. Call the diabetes clinic and discuss your readings with them - the blood sugars, not the ketones.