Keystones in urine, how likely is it diabetes?

[WingingItWith3InTow]

Hi,

First time poster here so please forgive me any mistakes xx

I’ve just taken my middle child to the gp as he has started losing control of his bladder. He’s 7. It’s been happening on and of over the last year. He’ll wet his pants or wake up having wet the bed 2/3 times a week. I thought it might be a phase but it’s been going on a while so I took him to the gp as he’s scared he’ll do it at school.

They tested him for a urine infection but that came back negative. They said his keystones were raised so they’d like to send him for a blood test for diabetes. I didn’t really worry thinking surely it won’t be that but then I googled 🙈🙈 dangerous I know.

He drinks ridiculous amounts but he always has and he does get tummy aches once or twice a week but we thought that might be allergies as the gp wasn’t interested at all when we asked about them before.

Can you have raised keystones in your urine and it be normal?

Thank you xxx

Mine were raised during pregnancy because I eat low sugar. They sent me for two glucose tests and all was fine. Ketones can be naturally produced during a ketogenic diet is that a possibility?

To clarify you can go into ketosis by not eating carbs/sugar or during fasting. I would think that very active people would also start producing ketones when they switch to fat burning after using their stored energy from carbs but I don't know much about that. Ketones themselves are a perfectly natural fuel that the body produces from fat. Yes its a flag for diabetes but could have other causes that arnt serious including your son just not eating much that day.

Hi,

He just eats like a normal 7 year old. He’d had pasta at school for lunch and had haribos in the car in the way to the gps as it was someone’s birthday at school and they were giving them out. Would sugar just before the urine sample raise them?
As you can tell I’m clueless 🙈
My dads diabetic and I really don’t want it for my little boy. Obviously no parent would 😩

If he had diabetes causing enough trouble to give him ketones in his urine, I would have expected him to also have glucose in his urine. Did they mention anything about that? Definitely best to make sure with a blood test - I trust that's happening soon?

I don't know about the timing on how long ketones stay in the urine. I'm hoping someone more qualified regarding diabetes will come on. Is he very active?

Hi, they didn’t say anything regarding glucose so I’m hoping it’s just a normal thing for an active 7 year old then x

Thank you for you help xx

He’s a normal active 7 year old and had been in school so I’m guessing he’d been running around with his friends at lunch and things x

I do intermittent fasting and go to the gym before eating to burn fat rather than cards. I had no idea this was to do with keytones 😂🙈

Maybe he was just hungry when he did the test

I'm sorry to tell you he has all the signs of diabetes and if there are ketones in his urine that is very serious. It is absolutely not something to wait on. Your child could become dangerously unwell very fast. Please bring them to A+E to have a finger prick test done. I am a mother of a child with Type 1 diabetes and ketones are an emergency situation. He could go into DKA with is an emergency and could end up in intensive care or a coma. Please please do not wait. My child showed those symptoms for only a couple of weeks and we were told he was very lucky not to be in DKA when he was admitted to hospital. As you say nobody wants that for their child but equally you can't wait and see him in intensive care for weeks either.

I also meant to say we took our child to the GP and were told it was a kidney infection but were also told there was glucose in the urine. We went home with antibiotics trusting the GP knew what they were doing.
When I told the diabetic consultant in the hospital they were very angry about it. All the GP had to do was a simple finger prick test for blood glucose and ketones.

Has he had the blood test? Either way chase for it or chase the results.

I was waiting for blood tests and told I had wait in the queue as they was only testing urgent cases. My tests became urgent last week and I had the blood test the next day so they doing the tests still. I have ketones in my urine too. I'm waiting for the results

Eating euagey sweets will not give him ketones in his cring, I would get a diabetic test done asap, he is drinking loads, passing more urine and has ketones.

Family history and symptoms unfortunately make it extremely likely... When is this blood test... You need to push for this to be progressed.. Ring your normal GP practice tomorrow if not happy with progress today... Key to mention ketone, thirst and family history

Do you know anyone who has diabetes who would let you nip over and do a finger prick test using their kit? It’s very easy and would give you a very quick idea of where he’s at. Around 6 is normal.

Is your Dad type 1 or 2? If 1 then autoimmune diseases do have a tendency to run in families.

Ketones in the urine in the absence of any other signs is not super serious. You can't store ketones to any unused ones simply get peed out. If he was burning ketones overnight and early in the day, he would pee them out after eating all of those carbs because you can't store ketones and the body switches to burning glucose first.

For anyone reading this, GPs should do a finger prick glucose test there and then if they suspect diabetes. OP, I hope everything is fine, but don't hesitate to take him to A&E if you think something is off.

Thank you everyone xx we weren’t offered a pin prick test, that sounds so simple. We’re just to wait for a blood test and I can’t imagine it’ll be soon with the shortage. I just don’t think the gp was concerned. I’ll keep you up dated x

But that is the problem that your GP wasn't concerned enough to do a simple finger prick test when you son shows all the classic signs of type 1 diabetes. It's shocking how many GPS don't seem to understand how serious it is to leave it. Some pharmacies do finger prick tests. Please please go and do that. Just because this has been going on for a year doesn't mean it couldn't turn serious very fast. 10 children die in the UK each year from undiagnosed diabetes.

Blood test would show hbac1 levels over three months, a finger prick is just a spot test.

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Please read up on it. I do know what I'm talking about as a mum of a child with type 1 diabetes. Type 1 and type 2 are completely different. Type 1 is a serious auto immune disease where the pancreas stops producing insulin and the child needs insulin injections. The pancreas gradually fails and when it's stops altogether your child can die.

A finger prick test only shows the glucose level, a one off wont diagnose diabetes but it's a start, you can also get urine strips for glucose and ketones.

I’m just hoping the blood test comes through soon xx

A hospital will do a blood test, you dont need to wait for the gp.

I would pop up to a&e with him not wait

As the mother of a child with T1, I would also take him up to A&E. Some GP's are shockingly bad at understanding T1 diabetes, as are some hospital staff, tbf. If he doesn't have it, no problem, but if he does, it really is a matter of urgency.

Your GP should have done a finger prick test there and then. It wouldn't diagnose diabetes but would give them some indication if his blood sugar was raised.