Experienced Keto people, please help- Ketosis too high?

[Michelleoftheresistance]

I'm a novice, following Keto since Feb, and my weight loss stalled a couple of weeks back. I bought the ketosis testing sticks to check I was actually in ketosis, and discovered that instead of the 1.5-3 range supposed to be recommended for weight loss, I seem to be in the 8-10 range which seems to be a bit.... over the stop and starvation ketosis heading for acidosis when I read articles! A bit scared by what I'm reading.

Is this too high in your experience? Should I worry? I seem to be getting a lot of cystitis like issues the last few days which I think may have gone with getting this high, but am not eating any differently to the way I have since I started the diet. Once I got past the initial cravings I've found it pretty easy to follow and usually don't get hungry until 11.30ish, and then eat again around 6, so two meals a day and I suppose fasting in between. Haven't lost an ounce (literally) in about ten days now.

Any advice very gratefully received!

Anybody?

Have been trying to add more carbs in today but am finding that ketones are climbing as the day goes on, I'm back at 8 again now from 0.5 this morning.

There's a helpful article over on the Diet Doctor website about stalling.
I believe the strips can be a bit hit and miss?

Do you log your carbs on an app? I used a set of scales and the carb manager app- otherwise I'd have no clue on actual carbs.

Can't help much with the keto stick readings. I know after a while, your body gets used to using the ketos and the sticks will no longer accurate, but not sure about high readings. I assume the sticks are in date and not open to the air?

Thanks for the replies. I've been tracking carbs carefully, sticking to 20 a day with the right balance. Sticks are brand new and carefully kept, the only issue is the ketones seeming to go so high, and with them going this high and stalled weight loss after several months on the diet it suggests my body isn't using the ketones. I'm wondering about whether I've got blood sugar issues.

I was kind of hoping someone would turn up and say 8-10 on the sticks is totally normal and fine, crack on and ignore it, but everything I can find to read says this is heading for acidosis and too high.

The cystitis like symptoms could be your urine being very acidic which would ring alarm bells for me concerning acidosis.

Years ago I did a high protein diet and did start getting similar symptoms. I stopped the diet though because I became pregnant and the symptoms did abate.

I would recommend adding in some more low glycemic index carbs. Maybe logging what you eat and your exercise on an app like FitBit or MyFitnessPal and ensuring you have a calorie deficit. You'll lose weight doing that and there will be no worries concerning acidosis. If the carbs have a low glycemic index they should not cause too many insulin spikes either.

But if you continue to have issues maybe contact your GP.

Thank you veryvery really helpful.

I've been following this less for weight loss than the Myhill medical diet for symptom relief, the weight loss was a nice side effect at first but has stopped. I've tried raising my carbs today and am finding I'm still upto about 8 so starting to wonder if I've got issues with insulin.

You could order a simple blood sugar monitor quite affordably and that would at least tell you whether you can get glucose into your cells effectively but for proper full range testing you would need to see a medical professional.

That is if your blood sugar is high and doesn't easily go down it suggests a problem.

That's really helpful, thank you.

You're welcome.

On a side note, I lost 10kg doing keto. A side effect about 3mths after starting, was hair shedding. Not in clumps or patches, but overall. I'd wash or brush it, and FAR more than normal would come out from the roots.

I read that hair loss is common after starting any diet. The shedding lasted about 2mths and then stopped. I was checked for deficiencies- thyroid, iron, vit D etc which were all normal. Just thought I'd let you know incase it happens to you too.