# Ketones - To Check or Not to Check **URL:** \ **Category:** Type 1 & LADA\ **Tags:** insulin, type-2, illness\ **Created:** [May 3, 2019, 5:22pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/ketones-to-check-or-not-to-check/7422 "2019-05-03T17:22:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![cardamom](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/cardamom/32/2622_2.png) [@cardamom](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/cardamom)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/ketones-to-check-or-not-to-check/7422/81 "2019-05-14T16:26:26Z")
> [@Dc53705](#): > > As diabetics, when we need extra energy because our blood sugar is low, we stuff food (carbs) into our body. If we don’t stuff those carbs in, and we have no glucagon to release stored sugar, to get energy our body breaks down fat, and through fat break down, creates ketones. I am pretty sure that while I do not have remaining beta cell function (it’s super easy for me to get very high blood sugars very quickly), I do have at least some alpha cell functioning evidenced in a few ways, most noticeably that prolonged, stable lows (like running in the low 50s for a while) seem to deplete my liver stores of glycogen, resulting in lower basal needs over the next 12 hours or so. I’ve also never in my almost 3 decades of having diabetes had a low that I’ve needed emergency assistance for. Maybe alpha cell is variable across even classic T1s, and that’s a factor in ketosis vulnerability somehow, although I’m not sure I see how that compensates for insufficient insulin resulting in ketosis. ---
**Author:** ![Dc53705](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@Dc53705](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Dc53705)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/ketones-to-check-or-not-to-check/7422/82 "2019-05-14T16:36:40Z")
Insufficient insulin isn’t a direct cause of ketosis. Insufficient energy / fuel causes the body to use fat instead of glucose as energy. There are a few cell types (I know for sure nerve cells) that can’t burn fat directly and the body has to “convert” fat before these cells can use the energy. The ketones develop as a byproduct of this conversion. ---
**Author:** ![CatLady](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/catlady/32/36_2.png) [@CatLady](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/CatLady)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 5:32pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/ketones-to-check-or-not-to-check/7422/83 "2019-05-14T17:32:14Z")
I have learned a lot on this thread and am thinking we need a wiki on ketones. Any volunteers? ---
**Author:** ![Linus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Linus](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Linus)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/ketones-to-check-or-not-to-check/7422/84 "2019-05-16T15:40:28Z")
After reading all your replies, i’d say do a little more reading and a little less writing!! ---
**Author:** ![ClaudnDaye](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/claudndaye/32/5_2.png) [@ClaudnDaye](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/ClaudnDaye)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/ketones-to-check-or-not-to-check/7422/85 "2019-05-16T16:12:21Z")
Thanks random guy from the internet who stops by every 4 months or so. I’ll make sure to take this into consideration! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nickyghaleb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nickyghaleb](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Nickyghaleb)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/ketones-to-check-or-not-to-check/7422/86 "2019-05-18T18:15:23Z")
> [@ClaudnDaye](#): > > Thanks random guy from the internet who stops by every 4 months or so. I’ll make sure to take this into consideration! 😉 🤣🤣 I’ve been hanging around here too much. Maybe that’s really the best way to do it. I was just stopping in to say I actually checked my ketones today. And then thought about this thread… which seems to be my problem—with all the writing and not enough reading. Anyway, I haven’t checked them in forever and really have decided it’s kind of a silly practice in the first place… and then checked them today. Since yesterday I’ve been at 400 and stayed high my whole run. So even though I wasn’t sure what I’d _do_ with that info… had I found ketones… but it certainly made me feel better when I didn’t. Sure, that bottle is about a year expired. So I’ll stop writing and go read up on that now. 😃 And you don’t have to respond to this, @ClaudnDaye. Even though I seem to be telling just you my thoughts. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TiaG](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/tiag/32/594_2.png) [@TiaG](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/TiaG)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 2:54pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/ketones-to-check-or-not-to-check/7422/89 "2021-08-12T14:54:52Z")
I’m not totally up on the biology, but essentially, ketones are generated as your body’s “starvation” pathway. When your body doesn’t have enough glucose to use, it starts to generate ketones from fat. Obviously, you need insulin to turn on the pathway of glucose → energy for cells. But you also need glucose. So you need a ton of insulin and also some glucose if you have ketones, and a lot of water. I could be wrong of course, It’s been a while since I looked into it. ---
**Author:** ![CatLady](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/catlady/32/36_2.png) [@CatLady](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/CatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 6:41pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/ketones-to-check-or-not-to-check/7422/90 "2021-08-12T18:41:59Z")
> [@TiaG](#): > > So you need a ton of insulin and also some glucose if you have ketones, and a lot of water. You nailed it! ETA: And electrolytes, especially sodium replacement. ---
**Author:** ![CatLady](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/catlady/32/36_2.png) [@CatLady](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/CatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/ketones-to-check-or-not-to-check/7422/91 "2021-08-12T18:51:24Z")
> **[Severe Highs, Ketosis, and Ketoacidosis (DKA) - Diabetesnet.com](https://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes-control/severe-highs-ketosis-and-ketoacidosis-dka/)** > > Severe high blood sugars, ketosis, and diabetic ketoacidosis (also called DKA) are severe and potentially life-threatening medical problems. [Previous page](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/ketones-to-check-or-not-to-check/7422.md?page=4)