April 5, 2004
Hyperglycemia and DKA
Question from Hertfordshire, England:
I am 29. I have had type 1 diabetes for around two years. I still do not have good control of my illness, with a tendency towards high blood sugars. I am slightly underweight at 5′ 3″ and eight stone (112 pounds). For the last few days, when I have done random urine tests with ketostix, it has been reading moderate to high ketone presence. This has happened to me before. At what point should I start getting worried about this? After how many days of getting readings of high ketone presence should I be contacting my general practitioner or diabetes specialist?
Answer:
I think you should contact your physician now. More than a day of high sugars with moderate to high ketones suggest there is a problem that both you and your physician should address. It also means that if you don’t do something different, there is an increased chance for you to go into diabetic ketoacidosis.
JTL
