One more question about diabetes?

Question

I went to the doctor regarding frequent urination and the doctor found some sort of crystals and ketones in my urine (I don't have the paper work). She questioned me about family history of diabetes and then sent me to get a blood sugar test.

I won't get results until Monday. Is that bad? Should someone monitor me because I have ketones in my urine, or should I not worry about it at all?

Answer 1

Ketone bodies can be used for energy. Ketone bodies are transported from the liver to other tissues, where acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate can be reconverted to acetyl-CoA to produce energy, via the Krebs cycle.

The heart gets little energy from ketone bodies, it uses mainly fatty acids.

The brain gets its energy from ketone bodies when insufficient glucose is available (e.g., when fasting). In the event of low blood glucose, most other tissues have additional energy sources besides ketone bodies (such as fatty acids), but the brain does not. After the diet has been changed to lower blood glucose for 3 days, the brain gets 30% of its energy from ketone bodies. After 4 days, this goes up to 70% (during the initial stages the brain does not burn ketones, since they are an important substrate for lipid synthesis in the brain). The brain retains some need for glucose, because ketone bodies can be broken down for energy only in the mitochondria, and brain cells' long thin axons are too far from mitochondria.[citation needed]

Answer 2

If you do have large amounts of keytones, thatd be bad news. But if you only have a slight amount, its not that big of a deal. Drink lots of water, as that helps flush them out of your system. And if your doctor can't get back to you about a blood sugar test until Monday... thats weird. You can get a blood sugar machine from a pharmacy and check it yourself. If it's over the normal level(I'm not sure what the normal level is, but its around 80-180), go to the hospital.

Good luck!!

Answer 3

If there was anything at all that needed to be done over the weekend - your doctor should have informed you. Wait to see what she/he says and I hope it all turns out for the best. Good luck.  

Answer 4

When a doctor suspects diabetes he orders a whole series of tests, because there are many things that can cause the same symptoms.  Also the general state of your internals (liver, kidneys, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc) will help in deciding how to treat you for diabetes if that's what it is.

If you are diabetic, you won't get worse in a few days.  So there's really nothing to worry about. If you are diabetic, you will probably get some pills to take to help control blood sugar but more important you'll learn to control it with diet and exercise.

If you're really curious, if you know someone who is diabetic, he or she will have a blood glucose meter, and would probably be happy to test you. It takes just a little speck of blood from your forearm.  That would give you an idea.  But the doctor is going to order different, more complicated tests if she really suspects diabetes.

Answer 5

Ketones are BAD news if you are diabetic.  Call that doctor and ask if he has the results yet.

You can get a tiny portable glucose monitor and ketone strips from CVS (or any other pharmacy) to check your glucose and ketone levels.  If both are out of range for an extended period of time, you need medical attention.