Help! High ketone count

Hello, i am speaking on behalf of my mum who started the Ketogenic diet around 2 to 3 weeks and and has been losing around 2.5lbs a week. She invested in a Ketone breathalyser to track her ketone levels. around a week ago she was in the optimal range of around 2.5-3.0 mM, but this last day or 2 she has been around 8.0mM which seems dangerously high. She has no history of Diabetes or any other medical conditions.

We have been tracking macros at around 85P, 90F and 20C as well as drinking plenty of water which seems to be working fine. 

Is there a way to safely bring ketones down to a safe level.

Thanks you for any responses i may get.

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    • Andrew Meyer
    • Software Developer
    • Andrew_Meyer
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    If it were a blood reading of 8 mmol/L and the blood sugar readings were still high say above 4 or 5 then I would be concerned. I have had my blood ketones up into the 4 range before.

    A reading of 8 mmol/L for blood ketones is at the upper range for therapeutic ketosis. If the blood ketone level exceed about  15 then it is in the range of DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis).

    I would suggest they get their blood sugar and ketone levels tested and verified, to make sure they don't have Type II diabetes. A Keto diet can be managed on diabetes but blood sugar monitoring should be an integral part of that.

    Also bear in mind that the breath ketone levels measure a different ketone than blood measurements. I don't know how equally the levels compare. Most of the literature on the internet pertains to the blood ketone levels.

    There are three main ketones and three methods usually used to measure them. each method measures a DIFFERENT ketone.

    Blood    - β-hydroxybutyrate (technically not a ketone from a chemists point of view)
    Breath - acetone
    Urine    - acetoacetate

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  • If you're concerned of dangers, you need to contact a physician. Also know the symptoms of ketoacidosis.

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    • Hutch
    • KetonicManic
    • Hutch.1
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    What Andrew said. Also, most breath analyzers measure acetone in PPMs not mmol. The latter is the standard for blood meters. A reading of 8 ppm is not dangerous but 8 mmol is high. Unless you have a quality breath meter such as KETOSCAN Mini, Keytonix, or Levl I wouldn’t trust it as most of the cheap versions are junk. Just saying. Regardless, if you have concerns definitely see a doctor for testing especially if Diabetes is involved.

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    • Supermom
    • Supermom.2
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Andrew Meyer Well that was an education wow.  Thanks hope a lot of people saw this, I'm glad I saw it.  I was given a test kit but never bothered with it.  Will use it  after seeing this, as I was supposed to get my thyroid checked a long time ago and never did...it says if you don't have diabetes, that alcoholism or an over active thyroid could cause ketoacidosis so it is worth checking my blood.  Thanks Andrew.

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