4/4 coming back for advice about ketosis

Newcomer introductions, personal anecdotes, caregiver issues, lab results, and n=1 experimentation.
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Lindy
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4/4 coming back for advice about ketosis

Post by Lindy »

Hello everyone, I'm a recycled newbie, of sorts. I joined the list several years ago, learned a great deal from the wise and kindly mentors on the list, adopted the Bredesen protocol, make my own mostly-veg-with-fish and healthy fat meals, avoid sugar and keep glucose low, exercise every day,etc. Thanks to all of you for your advice and for keeping this resource open. I apologize for this long entry and hope future ones will be more concise.

I'm back here because with my insanely busy job teaching and running a large graduate program, I am battling brain fog and my short-term memory is awful. This makes work conversations with younger co-workers difficult, to say the least, and really feels like a downward spiral after years of this kind of work, so I decided to retire at the end of this academic year.

I recently took one of those online cognitive quizzes by Biogen and Eisai (who may have a stake in my answers, to be sure). My answers to two of the six questions pointed to mild cognitive impairment. Those had to do with 1. forgetting things, including important appointments or social events (multiple times a week; I check my calendar all the time but get distracted in the moment in the press of work, until a coworker reminds me or I just plain miss the event or go late), and 2. losing train of thought or the thread of conversations, books, or movies (multiple times a week, and when I'm watching a popular podcast series with my spouse, he remembers every detail and I lose track of the characters and plot). So maybe I'm skirting the edge of MCI. Or maybe I'm just tired out from working so hard. Or watching the wrong series. Or just getting old (65 this year).

I've tried to follow the Protocol, make my own meals, enter food into Cronometer and use their keto presets (went back to strict keto after a holiday binge and am trying to regain ketosis), and check Keto-Mojo every other week or so. Yesterday I had an anomalous result - glucose 66 (hypoglycemia?) and ketones 3.7 (dangerously high apparently?), and I cannot figure out what that combination actually means. I've felt ill the last few days but can't get a doctor appointment any time soon though I've been trying. For now, can anyone unpack that last reading for me?
APOE-ε4/ε4 on the voyage of discovery.
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Tincup
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Re: 4/4 coming back for advice about ketosis

Post by Tincup »

Lindy wrote: had an anomalous result - glucose 66 (hypoglycemia?) and ketones 3.7 (dangerously high apparently?), and I cannot figure out what that combination actually means. I've felt ill the last few days but can't get a doctor appointment any time soon though I've been trying. For now, can anyone unpack that last reading for me?
1. Whenever readings are unusual for what you've been doing, take another one, strips can be bad. Make sure you wash and dry your hands and use good protocol.

2. 3.7 mmol/L is far from dangerous. Everybody is different, but in my experience, my glucose would be lower to get a 3.7 reading. Though I don't push high ketones normally, I always test a modest amount. If I do an extended (multi day) fast, then glucose drops, typically bottoming out in the low 50's (mg/dL) and ketones increase into the 4-6 range. I've run them up to the meter max of 8.0 and I've run glucose down to 32 mg/dL (and then went and set PR's at the gym). Ketones were probably around 6 or 7 that day. I know a woman with brain cancer (7 or 8 year survivor). She keeps her ketones >4.0 and glucose <4.0 mmol/L (72 mg/dL) as part of her cancer strategy, while eating.

Ketoacidosis readings are in the 15 or so range and coupled with a high glucose (say 400 mg/dL). This is because ketoacidosis happens to folks with low insulin, but also high glucose. As a normal person, if your glucose goes up to say 200, then your insulin would be very high and your ketones would be nil.

If 68 is unusually low, for you, then adding a few more carbs should bring it up and lower your ketones. Also perhaps make you feel better.
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Re: 4/4 coming back for advice about ketosis

Post by Quantifier »

Lindy wrote:I've tried to follow the Protocol, make my own meals, enter food into Cronometer and use their keto presets (went back to strict keto after a holiday binge and am trying to regain ketosis), and check Keto-Mojo every other week or so. Yesterday I had an anomalous result - glucose 66 (hypoglycemia?) and ketones 3.7 (dangerously high apparently?), and I cannot figure out what that combination actually means. I've felt ill the last few days but can't get a doctor appointment any time soon though I've been trying. For now, can anyone unpack that last reading for me?
Hello Lindy!

Reiterating some of Tincup's advice - if you get an unusual result, try to see if it is a measurement error by retesting, also test several days in a row to see if this was an unusual day or a consistent pattern. Also note any correlation between the measurement and your subjective feeling. For some people 66 mg/dl of blood glucose feels normal (common among keto-adapted people), others feel light-headed from the low blood sugar. By more frequent measurements while noting how you feel you can find out what is too low for *you*, and intervene as needed (by eating carbs).

As for your worsening forgetfulness/distractibility: Are there factors besides diet that might be off? Are you getting enough effective sleep? Are you taking time to se-stress? Do you have the opportunity to exercise regularly? Has there been a change in your environment or habits that may have introduced new exposure to toxins? (Do you feel worse on days you spend more time indoors vs outdoors? More time at home? More time at work? etc)

I hope you find a way to improve things for yourself!
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