Low Carber Daily Forum

Join

Medications and Ketosis

Options
juliedealmooney
juliedealmooney Posts: 4 Member
in Social Groups
So I've cycled back into Keto for the past couple of weeks and I was definitely in ketosis. Then I got sick and all I wanted to eat was a fruit smoothie so I indulged - last night for dinner and today for lunch. It's about 60 grams of carbs in a cup. I also went to the doc and got a corticosteroid shot, amoxicillin and some cough syrup. After an afternoon with the meds in my body I'm feeling much better so I decided to test ketones (urine strip). It was super dark which is just confusing me. Are any of these meds Keto-inducing? Or just make you pee out ketones? The cough syrup is bromphenir-pseudoephed-dm. I know the urine strips aren't the best way of testing but they are what I have.

Replies

  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    Options
    Most cough syrups I've ever taken tend to dehydrate me and seems to me I've read that if you are dehydrated (or not well hydrated) the keto strips show darker. Just a guess.
  • juliedealmooney
    juliedealmooney Posts: 4 Member
    Options
    Oh yeah, I'm definitely dehydrated despite drinking plenty of water. My mouth is like the Sahara right now. Makes sense.
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,366 Member
    Options
    And here you have the issue that the keto strips do not address. Any color on the strips means that you are in ketosis - darker does not mean that you are at a higher level of ketosis, it simply means that the ketones in your urine are more concentrated (i.e. you are dehydrated). If you are properly hydrated, the color will gravitate to a lighter purple, which only means that the ketones have become diluted in the extra water.
  • Sunny_Bunny_
    Sunny_Bunny_ Posts: 7,140 Member
    Options
    juliedealmooney wrote: »
    Oh yeah, I'm definitely dehydrated despite drinking plenty of water. My mouth is like the Sahara right now. Makes sense.

    Get some sodium. That's where the old idea of chicken soup being good for a cold cane from. Not the noodles... the salty broth.
  • canadjineh
    canadjineh Posts: 5,396 Member
    Options
    All the usual meds are available in sugar/alcohol free over the counter formulations if you talk to your pharmacist. After all, even diabetics and alcoholics get sick and need medications. This helps cut down your carb load when you are ill too, making it easier to stay on track.

Categories