Ketoacidosis in 10 year old? page

[Candy in Wonderland]

My youngest son has been feeling sick every morning for the last 8 (or so) days. He feels weak and sick to the stomach and doesn't feel like eating. He's also very pale, so I can see he's not making things up; he says he has a strange flavor in his mouth and his breath smells. Then a few hours later he starts feeling better and would eat something and by noon he feels good again. My children are not paleo/primal yet, as they still eat some spelt pasta or rice (about once a week) and sourdough bread (approx. 3 slices/day). He eats meat, good fats, some veggies (although I wish he would eat more vegetables) and fruit (mainly tangerines and bananas). They don't eat (sweet) potatoes every day. He has been drinking more fruit juices and lemonade now because of the holidays (visiting people, going places - I don't keep soft drinks in the house).

When I researched his symptoms it looks a lot like ketoacidosis. My SIL also says her daughter used to have the same problem for a while as a child and they would give her coca cola in the morning and she would feel better. I have no intention at all to give my 10-y.o. coke every morning .

Does anyone recognize this? If yes, how can I treat this best, should he eat more carb-dense vegetables, less meat? Or should I just go see a doctor?

[The Scientist]

At three slices of bread and some fruit each day, there is no way he is in ketoacidosis. Assuming he is not diabetic, he would never reach ketoacidosis even if he ate zero carbs. I say go see a good pediatrician. If you want to be sure, just get some ketostixs.

[Owly]

I was reading about this the other day, and it sounds quite a bit like what you're describing:

Ketotic hypoglycemia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[emmie]

Take your child to a doctor!

[Ayla2010]

Ketosis and ketoacidosis are 2 different things.
Which do you mean?

[Ayla2010]

With all that bread I would doubt very much he is in ketosis.
Sounds like you might need a check up for him.

[BratKat]

If he isn't diabetic, and I assume you would have mentioned that, he almost certainly isn't in ketoacidosis!

[SarahW]

With all that bread I would doubt very much he is in ketosis.
Sounds like you might need a check up for him.

If he is in a growth spurt it could be ketosis. My kid had ketone breath almost constantly this past year (5 yo), and sticks lots of junk down his gullet. Kids burn carbs so fast and have so much growth hormone running around their bodies that I'm sure they could start burning ketones pretty easily.

OP: Maybe increase carbs before bed? A bedtime snack of some fruit balanced out with something like coconut milk. That could stabilize him overnight. Does he want to drink milk or juice in the morning?

[nosugar]

You're thinking of ketosis, not ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis is a potentially deadly condition that would occur if your child had diabetes type 1. You should bring your kid to a doctor right away and get some blood work done.

[Candy in Wonderland]

I was reading about this the other day, and it sounds quite a bit like what you're describing:

Ketotic hypoglycemia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks for this link, this is exactly what it's like! His nights have been longer as usual, as we were on winter holiday and he's been sleeping in later. He (all 3 my boys, they don't get that from me!) has a slender build. He doesn't eat many carbs in the evening, mostly morning/lunch. So maybe I can try to up his carb intake in the evening with some potatoes. Yesterday I juiced 1 orange when he woke up, he had the juice immediately and felt fine afterwards. Today he's back to his normal routine: going to bed in time, waking up earlier and he didn't feel sick. I'm going to make sure he gets enough healthy carbs in the evening and will see what happens. If it doesn't get better soon, I WILL see a doctor, don't worry! Only when I posted my question there was no doctor as it was weekend and it didn't seem urgent enough to go to the emergency room.