OT: Ketosis ?'s

[portiemom]

I have been LCHF for 3 weeks and never felt better! I have noticed that my silver metal watch is causing my skin to blacken, the discoloration washes off with soap and water, but returns as soon as I put the watch on. Has this happen to anyone else? Should I be concerned about some sort of chemical change in my system? I will address this with my doctor, but it is a while till she can see me.
Thanks for any and all responses!

[RandyJ]

I'm not sure if your skin reaction is related to ketosis. Are you verifying ketosis with ketone testing strips every few days?

When I did LCHF I don't recall any skin reactions, though I had the characteristic "ketone breath."

[JohnBFisher]

That type of skin reaction may indicate you are diabetic! Have you been checked for diabetes? If so, be certain to talk with your doctor before trying a low carb, high fat diet. Diabetics need to be careful they are not pushing their systems too far, since they no longer properly function. It can lead to dangerous low blood glucose levels, which can be quite literally fatal.

I'm not trying to scare you ... just trying to be certain you are not pushing yourself into an unsafe territory.

[chunkyfrog]

Coming from the other end;
does the black stain appear all around the wrist or just where the band touches?
What material is the band made of?
While the back is usually stainless steel, some bands are made of 'unknown metal',
but coated with something that wears off in a short while.
Then is when the corrosion starts.

[BlackSpinner]

I have been LCHF for 3 weeks and never felt better! I have noticed that my silver metal watch is causing my skin to blacken, the discoloration washes off with soap and water, but returns as soon as I put the watch on. Has this happen to anyone else? Should I be concerned about some sort of chemical change in my system? I will address this with my doctor, but it is a while till she can see me.
Thanks for any and all responses!

Everybody in my family has that. It is the chemical balance of your skin. It depends on what you eat and your genetic make up.

I blacken silver in a few hours and, before I got allergic to most scents, most perfumes turned to skunk smell in a mater of minutes.

[Janknitz]

My kids and I have this all the time. It's a nickel (the metal) allergy. Coat the back of your watch with clear nail polish and it will be fine. It has nothing to do with ketosis and it does not mean you are diabetic.

When my kids were babies, they would get tiny black circles running from the neck all the way down their legs--the nickel in the snaps on their little sleepers did it--but took me a while to figure out.

[DocWeezy]

Ditto the allergy/reaction thing. I've been that way all my life and could only wear 14K or higher gold....until I discovered the paint it with clear nail polish trick. That works great, but just remember to keep the item coated because the nail polish wears off just like the coating put on by the manufacturer. AND....depending on the item, you may still have a reaction if there is a little tiny part that didn't get coated. I finally just gave up on earrings because it seemed like I could never get it all coated well enough or the coating would wear off too quickly. Was easier to just have one pair that were real gold.

Weezy

[chunkyfrog]

A friend's mother couldn't even wear gold.
She got a rash.
Her wedding band was platinum.

[DocWeezy]

A friend's mother couldn't even wear gold.
She got a rash.
Her wedding band was platinum.

Gee....I should've told my hubby that I was also allergic to gold! I LIKE that idea!

[macewa]

I was going to write the same thing BlkSpinner. Ever since my teen years. I was told it had to do with the chemical balance in the body. Sometimes even the gold rings would do that. Still happens once in a while and I'm not diabetic.

Even though not on topic (others you can stop reading).

Since you mentioned perfume and stinking . . . years ago a group of my women friends decided it would be fun to bring all the perfume we didn't use and do a swamp. Of course, everyone had to see how others smelled. Got to where they refused to smell me to see what the perfumed smelled like. Only about 3 perfumes that are out there smell decent on me and most smell awful on me.

I have been LCHF for 3 weeks and never felt better! I have noticed that my silver metal watch is causing my skin to blacken, the discoloration washes off with soap and water, but returns as soon as I put the watch on. Has this happen to anyone else? Should I be concerned about some sort of chemical change in my system? I will address this with my doctor, but it is a while till she can see me.
Thanks for any and all responses!

Everybody in my family has that. It is the chemical balance of your skin. It depends on what you eat and your genetic make up.

I blacken silver in a few hours and, before I got allergic to most scents, most perfumes turned to skunk smell in a mater of minutes.

[VikingGnome]

It's not really an allergy. It's acidic skin. The part of my glasses that is metal turns green and corrodes. The back of my watch bezel is "stainless steel" but I still get black on my skin and green corrosion on the watch. In fact, the back of the watch actually becomes pitted where the acid within my skin cells eats away the metal. When I moved to deep south where humidity is high, I sweat under the watch and actually got a rash. My dermatologist swore up and down that my watch had "nickel" in it. I showed her that it said "stainless steel" on the back. She was stumped. Then I showed her my corroded glasses around the nose pieces. Nasty. I need nose supports to keep my glasses from sliding down my face but nobody makes the supporting wires out of anything but metal. So I get new glasses every year. I don't wear a watch (got a smartphone). And no jewelry. My earlobes used to be constantly inflamed from the metal. I can wear 14k gold ok but anything silvery type--forget it.

[portiemom]

Thanks everyone, this is a Seiko watch I've been wearing daily for a couple of years, the back says stainless steel, and the band although it is silver in color, I'm not sure of the metal. It is just recently that it is turning my wrist black. The watch is large (men's) and the band is very loose, so I am wondering about the sudden reaction. I've never had a problem with my sugar levels, just had bloodwork done before starting the LCHF, my husband has never been able to wear silver because of the acid in his system. Just wondering about this sudden onset for me.

[BlackSpinner]

Thanks everyone, this is a Seiko watch I've been wearing daily for a couple of years, the back says stainless steel, and the band although it is silver in color, I'm not sure of the metal. It is just recently that it is turning my wrist black. The watch is large (men's) and the band is very loose, so I am wondering about the sudden reaction. I've never had a problem with my sugar levels, just had bloodwork done before starting the LCHF, my husband has never been able to wear silver because of the acid in his system. Just wondering about this sudden onset for me.

About 15 years ago my ex had some yeast issues. I did some research and found a "candida diet/ regimen" it meant no wheat or sugar for 6 weeks. The first week she had a blinding headache, then things settled down. At the end of 6 weeks her skin tone, body scent, allergy reactions - everything was different. In the book "Wheat Belly" it talks about the same thing. I wish we had known more at the time and kept her off wheat totally but we slowly reintroduced it.

[chunkyfrog]

Could ketosis result in elevated blood and also skin acidity?
Would it be enough to be a health concern?
My opinion, if this is a new development, run it by the doctor and check the ketone level as frequently as prudent.
Can't be too careful--ketosis can be dangerous.

[Janknitz]

Ketosis is NOT dangerous!!!

KetoACIDosis is very dangerous but it can only happen in type 1 diabetics who are totally unable to produce their own insulin or in very late stage 2 diabetics whose pancreases no longer produce insulin. Most type 2 diabetics have too much insulin. When there is NO insulin, the body may release fat too rapidly from the cells and that's what causes ketoacidosis.

They sound alike but they are NOT the same and a low carb diet cannot cause ketoacidosis.

If you eat a lot of protein, it is possible that your system can become more acidic. Eating more alkaline foods may help: liver, Eggs, fermented foods, most veggies, especially leafy greens (corn and legumes are acidic).

One of the things you have to get used to on a low carb diet is the many dire predictions of your imminent death from an instant cholesterol induced cardiovascular event, ketoacidosis, or bludgeoning from the high fructose corn syrup lobby. None of these are true.