where to buy ketostix in blighty?

[RosieGirl]

Do you get them from Boots? I had heard that it can be difficult in the UK, with some pharmacies asking to see diabetic medic-alert bracelets and somesuch?

cheers guys!

[Kay2008]

Do you get them from Boots? I had heard that it can be difficult in the UK, with some pharmacies asking to see diabetic medic-alert bracelets and somesuch?

cheers guys!

Hi,

I am from the UK and I bought mine from ebay for £3.29 plus £2.50 P&P (Oatlands Park Pharmacy).

I did a search on the Boots and Superdrug website, but I couldn't find any Ketostix... or maybe they wouldn't come up in the search :S

[Elizellen]

As far as I know they are usually kept behind the counter so you need to ask for them but I hadn't heard of people having to claim to be diabetic to buy them.

[RosieGirl]

Got some from ebay - thanks for the tip!! God I love this forum :)

[Hekaterine]

You could also try www.lowcarbmegastore.com which is where I get mine - don't know if they are cheaper than ebay or not. You'd probably need to buy other stuff as well from LCM to justify the postage charge. I have no problem with that *ahem* (shopaholic!)

[Helen H]

All pharmacies have them. You buy them behind the counter, but you don't need a prescription. Boots have them for around £5. In one chemist, they were reluctant to sell to me, claiming that "Some people abuse them on low carb diets". I said I wanted them to make sure I was doing my low carb diet safely, so they said "Oh, never thought of that," and sold them to me.

Boots have never raised an eyebrow when I buy them. My local chemist special orders them for me.

[caroline43]

I got mine from ebay too 5.95 including p&p. i tried Boots and my local chemist and both refused to sell them.

[SlimJackie]

My local Lloyds pharmacy recently declined to sell me Ketostix, although the pharmacist said she'd be happy to be 'educated' by me if I could provide the necessary evidence that ketosis is OK.

Trouble is, most of the available 'evidence' is written by Dr Atkins and other lc believers, and I haven't found any completely independent studies yet that would carry sufficient credibility in the eyes of sceptics such as my local pharmacist.

If anyone's got details of any suitable studies, please let me know!

Anyway, I then went to my local Boots, who sold me Ketostix with no questions .... However, in the past I have had the 'no, ketosis is dangerous' response from my local Boots - so I think it depends on the individual pharmacist and what they know (or think they know) about it.

Jackie

[caroline43]

I have been on youtube most of the afternoon looking at low carb recipe videos when i came across a 4 part documentary from the BBC about the atkins diet. it was so interesting and the studies carried out, even more so.

[Helen H]

Ketosis is just a technical word for "The body is burning fat". You don't have to be on a low carb diet for ketosis, I was frequently in ketosis as a high-carbing vegetarian after long cycles. I suspect that any endurance athlete is in ketosis at the end of a workout, they just don't test for it.

Considering that the object of any weight loss diet is actually fat loss, any diet, be it weight watchers or Slimfast or Atkins, that didn't produce some ketones, is not doing its job. If the body is not burning fat, then all you are losing is muscle and water.

[Hutchinson]

I found there was a great difference in the price of 50 ketostix from the different chemists in my local town. Boots at around £9 were the most expensive and the cheapest (co-op) were around £5.50.

I bought some out of interest just to find out if/how they worked. I never managed to get them to show the deepest colours, usually just a trace or at best moderate levels were recorded.

Inevitably trying to open the pot and extract one ketostick singlehanded while in midflow resulted in the rest of the pack falling into the loo. So although I found it quite interesting as I've reached my target I'm not in the market for another pack.

[Helen H]

£9? That's a shocking price. I only pay 8 euro for 50 from Boots.

Oh, if your chemist gives you any hassle, you could say "I'm pregnant and my midwife has told me to check my urine."