Worldwide, diabetes is a serious yet common medical issue and should never be taken lightly. Continue reading to see if you have any of these diabetes symptoms. If you’re diagnosed with diabetes, you need to regularly monitor and manage your blood sugar to make sure it stays within a healthy range. There are several types of diabetes, but the two most common are type 1 and type 2. The cause of the two types is what differentiates them.
Diabetes symptoms can come on suddenly or a diagnosis could surprise you due to symptoms getting more severe over time. Diabetes can’t be cured but it’s very manageable with lifestyle and medication.
Some signs that you might have diabetes are excess fatigue and thirst, eyesight issues, and many others.
We’ve compiled a list of 17 symptoms that might help you figure out if you might be starting to show signs of this disease. If you suspect you might have diabetes, please consult your doctor to find out for sure.
Diabetes does not have a cure, it is manageable through the change in lifestyle and sometimes medication. This disease is quite common and very serious. If left untreated, diabetes can cause heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney damage, and even loss of limbs.
1. Eyesight Deterioration
You might push this one aside and write it off to you getting older but this is a serious symptom of diabetes. Ignoring this can lead to permanent blindness. Diabetes can cause blurry vision in the beginning but can get more serious over time.
The lens of your eye wraps and struggles to focus on a point as your body dehydrates. But with proper management, the sight issue can be resolved in most cases.
2. Unexpected Weight Loss
If you’ve recently changed your diet and are exercising regularly, dropping some extra pounds is to be expected. But if you suddenly start dropping weight without trying, it might be time to make an appointment to see your physician and have this checked out. This could be a sign of diabetes.
It’s likely, your body is having difficulty absorbing the nutrition from food and has resorted to consuming your body fat to survive. On the surface, this might sound great but could be a serious issue.
3. Yeast Infections
Especially among women, this can be a serious issue. However, men aren’t completely exempt either. Yeast feeds on sugar and it can grow anywhere on the skin. The more moist the tissue is, the more susceptible that area is to get an infection.
Because a diabetic’s immune system can be compromised, containing this type of infection can be difficult.
4. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
PCOS as it’s commonly called is a metabolic disorder that can cause infertility in women. PCOS can make a woman’s body resistant to insulin which is most commonly used to treat diabetes.
It should be noted that nearly 50% of women that suffer from Polycystic ovary syndrome will develop diabetes. If you’ve been diagnosed with this condition, get tested regularly for diabetes.
5. Excessive Thirst And Hunger
Putting things in the simplest of terms, when you have diabetes, the body is overworked trying to control the excess glucose in the blood, and water is pulled away from the cells in an attempt to flush it out. But during this process, the body gets a little carried away and you lose a lot of essential nutrients along with the glucose.
This leads to a need to drink and eat much more than would normally be required.
6. Fatigue
In many cases, the tiredness can be mild and you won’t see this as an actual symptom. There can be many causes of fatigue and tiredness and it doesn’t mean you have diabetes but combined with other symptoms, it should be something you pay attention to.
7. Erectile Dysfunction (ED)
Damage to blood vessels and nerves due to diabetes can easily cause this symptom if left uncontrolled. If you’re a woman, you don’t have much to worry about when it comes to getting ED but if your man is having issues, this could be a sign of diabetes.
Erectile Dysfunction can be a touchy or embarrassing subject to discuss but it’s important to get it out in the open both with your partner and your doctor.
8. Gum Problems
Everyone knows that dental hygiene is important and you should take care of your teeth. But with diabetes, due to a compromised immune system, the germs that would normally be removed with normal brushing and dental visits remain in your mouth and do much more damage.
Due to the moist environment, the mouth can be a great place for infections.
Bleeding gums is the first warning sign followed by loose teeth and even puss pockets. These are serious symptoms of diabetes and you should discuss this with your doctor as soon as possible.
9. Foul Breath
Sticking with mouth symptoms, halitosis, otherwise known as bad breath is very common for diabetics. Due to the body’s reduced ability to fight infections, bad breath can be the result.
If the halitosis is severe, this could be another sign of ketoacidosis and you should see a physician soon.
10. Pain In Feet And Legs
Neuropathy nerve pain is one of the most widely known symptoms for people suffering from diabetes. This is caused by a combination of the blood vessel and nerve damage done by the disease.
When nerve damage is met by poor blood flow, this can cause numbness and pain. Most of the time, this will be present in your legs and feet. This symptom should never be ignored. Reach out to your doctor as soon as possible.
11. Difficulty Healing Wounds
There are two reasons why diabetics have a tough time healing from wounds, slow blood circulation which is caused by damage to the blood vessels, and a compromised immune system.
With these two factors, it’s very difficult for the body to get the proper nutrients to the wounded area, and thus, healing takes longer than normal or simply won’t heal at all.
If you’re noticing a symptom like this, get checked out by your doctor.
12. Darkening Of Skin
Acanthosis Nigricans is common in diabetics. It usually presents itself as a darkening and thickening of the skin. At times, the skin can become elevated and have a velvety texture.
This condition is most common at the nape of the neck, groin, under the breasts and armpits. Consider being tested for diabetes if you have similar symptoms.
13. Nausea And Vomit
For many, this symptom might not seem too serious, but when left unchecked, it’s not only serious, it could be fatal. Vomiting prevents nutrients to be absorbed by the gut and if it goes on for too long, your body will begin to consume body fat which can lead to ketones being created at dangerous levels.
High levels of ketones can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis.
14. Frequent Urination
We talked earlier about excessive thirst. This is related. As the body tries to metabolize glucose, it pulls water away from the cells, the kidneys are working hard to filter out and reabsorb the water being flushed out.
Because of this, abnormally high trips to the bathroom will occur. And the more you go, your body will start to feel the effects of dehydration and cause the urge to drink even more. It’s a vicious cycle that will lead to some sleepless nights due to bathroom trips.
15. Depression
Most might not think this is a direct symptom of diabetes but studies have shown that if you have diabetes, it can cause depression. This is the most common in women but it can happen in men too.
Mental and physical fitness are somewhat linked together. If you take care of one, the other will follow. If you have any of the signs contained in this article then it’s likely to be causing some degree of stress.
16. Repeated Urinal Tract Infection
Trying to ignore a UTI is nearly impossible. It’s kind of like trying to pee fire. They’re easily treatable but having them often can be a sign of diabetes. In the case of a diabetic, poor circulation is usually the cause.
As white blood cells can’t reach the infected area efficiently due to circulation issues, it becomes much harder to fight off the infections. Also, since germs love sugar, the increase of glucose in the blood is often food for an infection.
17. Prolonged Dehydration
We’ve covered thirst a couple of different times in this article but it can be very serious and needs to be addressed. Many times, it’s ignored. As your body gets rid of excess glucose, it also gets rid of water. You’ll have a craving to drink more. But as symptoms get worse, the amount of liquids you drink never seems to be enough and will lead to dehydration.
The most severe cases of dehydration can lead to death so it shouldn’t be taken lightly and not go unchecked.
We encourage you to have any of these symptoms checked out by your doctor. And even though diabetes can’t be 100% cured, it can be managed with lifestyle changes or medication. Please share the article with friends or family if you think it would be a benefit.
