Warning: Diabetes Ahead

Seven symptoms may indicate the onset of type 2 diabetes.

You’ve heard about diabetes all your life. You likely know someone who has it. Now, you’re wondering if you could be developing the disease as well.

Diabetes occurs when your blood sugar, known as blood glucose, becomes too high. The glucose in your blood comes from the foods you eat and is what provides your body with energy. Insulin plays a key role in diabetes. This hormone is produced by the pancreas and helps glucose enter your cells so it can be used for energy. Sometimes the body fails to make enough insulin, stops producing any insulin, or no longer uses insulin in the right way. When this happens, glucose builds up in your blood and isn’t able to be used by cells for energy.

As your blood glucose levels rise, you may or may not notice early symptoms. If you catch the disease early enough, you have an opportunity many don’t. Because if you take the right steps, you may be able to slow its progression or stop it altogether without ever needing to take medication.

Sound good? Then don’t ignore the following symptoms. If you experience any of these, make an appointment to see your doctor immediately.

Feeling Thirsty

As your blood sugar rises, your kidneys aren’t able to absorb the extra glucose. This makes your body produce more urine, which requires more fluids. To keep up with your kidneys, you begin to feel thirstier than normal. Adults typically urinate four to seven times a day, but someone with high blood sugar may need to run to the bathroom much more frequently.

Hungry

Wonder why you feel hungry all the time? It could be due to high blood sugar. When your body’s not producing enough insulin or not using it properly, glucose can’t enter your cells and you lack energy. The end result? You feel fatigued and hungrier than usual.

Blurred Eyesight

With elevated blood sugar levels and kidneys that are working overtime to produce more urine, the fluid level in your body fluctuates. One sign of this problem could be blurred vision. As fluid levels change, tiny blood vessels in your eye may leak and the lenses in your eyes may swell, resulting in short-term poor eyesight.

Dry Skin

Since your kidneys are using all extra body fluids to produce urine, you may notice other parts of your body seem drier than usual. Your skin may feel dry and itchy or your mouth may lack saliva and feel dry.

Wounds Won’t Heal

Have a small cut or sore that won’t seem to go away? Slow-healing wounds can be an early sign of diabetes. This happens when too much glucose in the blood narrows blood vessels, slowing the body’s blood flow and damaging nerves. When wounds lack blood flow to bring oxygen and nutrients, they aren’t able to heal like they normally would.

Numb Feet

The longer you have high blood sugar, the more harm it can do to your body. One complication from unmanaged high blood sugar is nerve damage that slowly worsens. Over time, it can result in pain and/or numbness in the legs, feet, toes, hands, or fingers.

Weight Loss

Even though high blood sugar makes you hungrier and thirstier than usual, one sign of diabetes is weight loss. Weight loss may occur because all the extra glucose is being eliminated when you urinate instead of being used or stored by the body for energy.