Surprising Diabetes Symptoms
Symptoms of Diabetes That Will Surprise You
- Surprising Diabetes Symptoms
by Laura Colarusso
Surprsing Diabetes Symptoms
Diabetes is a disease that affects our bodies' ability to break down sugars. More than 20 million Americans suffer from the disorder, though about one quarter of those with the diabetes don't know they have it, according to the National Institutes of Health. People can suffer for years without knowing diabetes is silently wreaking havoc on their bodies. With that in mind, here's a list of diabetes symptoms that everybody should know. - Surprising Diabetes Symptoms
Irritability
Emotional changes are something to watch out for, according to Sue McLaughlin, a certified diabetes instructor with the American Diabetes Association. It's easy to dismiss irritability as a symptom of a bad day at work, whining children or a fight with your spouse. However, dramatic changes in blood sugar can cause mood swings, she said. Just think about how cranky you get when you've been hungry for a while and how you perk backup once you've gotten some food in your belly. - Surprising Diabetes Symptoms
Frequent Urination
Having to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom is annoying. Having to do it every couple of hours could be a sign you've got diabetes. Frequent urination is one of the most common symptoms of the disease, said Dr. John M. Miles, an endocrinologist with Mayo Clinic. When your blood sugar rises past normal levels, your kidneys pass the excess into the urine. The production of the urine then increases in response to the sugar, Miles said. - Surprising Diabetes Symptoms
Excessive Thirst
Everyone has experienced thirst after exercising or going for a few hours without drinking water. But, a consistently dry mouth might mean something more than you need to startupping your fluid intake, Miles said. As an indicator of diabetes, excessive thirst goes hand in hand with the frequent urination. Because the fluid is flushing out of the body, your system can't stay hydrated.. But, don't worry if you're thirsty from time to time. The real concern is when you feel a chronic insatiable need for fluids, Miles added. - Surprising Diabetes Symptoms
Extreme Hunger and Fatigue
Because diabetics excrete most of the sugar they take in, the body doesn't get the nourishment it needs, said Dr. McLaughlin. Since the body isn't getting enough fuel, that leads to feelings of famine and weakness. "When the blood sugar is high, everything is going into the toilet," McLaughlin said. You wind up with insatiable cravings and legs that can't make it up the stairs. People often attribute fatigue to getting older, but McLauglin advises taking a closer look because it can also mean that the muscles aren't getting enough nutrients. - Surprising Diabetes Symptoms
Blurry Vision
Like many of the other diabetes symptoms, blurred vision has to do with fluids. When a person's sugar levels spikes, fluid is drawn out of the lens of the eye, which then changes shape in response. When the fluid is replaced, the lens swells back up, according to Miles, who noted that the eye acts much like a cracker in a bowl of water and absorbs as much fluid as it can. "In a nutshell, the lens of the eye is shrinking and swelling," he explained. The shift in fluid levels changes the way the eye takes in the light. - Surprising Diabetes Symptoms
Unusual Weight Loss
Though diabetes is often associated with obesity, unexplained weight loss can point a blood sugar imbalance, according to Miles. Because the sugar can't be broken down, it gets excreted before the calories get a chance to turn into fuel for the body. "The calories are wasted," explained Miles. "The sugar doesn't get used." To compensate, the body starts relying on the energy already stored up in the body in the form of fat.Once the body taps in to these reserve supplies, diabetes patients often start to see their weight drop and waistlines shrink. - Surprising Diabetes Symptoms
Leg Pain
Blood sugar imbalances affect every part of the body, including the nervous system. High blood sugar can, therefore, throw a person's pain threshold out of whack. Even in a person whohas a high threshold. When a person's blood sugar rises, they will start to notice pains they might not have felt before, said Laughlin. This phenomenon is especially evident in the legs and feet, Laughing noted that is because people tend to put a lot of stress on their lower limbs. - Surprising Diabetes Symptoms
Itchy, Dry Skin
When you have high blood sugar, the fluid imbalance doesn't just affect your eyes, muscles and nervous system. It also affects your skin. To make up for the deficit, the body pilfers the fluid from its organs, and the skin happens to be one of the biggest sources of moisture because of its relative size. Everybody gets dry skin from time to time, so when should you worry? It depends on what's normal for your skin and how big of a change you see, said McLaughlin. If there's a persistent, dramatic change, then it's probably time to see your doctor. - Surprising Diabetes Symptoms
Slow to Heal Cuts
Slow-healing cuts or sores are another often overlooked symptom of diabetes. As the high blood sugar leeches fluids from the body, it thickens the blood. That makes it harder for white blood cells -- the cells that protect us from infection and foreign bodies -- to travel through the body. That, in turn, makes it more difficult for these cells to help that bug bite to heal. Diabetics might notice it's taking longer for something as simple as a superficial scrape on a knee or elbow to go away. Even pimples might linger for a few days more than before.
