Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in childhood and is spotted very early. It’s also vital for it to be managed as early as possible because it’s a condition that somebody would live with for the rest of their lives.
Type 2 diabetes causes a blood sugar level to become too high and is generally diagnosed slightly later in life. It’s a common condition, with more than 37 million people in the United States dealing with it. The onset can be gradual and symptoms can be mild in the early stages, including things like increased thirst, frequent urination, and exhaustion.
Diabetes isn’t something that people often realize they have. They just think it’s because they are tired from their jobs. Understanding the early warning signs of type 2 diabetes can be massively helpful in monitoring your health. The early warning signs of type 2 diabetes include:
- Frequent urination. No, you are not just drinking too much. And no, getting up in the night as an adult isn’t actually normal to go to the toilet several times. When your blood sugar levels are too high, your kidneys will try to remove that excess sugar by filtering it through the blood instead. This will make you feel like you need to go to the toilet more often, especially during the night.
- An increase in your thirst. Most people will attribute the increased urination to an increase in thirst without correlating that type 2 diabetes can be the cause. With all of the urination necessary to remove the excess sugars from the blood. Thirst levels and dehydration levels go up and this will make you feel thirstier than usual and it becomes a cycle where you are constantly drinking water.
- You feel hungrier than usual. Most people who deal with type 2 diabetes often do not get enough energy from their food alone, especially when they are expelling all of that sugar through their urine. Therefore you may feel constantly hungry and weight gain as a side effect.
- High levels of fatigue. You may not just be exhausted from commuting to work every day. Type 2 diabetes can impact your energy levels and cause you to feel much more fatigued than usual. With insufficient sugar moving from the bloodstream into the body cells for energy. Diabetic fatigue is a result.
- Issues with your vision. Too much sugar in the blood can damage the blood vessels in the eyes. One of the most important things to keep an eye on when you are diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic is your eyesight, because if you notice that your vision is blurry, you may be dealing with an excess of sugar. If you are going without treatment, the damage can be severe. In fact, it could lead to permanent vision loss.
- You are dealing with circulatory issues in your feet and hands. That tingling and that numbness isn’t normal. High blood sugar levels can affect your circulation and damage your nerves, and this can lead to tingling or numbness in your hands or feet.
