Warning Signs Diabetes: My Story

Warning Signs Diabetes: Be Aware

I’ve been a diabetic for nearly 30 years, and, for the last several of these I have been diligent in my personal blood sugar control. I check my glucose levels several times daily and my medical check-ups reflect that. I still hope to live a long life. This is my story! I discuss the warning signs of diabetes and its onset condition called pre-diabetes; diabetes has several subtle onset warning signs which I will enumerate later in this hub.

When I was first diagnosed, I noticed some of these pre-diabetic symptoms and, although I felt good, I believed something was wrong in my body. My doctor checked my blood sugar levels. Blood sugar levels is the measure of the dilution of glucose in the blood. It is measured in milligrams per decaliter of blood (Mg/Dl and should read between 70-140). My reading was obviously high so he prescribed pill medication, exercise and diet. Guess what? Within two/three months my diabetic symptoms were gone! He bragged on me and allowed me to drop my medicine; I was healed! No! No, I wasn’t. With false confidence I proceeded and slowly become more lax in my diet. I felt good and the diabetes symptoms were so subtle I kept ignoring them. I even neglected going regularly to a doctor and in doing so set myself up for lifelong complications. My wake-up call came when I stepped on some small nails and the foot infection that followed would not heal. I was in my early 40’s and had to have a toe amputated. Then, over the following few years, a series of maladies hit all caused by diabetes. Within this time span, I had a stroke and kidney failure.

I am glad to report that now things for me are doing much better. I am a kidney transplant patient; I watch my sugar levels religiously, exercise daily and see my doctors like clockwork. I have taken many diabetic classes, opened a personal website on diabetes where I have gathered meaningful information for myself and others (I will give the links later). I have become somewhat of an expert on diabetes and its complications through the “school of hard knocks!” However, I can’t help but grieve the fact that I was so stupid and mule-headed. I would trade my degree of bad experience for common sense any time!

On the other hand, I do not want to be too gloomy for I have also seen even more evidence you can control your diabetes without it controlling you! This is now my quest and I am bit by bit overcoming. By knowing the facts, keeping the faith, and exercising some discipline I am doing better and you can too. PLEASE see a doctor if you have any of these signs.

What are the Warning Signs of Diabetes?

1. Persistent Thirst This was the sign that I first noticed in my own diabetes Mellitus. I should have gone to a physician right away, but I did not. Don't be imprudent. Your thirst may well be a signal of diabetes. Your body is pulling extra water out of your blood and you're becoming dried out and feel the need to drink more to reinstate the water.

2. Frequent trips to the bathroom Urination becomes more repeated when there is too much sugar in the blood. If insulin is nonexistent or ineffective, the kidneys can't filter enough glucose back to the blood. They have to draw extra water out of the blood to reduce the sugar concentration. This keeps your bladder packed, and it keeps you running to the bathroom.
3. Weight Loss This symptom is more noticeable with Type 1 diabetes. In Type 1, the body often attacks the insulin producing cells. The body looks for an energy source because the cells aren't getting glucose. It starts to break down muscle tissue and fat for energy. However, it also affects type 2 with gradually increasing insulin resistance. Type 2 diabetes is caused by the body becoming insulin resistant and cannot use the insulin produced. It is possible to have symptoms of both types.
4. Weakness and Fatigue It's all about those sugar levels! Glucose from our food we eat moves into the bloodstream where insulin transfers it into the cells of our body. The cells use it to manufacture the energy we need to live. Without insulin you feel listless. Or, if the cells resist insulin, then the glucose stays outside the cells in the bloodstream. The cells become vigor starved, drained and run down.
5. Tingling or Numbness in Your Hands, Legs or Feet This is also called neuropathy, and it occurs gradually over time as consistent high glucose in the blood damages the nervous system, especially in the feet and hands. Type 2 diabetes is a measured onset, and people are often not attentive that they have it. Therefore, blood sugar might be high for more than a few years before a diagnosis is made. (This is what happened to me!) Nerve damage creeps up devoid of our awareness. Neuropathy can very often improve when tighter blood glucose control is achieved.

These five above are only the major warning signs but there are also many other. For examples, blurred vision, dry, itchy skin, frequent cuts and bruises that take a long time to heal. If you see any of the above signs, contact your doctor. He or she will be able to tell you if you have reason to be concerned about a diagnosis of diabetes.

I hope you will visit my website, http://www.knowingdiabetes.com/ or my alternate general health issues site, Health Issues Articles.