Type 1 Diabetes Symptoms
For millions of families, it’s not uncommon to know someone who suffers from diabetes, which is a syndrome when the body either produces high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia), your body doesn’t produce enough insulin (type 1 diabetes) or your body doesn’t respond to insulin (type 2 and gestational diabetes) which can lead to hyperglycemia.
But over 15,000 children are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes each year. It is not known what causes type 1 diabetes but many children are diagnosed with juvenile diabetes (and some adults as well). Here are several type 1 diabetes to keep an eye out for and if you feel you exhibit one of these signs, it is important to contact your physician to determine if you do have diabetes or not.
Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes
Weight Loss
For some diabetics, especially those with type 1 diabetes, some people unusually lose a lot of weight because the pancreas is not producing any insulin. Since insulin creates energy for your body, your body tries to look for an energy source and thus it breaks down fan.
Increase In Urination
A major symptom of diabetics is the fact that they visit the bathroom more often. If you feel that you urinate quite often throughout the day, this is a possible sign of diabetes. The body feels the urge to urinate when there is too much glucose in the blood. Insulin which converts blood sugar to energy may be ineffective and your kidneys are unable to filter the glucose back into your blood. This makes your body react by attempting to exert any extra water in the blood to dilute glucose.
Increase in Thirst and Hunger
If you feel thirsty constantly, this is another symptom of diabetes. Drinking a lot of liquids, leads to more urination. The more you urinate, the more your body will want to replace the water, thus making you feel thirsty.
The same can be said about hunger. Your body is craving for more food as your body wants to convert the insulin to energy.
Feeling Tired All the Time
When your body doesn’t produce insulin (which converts glucose to energy), your body’s glucose does not become cells and your body reacts to being tired since it’s lacking energy thus making you feel weak or tired.
Your Hands, Legs or Feet are Feeling Numb
When there is too much glucose in the blood and it slowly starts to damage your nervous system and cause nerve damage, this can lead to neuropathy and a symptom is numbness from the hands, legs or feet.
Body Taking Longer to Heal Cuts and Wounds
Another sign of diabetes is you notice that your body is not healing as quickly as it should. This is a sign that your body may have a high blood sugar level and there is little to no insulin to convert the blood sugar to glucose (energy).
Other Symptoms
Other symptoms of type 1 diabetes include irritability, itching and blurry vision.
Of course, if you are having one of these symptoms, it does not mean you have diabetes but if you have a family with a long history of diabetes or you notice that you have one or more of the signs of having diabetes, it’s very important to meet with your physician immediately.