Signs of Diabetes

What are the signs of Diabetes?

The phrase "signs of Diabetes" should, strictly speaking, refer only to those signs and symptoms of Diabetes that are not readily apparent to the patient. The word "symptoms of Diabetes" is the more general meaning; see symptoms of Diabetes.

The signs and symptom information on this page attempts to provide a list of some possible signs and symptoms of Diabetes. This medical information about signs and symptoms for Diabetes has been gathered from various sources, may not be fully accurate, and may not be the full list of Diabetes signs or Diabetes symptoms. Furthermore, signs and symptoms of Diabetes may vary on an individual basis for each patient. Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of any signs or symptoms and whether they are indeed Diabetes symptoms.

Discussion of Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes:

The symptoms of diabetes progress according to the range and duration of high blood sugar levels. The symptoms usually start mild (e.g. poorly healing skin rashes), and then progress to the more severe symptoms (e.g. excessive thirst and urination), and then finally to the dangerous life-threatening conditions of HHNS or DKA. The progression of symptoms is usually slow over years for Type 2 diabetes and rapid over weeks or months for Type 1 diabetes. People with Type 2 diabetes often are undiagnosed long enough that they start to get symptoms of the complications of diabetes, such as kidney and foot problems.

List of symptoms of Diabetes:

The list of medical symptoms mentioned in various sources for Diabetes includes those listed below. Note that Diabetes symptoms usually refers to various medical symptoms known to a patient, but the phrase Diabetes signs may often refer to those signs that are only noticable by a doctor:

• No early symptoms - many people have Type 2 diabetes without knowing it
• Early mild symptoms - from moderate blood sugars (which are still dangerous and lead to serious complications):
  • Abscess
  • Skin rashes
  • Skin infections
  • Athlete's foot
  • Poor skin healing
  • Urinary tract infections
  • Candida
  • Thrush
  • Dry itchy skin
  • Flaky skin
  • Skin ulcers
  • Skin boils
  • Peripheral neuropathy
  • Paresthesias
  • Foot tingling
  • Foot numbness
  • Hand tingling
  • Hand numbness
  • Blurred vision
  • Sexual problems
  • Erectile failure
  • Unusual vaginal dryness
  • Premature menopause
  • Absent periods
  • Poor healing - any type of difficulty healing of minor infections, injury or after surgery.
  • Weight loss
  • Weight gain
  • Drowsiness
  • Malaise
• Later more extreme symptoms when blood sugars get higher:
  • Excessive thirst
  • Excessive urination
  • Dehydration
  • Bed wetting - in children
  • Excessive hunger
  • Tiredness
  • Weight loss
  • Severe blurred vision
  • Muscle cramps
  • Muscle aches
  • Headaches
  • Irritability
  • Tiredness
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle weakness
  • Acne - often worsens from diabetes and improves once sugars controlled
  • Sexual problems
    • Erectile failure
    • Unusual vaginal dryness
  • Absent menstrual periods
  • Persistent fungal skin infections
    • Athlete's foot
    • Tinea
    • Thrush (Candida)
• Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar Nonketotic Syndrome (HHNS) - a very severe life-threatening complication of high blood sugars
• Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) - a very severe life-threatening complication of high blood sugars, requiring emergency treatment, which has very severe symptoms:
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Sweet-smelling fruity acetone breath
  • Breathing difficulty
  • Rapid Pulse
  • Abdominal pain - usually in children

Signs or Symptoms of Diabetes:

Am I at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes: NIDDK (Excerpt)

Many people have no signs or symptoms. Symptoms can also be so mild that you might not even notice them. Five million people in the United States have type 2 diabetes and do not know it. Here is what to look for:

• increased thirst
• increased hunger
• fatigue
• increased urination, especially at night
• weight loss
• blurred vision
• sores that do not heal

Sometimes people have symptoms but do not suspect diabetes. They delay scheduling a checkup because they do not feel sick. Many people do not find out they have the disease until they have diabetes complications, such as blurry vision or heart trouble. It is important to find out early if you have diabetes because treatment can prevent damage to the body from diabetes. (Source: excerpt from Am I at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes: NIDDK)

Keep your kidneys healthy: NIDDK (Excerpt)

An early sign of kidney damage is when your kidneys leak small amounts of a protein called albumin (al-BYOO-min) into the urine.

With more damage, the kidneys leak more and more protein. This problem is called proteinuria (PRO-tee-NOOR-ee-uh). More and more wastes build up in the blood. This damage gets worse until the kidneys fail. (Source: excerpt from Keep your kidneys healthy: NIDDK)

Dealing With Diabetes - Age Page - Health Information: NIA (Excerpt)

Some people with diabetes feel "run down" or have symptoms that may go unrecognized. Others have symptoms such as feeling thirsty, urinating frequently, losing weight, feeling tired, having blurred vision, getting skin infections, and having slow healing cuts and bruises. These problems should be reported to a doctor right away. (Source: excerpt from Dealing With Diabetes - Age Page - Health Information: NIA)

More symptoms of Diabetes:

More detailed symptom information may be found on the symptoms of Diabetes article. In addition to the above medical information, to get a full picture of the possible signs or symptoms of this condition and also possibly the signs and symptoms of its related medical conditions, it may be necessary to examine symptoms that may be caused by complications of Diabetes, underlying causes of Diabetes, associated conditions for Diabetes, risk factors for Diabetes, or other related conditions.

Medical articles on signs and symptoms:

These general reference articles may be related to medical signs and symptoms of disease in general:

• Books on signs and symptoms
• Books on medical diagnosis
• Symptoms of the Silent Killer Diseases
• Symptoms and Medical Malpractice