Diabetes Signs, Symptoms and Solutions

Back when I was 20 years old I began to urinate an exorbitant amount of times in a day. I didn't really think much about it because I was also drinking gallons of water, tea and soda pop. I was also getting really hungry, angry, headaches, tired all the time and I began to lose my hair.

Again, I didn't really think much about it. I was actually happy because I had lost over 30 pounds in a few months.

Little did I know these were all classic diabetes signs and symptoms.

There are a few blatant symptoms someone with out-of-control diabetes exhibits. In other words, you can see them with simple observations as opposed to the doctor doing a test.

Thirst and Frequent Urination

The most common diabetes symptom is extreme thirst. Classically this is followed by frequent urination. It is your body's way of eliminating the extra sugar in your bloodstream (you will get to the point where you feel like you are peeing syrup).

I can always tell a person has out-of-control diabetes because their "bad aim" in the bathroom creates puddles that form sugar crystals right on the toilet.

At one point I was drinking 3 gallons of water a day and peeing about 20 to 40 times. Nothing would satisfy that thirst in me.

Out of Place Anger and Headaches

I am normally a very calm person but before I was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes, I remember randomly punching a hole in a wall and yelling at the smallest problem. Irritability was putting it lightly. I would also experience debilitating headaches for hours at a time.

Rapid Weight Loss

Ok, I loved losing all my turning-twenty-weight, but it was not worth the cost. The reason you are losing the weight is because your body is literally eating itself to death. When I finally did listen to a Chiropractor and visit a Doctor, I was two weeks away from dying from something called Diabetic Acidosis also known as Ketoacidosis (from the burning of muscle and fat).

Ravenous Hunger

Diametrically opposing the weight loss was an extreme hunger. I was eating so much food and losing so much weight, that my friends were all jealous. I would have a huge pastrami sandwich, a pasta salad, three cokes and chips and be hungry for more in an hour. What was happening is my cells were not absorbing the sugar (energy) and instead dumping it out in my urine. So the more I ate, the hungrier I would become.

Fatigue and Always Tired

No matter what I did, I would feel tired. Friends told me it could have been a million different things except a Diabetes symptom. What was happening was in fact the ultimate tiredness -- my cells were not getting their oxygen and energy they needed to survive because my insulin production was way down. Remember, insulin is sort of the doorman that lets the energy into your cells.

A Doctor can actually determine if you have diabetes in about 5 seconds using a blood sugar glucose meter (glucometer) and in hours using other tests. Here are a few you can ask your Physician to run on you.

Blood Sugar Test - Glucometer

The common 5 second test a Doctor will run uses a blood glucose meter (also used by diabetics several times a day). The Glucometer uses a small drop of blood to measure the concentration of glucose in the blood at a given moment in time. This instrument measures your blood sugar level in either:

US: mg/DL (milligrams per deciliter). The American Diabetes Association recommends a pre-meal blood sugar between 70 and 130 mg/L and an after meal blood sugar level of between 180 mg/L. Remember these are guidelines and not always possible.

Canada and Everywhere Else in the World: mmol/L (milimoles per liter). The Canadian Diabetes Association recommends a pre-meal blood glucose level between 4.0 and 7.0 mmol/L and an after meal blood sugar level between 5.0 and 10.0 mmol/L.

These figures are for a diabetic Type I or diabetic Type II patient.

I was actually diagnosed in the US and later moved back to Canada and was confused by the numbers until my Endocrinologist told me just to multiple the mmol/L reading by 18 to get the American figure.

Spilling Sugar in Your Urine

The classic diabetes test was to have the patient pee on a strip that turns color when sugar is present in the urine. The problem with this test is that if you are "spilling sugar" you are in a late stage of hyperglycemia (high blood sugar level) that could have been detected long before with a glucometer. I actually still use these strips at restaurants to see if the drink they hand me is diet or regular (about 25% of the time they get it WRONG!)

A1C or Glycated Hemoglobin

An A1C test is measuring a 3 month average of your blood sugar level. The science of this can be found on Wiki's A1C Page. The Doctor will take your blood, send it to a lab and hopefully the number is around 6% to 7% or .060 or .070. Anything higher and you are likely diabetic.

Antiquated Blood Glucose Tolerance Test

An older test that may still be used to determine the state the diabetes symptoms or signs are in is the Glucose Tolerance Test. The lab takes a base fasting blood sugar level and then begins to give you measured amounts of glucose over a typical 4 hour period and taking regular blood sugar readings. This creates a profile of how your body is handling the sugar being introduced and determines if you are diabetic. It is rarely used anymore because of the length of the test can be shortened into an accurate fasting reading. However, if the doctor suspects borderline diabetes, they may run this test.

When my doctor finally confirmed I had Diabetes Type I, I was absolutely devastated. I could not even imagine what the rest of my life was going to be like taking needles all the time, pricking my finger and eating practically no food I was then eating.

I began talking to friends that had diabetes and paying better attention to their actions. The doctor also sent me for classes at the local hospital.

I quickly found out my fears mostly stemmed from the unknown. Once I learned how to inject insulin (not so painful as it sounds), had a few scary low sugar readings and found out I could still eat pretty well whatever I wanted (in moderation and with adjustment) I was feeling like I might actually be okay with this new disease.

People often ask me what the hardest part of diabetes is and I tell them "what I used to take for granted, I have to now think hard about". My system is now a manual transmission instead of an automatic. I have to calculate if I eat that piece of cake, or exercise a bit more that day -- what do I have to adjust.

Think of diabetes as balancing a book on the tip of your finger. On each corner you have to quickly adjust diet, medication, exercise and stress. Any one of these items gets tipped slightly, everything is out of whack.

Another important solution I have actually found quit recently is a book called, "How To Reverse Diabetes NOW!" I didn't think it was possible (especially for Type I diabetics) but now I do think it is very possible for both Type I and Type II diabetes to rid themselves of this disease or at least reduce your medication significantly and live a much longer healthier life. You can read my review of How to Reverse Diabetes NOW! and get other blood sugar testing and solutions at my BLOOD SUGAR BLOG.