There are certain health conditions that can sneak up on you when you think you’re healthy. You dismiss the signs or carry on after what you think is a brief bout with a bug. And then you learn that you were wrong.

In some people, the onset of diabetes is a rolling tide of symptoms that are hard to figure out, but won’t go away. It doesn’t always look like weight gain and a sugar addiction. By the time some people get a firm diagnosis, they are often too sick to function normally.

Since this disease doesn’t discriminate when it comes to age, its signs could hit anyone you know. Here are some of the symptoms of diabetes that are not so obvious but could be affecting your body each day.

1. Frequent Urination

   Are you getting up to go to the bathroom more often than usual? Finding yourself taking frequent bathroom breaks during the day? If your body is having trouble breaking down food, you’ll have excess sugar in the blood and the body reacts by needing to flush it out.

2. Weight Loss

   Sudden, unexplained weight loss without any changes to your appetite could indicate you are diabetic. The body isn’t absorbing all the calories it needs through food (and sugars) so you lose weight.

3. Slow Healing Wounds

   If your cuts, bruises, and sores take longer than usual to heal, it could be a sign of diabetes, which can lower your immune system’s defenses and slow the flow of blood to the wound site.

4. Increased Hunger or Thirst

   You’re losing a lot of fluid through urination so your thirst increases, and you may feel parched often. Additionally, because your body isn’t processing glucose properly, you feel a need to feed yourself all the time. You may notice that you get hangry or hungrier at night too.

5. Skin Discoloration

   Dark pigmentation on your groin, armpit, or the back of your neck could be an indication of insulin resistance. If you notice darker patches of skin in these areas and it also feels velvety, see your doctor.

6. Fatigue/Lethargy

   That afternoon slump could be more than slow digestion. If you constantly feel tired or find yourself needing naps (especially long ones), it could be a sign of a blood sugar problem. Your body isn’t getting the energy it needs to function.

7. Vision Problems

   Glucose buildup in the eye can distort your vision, causing it to be blurry. Extra fluid causes your eye lens to swell and change shape temporarily. Once treated, things typically go back to normal. Get checked out!

8. Tingling Sensations in Limbs

   When sugar levels in the blood are high, nerve damage can occur and lead to numbness or tingling in the feet or hands.

9. Infected or Bleeding Gums

   Elevated sugar in the system can lead to a higher amount of bacteria that like to feed off of it. Your mouth is a playground. But as with slow healing wounds, trauma to the mouth like harsh brushing or flossing can cause the gums to bleed, and bacterial interference makes it harder to heal.

If you’ve noticed any of these symptoms off and on or together, see your physician immediately. Diabetes left untreated can cause severe health complications in adults and children!

Were you aware of these less obvious signs of diabetes? Do you know someone who was diagnosed after having some of these symptoms? Are you being treated for this condition?

Sources:

Health.com

Mayo Clinic