When you have chronic high blood sugar, symptoms can come on so slowly that you do not notice them. Most of the time, people first learn that they have type 2 diabetes when they visit their healthcare provider for another reason and their high blood sugar levels are detected as part of routine testing. That does not mean that there are no warning signs of high blood sugar that you can watch for and identify if you know to look for them. Below, you will find the most common symptoms of chronic high blood sugar.
Increased Urination
When the blood contains excess glucose that it is unable to use properly, it is the job of the kidneys to flush it out of the body, and the method they use to do this is by filtering it into the urine so that it may be removed from the body. The increased urine production leads you to have to urinate more frequently than normal, and is especially noticeable when you have to get up at night to urinate.
Increased Thirst
The kidneys use up more water than usual in order to remove the excess blood sugar from the body, and many chronic blood sugar symptoms are related to the body’s loss of water and increased risk of dehydration. In order to replace all the extra water that is used up, the body responds by increasing thirst signals. Many diabetics complain of being thirsty all the time.
Recurring Infections or Slow Wound Healing
An increase in the amount of sugar in the blood changes the viscosity of the blood, affecting both its ability to carry oxygen and the body’s ability to circulate it properly. Since the body needs plenty of oxygen and blood flow in order to heal itself, when that blood flow is impaired, it becomes much more difficult to heal wounds and treat infections, making them take longer to heal and more likely to recur.
Blurred Vision
Some parts of the body are filled with thousands of tiny capillaries, and one of the highest concentrations of these tiny blood vessels is in the eyes. The increased viscosity of the blood damages those capillaries, which steadily becomes worse and worse over time. Diabetes mellitus is one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States.
Unexplained Weight Loss
Elevated blood glucose in diabetics is due mainly to the body’s inability to properly utilize a hormone called insulin, which allows cells to take up the glucose and use it for fuel. Just about every diabetes management plan involves improving the ability of glucose to function and improving the cells’ ability to take up the glucose. When the body is unable to do so, the body turns to itself for the fuel it needs, resulting in weight loss that cannot otherwise be explained.
Increased Appetite
One common thread between low blood sugar and high blood sugar is that the body believes that it is not getting any fuel to function, the difference being that in the case of diabetes mellitus, the fuel is there but the body cannot use it. In the end, the result is the same – an increase in appetite.
Fatigue or Lethargy
One more result of the body’s inability to make use of the glucose in the blood is a marked loss of energy. Diabetics often report being chronically fatigued or regularly lethargic, and this is mostly due to the body not being able to get the energy it needs in order to function properly.
Sadly, chronic high blood sugar symptoms come on in such a gradual manner that many people fail to notice them until they have risen to such a level that they become damaging to the body. If you or someone you know has a family history of diabetes or is overweight, there are indeed several different signs that you can watch for. The only way to know for sure is to visit your healthcare provider, but if one or more of the symptoms of diabetes become apparent, it is a good indicator that something may indeed be wrong.
