Sunday, February 7, 2016

Symptoms and Detection

How fast can you drink a route 44 beverage from Sonic? When my blood sugar is high, I am pretty sure I can beat just about everyone. One of the first symptoms my sister saw in me before I was diagnosed with type one diabetes was how thirsty I always was. Before leaving the Sonic parking lot, my route 44-diet coke was already completely gone.
Excessive thirst, fatigue, weight loss, severe headaches and constant urination are only a few of the noticeable symptoms in diabetics.2
My older sister was diagnosed with type 1 when she was ten years old, and ten years later, I was diagnosed at the age of 16. My sister had seen the same symptoms in me that she felt when she could feel her blood sugar levels spike. Sure enough, the unusual increase in sleep, the feeling of “not enough to drink”, the constant headaches, and 20-pound weight loss in two weeks finally made sense. I was 16 , confused, and now diagnosed with a chronic disease. Talk about a life changing “sweet sixteen”.
With this type of disease, it is important to get immediate medical attention if some of these symptoms are present. The great increase in thirst, weight loss, unusual constant trips to the restroom, fatigue, and severe headaches are signs and symptoms of high blood glucose level. If  not treated immediately, the body will start shutting down its organs and the body will then go into Diabetic Kidney Acidosis (DKA), or may cause many more issues to the body.1
Each year, at annual check ups, doctors are aware of the warning signs and symptoms to type one diabetes along with type two. Type two diabetes typically occurs in older adults who are obese or overweight and is shown to have a history of running in one’s family. With such a strong and threatening disease, it is important to pay attention to your body, its behaviors, and to watch for those symptoms of your loved ones as well.


1 Mellitus, D. (2005). Diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes
care, 28, S37.
2 Coffman, M. J., & Norton, C. K. (2012). Diabetes symptoms, health literacy, and

health care use in adult Latinos with diabetes risk factors. Journal of cultural diversity, 19(1), 4.

1 comment:

  1. I am sorry too hear about your troubles with Diabetes. This is a great article of awareness and symptoms of diabetes. I just wonder what are some early warning signs someone needs to be aware of?

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