Don't Let Diabetes Sneak Up on You — Learn to Recognize the Early Signs

Living with either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes can be a challenge. If you have this chronic condition, your body struggles to correctly process the energy stored in food due to issues with your natural supply of insulin. This can lead to potentially dangerous fluctuations in your blood sugar levels.

The experienced and compassionate primary care doctors and the rest of the team at Living Water Community Health and Wellness Clinic provide comprehensive support services for patients with diabetes. However, if you can recognize this condition early, you may be able to reverse its development.

Do you know the early signs of diabetes to watch out for? No matter what, catching your developing diabetes earlier improves your treatment outcomes and increases your range of options going forward.

Early signs of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes

Some symptoms can indicate both early Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. These include:

• Unusual hunger and low energy, due to problems with insulin and your ability to use the glucose in your food
• Frequent urination, due to diabetes-related problems with your blood sugar and kidney function
• Increased thirst, a feeling of dryness in your mouth or skin, or the need to drink more water
• Blurring vision, another side effect of increased dehydration in your body

If you notice these early warning signs, get checked out for diabetes by the team at Living Water Clinic right away. We can diagnose your prediabetes or diabetes and recommend the next steps you should take to protect your ongoing health and wellness.

Signs specific to Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition that causes your pancreas to stop producing insulin. Without insulin, your ability to absorb glucose and energy from food suffers. Type 1 diabetes is most likely to appear during childhood or the teenage years, but you can develop this type of diabetes at any age.

The early warning signs of Type 1 diabetes have to do with your body tapping muscle and fat stores to make up for energy deficiencies. You might see unplanned weight loss or suffer from diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially life-threatening condition that can make you feel nauseous or vomit due to a buildup of ketones in your blood because of burned fat.

Catching type 2 diabetes early

Type 2 diabetes occurs when your pancreas produces insulin normally but your body develops insulin resistance and can’t use your insulin supply properly. If you have insulin resistance, your cells can’t absorb sufficient glucose from your blood.

This leaves your blood sugar levels high. High blood sugar can lead to a host of health complaints, including heart problems and nerve damage.

Early signs of Type 2 diabetes are indications that your blood sugar has been elevated for too long a period. Both male and female patients can see yeast infections developing, as yeast feeds on glucose. If your high blood sugar has started to cause nerve damage, you could suffer from sores or cuts that are slow to heal, or you may experience pain or numbness in your feet or legs.

Type 2 diabetes often starts with a condition called prediabetes, with some insulin resistance appearing. If you can control your blood sugar through lifestyle changes, you may be able to prevent full-blown diabetes from developing.

Diagnosing and treating your diabetes

There isn’t a cure for diabetes. Once you receive your diagnosis, the care team at Living Water Clinic works with you to put together a treatment plan to normalize your blood sugar and control your diabetes. This can include lifestyle changes, including specialized diets and exercise plans, as well as medication management with supplemental insulin or other medications.

Your provider at Living Water Clinic monitors your condition over time. With the right care, you can keep your diabetes under control and prevent long-term health complications. 

To get in touch with the experienced family medicine doctors at Living Water Clinic, give our Porterville, Lindsay, or Visalia, California offices a call now, or go online to book your appointment.