Although we talk mostly about Diabetic Food I thought the question “Diabetic? How Do You Know You Have Diabetes?” was in order, after all, it is how it all starts. Well, like a lot of people with type 2 diabetes, you don’t! The reason for this is that the symptoms can be so mild and develop so gradually that you do not even notice them or you do not even have any symptoms.
I became a diabetic when I was 59. I had a family history of diabetes that went directly back to my father and his mother, so the chances of my getting diabetes were always pretty good. So for me, the question Diabetic? How Do You Know You Have Diabetes? was always something I knew the answer to. I had a pretty good handle on Diabetes Symptoms. Nevertheless, knowing I had this family history, whenever my doctor would have me get a blood test, the first thing I always asked was, “how is my blood sugar?” and I was always relieved when the answer came back “good”. I was always very concerned because I had a major sweet tooth. It’s funny or sad, depending on how you look at it, here I am concerned over the results of my blood sugar test, but not concerned enough to do anything about my eating habits. I guess a better way to characterize my concern would be to say I was relieved, that way I could keep on with my bad eating habits and feel alright about it.
For those of you who are asking yourself the question Diabetic? How Do You Know You Have Diabetes? here are some diabetes symptoms to watch for; excessive thirst, blurred vision or a sudden change in vision, frequent urination (especially during the night), feeling tired a lot, being hungrier than usual, itchy or very dry skin, sores that do not heal as quickly as they use to, unexplained weight loss or more infections than usual. I can tell you that I experienced three of these and it seemed to me that they started almost overnight. The first things I noticed were excessive thirst and urination. Wow, for as bad as it was I might as well have pitched a tent in my bathroom and brought along a cooler full of drinks. It was bad. The third thing was my sight. I am far sighted, but all of a sudden I could not see things 10 feet away, they were all blurry. The really amazing thing to me was that I could read the finest of small print. My eyes had done a complete 180 degree turn around. Since my work required that I be on the road, this was definitely not a good thing. So, it was off to the doctor for me so I could get the official answer and, of course, I did have diabetes.
Diabetic? How Do You Know You Have Diabetes? It is easy to find out. If you think you have any of the Diabetes Symptoms mentioned above, a simple blood test will give you the answer. I mean, even if you are not experiencing the above symptoms, there are still reasons to have your blood sugar tested anyway. A family history of diabetes, you are over the age of 45 or you are under the age of 45 and are overweight. I am not talking about 5 pounds here, I meant, overweight! These are all reasons to have your blood sugar tested. In addition to your current blood sugar level, which the doctor can check right in his office, the blood test will give your doctor (and you) additional information about your blood sugar that can be traced back 90 days. This result is pretty much the confirmation that you are a diabetic or not.
As with many things having to do with our health, getting the answer to Diabetic? How Do You Know You Have Diabetes? can be a scary proposition. If you have any reason to believe that you have Diabetes Symptoms it is better to find out sooner rather than later. Diabetes can be a devastating disease. The sooner you find out that you have it, the better off you will be. And once you know you have it, and I can’t overemphasize this, take care of it, constantly.
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