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The symptoms of diabetes may include:

Excessive Thirst and Urination
Excessive thirst (polydipsia) and frequent urination (polyuria) are the classical symptoms of diabetes. When sugar becomes high in the blood, the blood becomes thick and sticky. The body, in turn, stimulates thirst to add fluids to dilute blood sugar. The body at the same time tries to get rid of extra sugar by excreting it in urine. Frequent urination causes water loss in the body, which in diabetes, leads sugar to concentrate again in the blood. This abnormal cycle of thirst and urination continues to repeat. These symptoms are more prominent in type 1 than type 2 diabetes, and, often, may even be absent in people with type 2 diabetes.

Loss of Fluids
Excessive urination results in severe loss of fluids, a condition that leads to dehydration or water loss in the body. The dehydration can cause various medical conditions, including general weakness and the more serious condition called ketoacidosis in which acids become very high in the blood. Severe loss of water in the body can lead to coma and even death. 41

Severe Hunger
When your blood sugar is high, some sugar along with other nutrients passes in your urine. These nutrients, as well as sugar, are a source of energy to the body, and their excretion through frequent urination causes loss of energy. To regain energy, the body stimulates hunger. In addition, when sugar accumulates in the blood and does not reach the innumerable cells and muscles that require it for energy, the cells begin to starve and you feel hungry. (Excessive hunger, however, can also be a symptom of low blood sugar, which is a dangerous medical condition. To be sure, test your blood sugar.)

Weight Loss
In diabetes, you may be eating a lot and yet be losing your weight. Reason: when sugar is high in the blood, you may spill over some sugar in the urine. Because sugar is energy (4 calories per gram), you lose a large number of calories when you excrete large amounts of sugar in the urine. Loss of calories results in loss of weight. Rapid weight loss is a marked feature in people with type 1 diabetes, which, however, may be absent in people with type 2 diabetes.

Changes in Vision
Frequent changes in the levels of your blood sugar make your vision blurred or clear. When blood sugar remains high, the eye lens swells and distorts the vision; when blood sugar returns to the normal level, the eye lens recovers from swelling and the vision becomes clear. Blurred vision may frequently occur in people with diabetes. Note, however, that this condition sharply differs from the serious eye disease called retinopathy in which raised blood sugar levels, over time, can damage the retina, and may even lead to blindness in extreme conditions.

Fatigue
When insulin in your body is not enough, or it cannot work efficiently, sugar remains trapped in the blood and it is not properly delivered to your body’s cells where it is required for energy. When the body does not get proper nourishment, it lacks energy and you feel fatigued. However, keep in mind that fatigue can also be a sign of low blood sugar. To be sure, test your blood sugar. The feeling of fatigue is a common experience when your blood sugar becomes high such as when you eat a heavy meal loaded with refined carbohydrates such as white rice, white potatoes, and bakery items. Eating refined carbohydrates causes a maximum rise of blood sugar.

Infections
Diabetes affects your body’s ability to fight against infections, exposing you to increased infection risk. The infections most commonly associated with diabetes include gum infection, infection in the bladder, foot and skin infections, and various kinds of wounds and ulcers. These infections are slow to heal and tend to resist treatment. Acommon infection in diabetes is the yeast infection caused by a yeast fungus called Candida. Both men and women with diabetes may develop yeast infection, but women are at increased risk. Yeast infection causes vaginal yeast in women, a condition characterized by itching and irritation in the vagina, inflammation of the vulva, and a white coating on the vaginal walls. In men with yeast infection, the end of the penis may become red, swollen, painful, and filled with sores covered with a cheese-like white coating.

Nerve Pain
Raised blood sugar levels tend to damage all blood vessels in your body, including the tiny vessels that supply blood to the Diabetes Symptoms 43 nerves. When your nerves do not get enough blood, they become weak and you feel nerve pain. After having diabetes for several years, people tend to develop nerve pain or numbness in their legs, feet, arms, and hands. These are the common symptoms of nerve damage (neuropathy) caused by diabetes. Nerve pain may diminish or disappear with improved control of blood sugar; but it may come to stay when nerve damage has become chronic and irreversible. In addition, many men with diabetes who are 50 years or older may experience some degree of impotence from damage to the nerves that control erection.

Other Symptoms
These may include: itching, gum disease, darkening of the skin around eyes, and bad smell in breath.