Find out if you have diabetes here!

Welcome to March 28th, 2017. Today is diabetes alert day in the United States, a day when we try to get the word out to everyone that they (meaning YOU) could have diabetes.

 

Tired of diabetes, or tired with diabetes? When is fatigue more than fatigue?

 

Midnight.  I’m up again, seems impossible to get to sleep.  So tired.  But I know I must get up or I may embarrass myself.  Up, up, making my way shakily in the dark.  Stumbling over something, but I don’t want to turn on the light and risk waking someone.  Finally, here’s the door.  Open and rush in.  How many times will I need the bathroom tonight?

 

1:30 AM.  It feels like I just closed my eyes, but my bladder is prying them back open.  I shouldn’t have drank that soda after the last trip, but the thirst!  My stomach and my bladder have decided that I won’t sleep tonight.  Apparently sleep is overrated.  Urgent.  Up, up again.  Stumbling through the dark.  I should get a night-light.  Tripping again, it probably sounds like we’re being robbed with all this commotion.  Urgent!  I’m going, going, going.  So thirsty.  And hungry.  Maybe a quick drink from the sink.  Too tired to go to the kitchen.

 

2:43 AM.  I would cry if I had the strength.  Urgent, urgent.  Get up, I’ve been trying to wake you.  No accidents!  But so tired, tired.  Urgent, urgent.  Urgent!  Up, up, up.  Stumbling, where is that night-light?  Foot clipping the door, should hurt but doesn’t.  Too tired to think, but am I sick?  I don’t feel sick. Tired, tired.  Don’t close your eyes, try to make it back to bed.  Thirsty, will have to wait.

4:01 AM.  Hungry.  Hungry!  Thirsty, hungry.  No, no, no.  Have to be up for work in a few hours.  Hungry!  Donuts, pizza, sandwich? Cereal?  Hungry! Urgent. TIRED.  T i r e d.  Urgent.  Hungry.  Exhausted.  Up, up, feeling the way to the hall, and then the kitchen.

 

The person above may have diabetes.  The person above probably doesn’t know that they have diabetes.  We have all had sleepless nights, but this is a constellation of symptoms that mean you should talk to your doctor.  Frequent urination, more than just a little more often, an urgent need that may present hourly.  Hunger and thirst far beyond what is normal for you.  Exhaustion, in diabetes type 2 your body has an abundance of sugar, but the cells can’t access it and this leaves you feeling hungry and exhausted.  The kidneys try to dump the extra sugar in the urine, leaving you dehydrated, and wearing out the carpet between your bed and the nearest bathroom.

 

Today is diabetes alert day.  29 million people in the United States have diabetes, but only 21 million people are diagnosed.  That means that 8 million are walking around with undiagnosed diabetes. Take the American Diabetes Association test here.

 

Did OK on that test?  What about prediabetes?  Prediabetes affects over 80 million people in the United States.  You can take that test here.  Know the symptoms, spread the word.  Visit diabeticsurvivor.com for more information and articles to help you live better if you have diabetes. Knowledge is power.

Symptoms of Diabetes

• Frequent urination
• Excessive hunger
• Excessive thirst
• Fatigue
• Dizziness
• Lastly – if any of this sound eerily familiar, please see your doctor.