What Are the Symptoms of a Diabetic Reaction?

Diabetes is a condition that exists when an individual has excessively high blood sugar levels. This condition should be diagnosed early, since it can lead to various long-term health problems. In order to diagnose diabetes, a physician will order a blood test, based on the patient's risk factors for diabetes, and the symptoms she experiences, such as excessive thirst, fatigue, hunger, unexplained weight loss and vision problems.

Thirst

• Without insulin to draw sugar from the blood, blood glucose levels remain high. In order to remove the sugar from the blood, the kidneys must filter out the excess sugar, and excrete it in urine. Generating enough liquid to carry the sugar forces the kidneys to draw fluid from the other tissues in the body, which causes dehydration and excessive thirst.

Fatigue

• Regardless of the amount, or type, of calories consumed by diabetics, their impaired glucose mechanism results in low energy levels and nearly constant fatigue. The diabetic's low insulin levels result in an inability to effectively use the calories in the food they eat. This inability to process calories correctly leads to fatigue.

Hunger

• A diabetic will frequently experience excessive hunger, despite eating adequate amounts of food. The hunger signals received by a diabetic, however, are not the result of an empty stomach. Diabetics feel hunger because, without insulin, their bodies do not have the ability to use all of the calories they consume.

Weight Loss

• One of the functions of insulin is to remove excess sugar from the blood, and store it as fat. Another function is to help the body efficiently use sugar in the blood to provide energy for the body's functions. When insulin is no longer functioning correctly, a diabetic will no longer store fat, and will be unable to use the sugar in his blood for energy. In this situation, the diabetic will be forced to generate energy from existing fat stores, which causes rapid weight loss.

Vision Problems

• The fluid loss and chronic dehydration that results from high blood glucose levels can cause blurry vision in diabetics. Dehydration results from the kidney's need to draw fluid from tissues in the body, including the eyes. Lowered fluid levels in the eye reduces the diabetic's ability to focus effectively, resulting in vision problems.