High blood sugar, also known as hyperglycemia, occurs when there’s too much glucose (sugar) in your blood. This often happens when your body either doesn’t produce enough insulin (the hormone that helps glucose enter your cells for energy) or doesn’t use insulin properly (insulin resistance).
The symptoms of high blood sugar can develop slowly over days or weeks, and some people, especially those with prediabetes or early type 2 diabetes, may not experience noticeable symptoms at all. However, it’s crucial to be aware of the signs, as prolonged high blood sugar can lead to serious health complications.
Here are the common symptoms of high blood sugar:
Early and Common Symptoms:
- Increased Thirst (Polydipsia): Your kidneys try to remove the excess sugar by producing more urine, leading to fluid loss and increased thirst. You might feel constantly parched, no matter how much you drink.
- Frequent Urination (Polyuria): As your kidneys work harder to flush out the extra glucose, you’ll need to ur urinate more often, especially at night.
- Increased Hunger (Polyphagia): Despite eating, your cells aren’t getting enough glucose for energy (because of insufficient insulin or insulin resistance), so your body signals that it’s hungry.
- Fatigue and Weakness: Even with increased food intake, your cells are starved for energy, leading to feelings of tiredness, lethargy, and general weakness. Dehydration from frequent urination can also contribute to fatigue.
- Blurred Vision: High blood sugar can cause fluid to shift into and out of the lenses of your eyes, leading to temporary swelling and blurry vision. This usually resolves when blood sugar levels return to normal.
- Headaches: Fluctuating blood sugar levels and dehydration can contribute to headaches.
- Unexplained Weight Loss: If your body isn’t getting energy from glucose, it starts breaking down muscle and fat for fuel, leading to weight loss even if you’re eating more.
Symptoms of More Prolonged or Severely High Blood Sugar:
- Slow-Healing Sores or Cuts: High blood sugar can impair circulation and nerve function, making it harder for wounds to heal and increasing the risk of infections.
- Frequent Infections: High blood sugar can weaken your immune system, making you more susceptible to infections like yeast infections (thrush, vaginal infections), bladder infections (UTIs), and skin infections.
- Dry Mouth and Dry, Itchy Skin: Dehydration contributes to dry mouth, and high sugar levels can also affect skin health.
- Numbness, Tingling, or Pain in Hands or Feet (Neuropathy): Over time, high blood sugar can damage nerves, particularly in the extremities, leading to these sensations.
- Gastrointestinal Issues: Nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain can occur, especially if blood sugar is very high and complications like diabetic ketoacidosis are developing.
- Fruity-Smelling Breath: This is a classic sign of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a serious complication where the body produces ketones (acids) because it’s burning fat for energy instead of glucose.
- Rapid, Deep Breathing (Kussmaul breathing): Another symptom of DKA, as the body tries to expel excess acid.
- Confusion, Drowsiness, or Loss of Consciousness: These are severe symptoms that indicate a medical emergency, such as DKA or hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state (HHS), which require immediate medical attention.
When to Seek Medical Attention:
It’s important to consult a doctor if you experience any of these symptoms, especially if they are persistent or severe. Early diagnosis and management of high blood sugar (diabetes) are crucial to prevent long-term complications affecting the eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart, and feet.
If you have diabetes and your blood sugar levels are consistently high, or if you experience severe symptoms like vomiting, abdominal pain, fruity-smelling breath, rapid breathing, confusion, or loss of consciousness, seek immediate emergency medical help.