Diabetes is one of the diseases that most affects society today. It is a pathology in which the body loses the ability to regulate glucose or blood sugar levels. This is mainly due to a failure in the pancreas, since this organ is responsible for secreting insulin, a vital hormone to control the level of sugar in the blood.
To diagnose type 1 or type 2 diabetes, it is enough to go to the doctor and carry out a series of tests. However, there are ways to know if you have diabetes at home. Next, in, we teach you how to tell if I have diabetes without testing. Notes!
First symptoms of diabetes
Many people, noticing certain alterations in their body, wonder “can I be diabetic and not know it?” The answer is clearly yes, especially when we are presenting the first symptoms of diabetes.
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes
This is the least common diabetes of all, since the pancreas stops producing insulin because the immune system attacks the cells that produce this hormone. Thus, the first symptoms that are perceived in type 1 diabetes are:
- Need to urinate very often.
- Constant hunger.
- Be endless.
- Incomprehensible weight loss.
- Constant tiredness and weakness.
- Sudden mood swings.
- Nervousness.
- Nausea and vomiting.
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes
In type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, the body secretes a minimum of insulin and, sometimes, resistance to this hormone also occurs. To find out if you have type 2 diabetes, pay attention to these symptoms:
- Frequent infections.
- Difficulty healing wounds.
- Vision problems, such as blurred vision and sudden changes in diopters.
- Warmth and tingling in the feet.
Symptoms of gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes, on the other hand, is a diabetes that appears during pregnancy and usually disappears after giving birth. The most common symptoms of gestational diabetes are:
- Constant thirst.
- Frequent urination.
- Tiredness and recurrent fatigue.
- Sudden changes in vision, mainly blurred vision.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Constant urine infections.
- Unexplained weight loss.
How to tell if I have diabetes at home
However, we cannot make a diagnosis with the symptoms alone, since many diseases share the same symptoms. Although the aforementioned can serve as a guide, there are different ways to know if I am diabetic without analysis, such as the following:
- Sweet-smelling urine
- Scarring problems
- Home Diabetes Test
Next, we will go on to explain each of them. Read!
Sweet-smelling urine, symptom of diabetes
Formerly, to diagnose diabetes, doctors asked the patient to urinate in the dirt. Thus, if ants and other insects approached, it was a clear symptom of diabetes. This is because people with diabetes tend to have a urine with a sweet smell (or, sometimes, with a bad smell) since, if this disease is not controlled, glucose passes directly into the blood, which would make that, at the time of going to the bathroom, the urine was concentrated with sugar, which would generate this peculiar aroma.
This will be one of the first things you should keep in mind. If you've recently noticed a change in the smell of your urine, as well as more urge to urinate, it's likely diabetes. Of course, you should also ask yourself if you have eaten something that could have altered the smell of pee, such as asparagus.
If you want more information, you'll find it in this other article about Why My Urine Smells Sweet.
Scarring problems, another symptom of diabetes
Another way to tell if I have diabetes without going to the doctor is to see if we have scarring problems. If a diabetic person gets a wound, it is more likely to take time to heal and become infected. This is really very dangerous, since it could be the case to have to amputate the damaged area, depending on the severity of the infection, as well as the time it has not been cured.
This problem is mainly due to a failure in the immune system, which usually occurs more frequently in type 2 diabetes, as we have already seen. When there is a wound, the blood vessels become inflamed preventing the blood from circulating properly and, consequently, neither oxygen, nor nutrients nor white blood cells can work in the healing process.
Therefore, if you see that your wounds do not heal properly or that they become infected frequently, not only are you likely to suffer from diabetes, but it is vitally important that you go to the doctor as soon as possible to avoid further damage, such as a probable amputation.
Home Diabetes Test
Without a doubt, the most effective way to know if you have diabetes, in addition to going to the doctor, is to get tested for diabetes. This can be homemade, you can do it in a pharmacy, or you can buy a kit and make it yourself at home. These types of tests consist of checking your blood sugar level through a small prick in the finger.
To check if you are diabetic at home, you will first need to purchase a glucose meter, either at a pharmacy or any other store with pharmaceuticals. What this device will do is, as its name suggests, measure your blood sugar level. It is advisable to do the test between 2 and 4 times a day to keep track.
What is the proper blood glucose level
To know if your sugar level is correct, you must take into account these values:
- Before eating: If you get tested before eating, your normal blood glucose level should be between 90 and 130 mg/dl. If you have a higher level, it would be a possible symptom of diabetes.
- After eating: If after meals your blood sugar level is above 140 mg/dl, it would be very likely that you had diabetes.
However, do not be alarmed and self-diagnose diabetes quickly. The best thing is that, if you present any of the symptoms mentioned in the article, although it is very likely that you suffer from this disease, it is best to go to the doctor as soon as possible so that he can confirm whether or not you have diabetes, as well as the guidelines to follow.
Now that you know how to tell if I have diabetes without testing and, in case of having diabetes, you are probably interested in this other article on How to lower the blood glucose level.
