Diabetes runs in my family. Almost everyone on my dad’s side of the family has/had it and many of them suffered quite a lot under it. My dad was diagnosed when he was 44 (he’s 75-now and needs insulin shots multiple times a day) and my brother, who is gonna be 40 next year, was diagnosed earlier this year or last year (not sure if he’s insulin dependent or not). I just turned 41 this September and have been riding the “high glucose/pre-diabetic” test results high-wire for the last decade or so. I used to be much more active (pre-COVID) and ate better in the past, but as I get on in my years, I am worried that this is going to become an inevitability even if I were to resume my previous exercise and nutrition regiments.
I think a lot of us can benefit greatly from hindsight and, even if it can’t help you now, what were some warnings/indications you were diabetic before you actually confirmed it? If you’re up for sharing, what was the final event that forced you to seek help and eventually get diagnosed?
Thank you, in advance, for any information you are willing to share!
Edit: Updated the title to specify Type-2 diabetics. Still, T1 that know how they were feeling prior to are more than welcome to comment, as well!
Type 2 runs rampant on both sides of my family. I’ve had symptoms since I was a kid, and have been tested almost every year as an adult. However, my test results have always been in the healthy range, so I guess I’m not diabetic, at least not yet.
It’s strange to read through the comments and see all the symptoms and recognize them in myself.
Granted, I think the only diagnostic tool most care providers in the USA look at is the A1C number. I’ve asked many questions over the years: could my symptoms be caused by something else, is it possible that A1C numbers might not be a reliable indicator for some people, and things like that. Basically get told not to worry about it.
Either way, I still get tested each year.
Interesting. I always try to err on the side of caution with things “we know” to be true because every year, it seems, there’s some shit that science shows we were wrong about for decades or more. Maybe you’re like me and have skirted the line as pre diabetic? That’s what it has showed for me since I started getting tested regularly in my 20s. My blood glucose bounces between 95-110 or so with my fasting labs.
After COVID, I started to notice body changes in myself with the prolonged lack of social activity. I stopped being able to tolerate extreme temps as much as I used to be able to handle, especially extreme heat. I noticed I started to sweat more, like a lot, lot more, when previously I had not sweat that much. I was having issues with shaking and twitches and muscle weakness when doing things as simple as picking up my child (born in December 2019). My arms and legs fell asleep more frequently than they used to. I also stopped being able to remember, talk good like and stuff, and would sometimes lose my train-of-thought mid-sentence, for instance. Generally, just noticing changes that I knew were out of the ordinary.
When I threw those things into ChatGPT (back a year or more ago, now), it immediately said my symptoms appeared to be MS, which I had suspected, though not prompted the generative AI to confirm. I gave it a list of new symptoms, no matter how attached they appeared, and it spit that out. Many symptoms of MS overlap with diabetes, including bladder function, vision issues, and numbness/tingling in extremities. The human body is so weird!