How to know if I have diabetes without tests

Many people, when 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 due to the immune system attacks to 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
• Endless thirst.
• 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, there is also a resistance to this hormone. 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.
• Heat and tingling in the feet.

Symptoms of gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes, meanwhile, is a diabetes that appears during pregnancy and that generally disappears after giving birth. The most frequent symptoms of gestational diabetes are:

• Be constant.
• Frequent urination
• Tiredness and recurrent fatigue.
• Sudden vision changes, mainly blurred vision.
• Nausea and vomiting
• Constant urine infections.
• Unexplained weight loss

However, we cannot make a diagnosis from 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, like the following:

• Sweet smelling urine
• Healing problems
• Home diabetes test

Next, we will explain each of them. Keep reading!

In the past, to diagnose diabetes, doctors asked the patient to urinate on the ground. Thus, if ants and other insects approached, it was a clear sign of diabetes. This is because people with diabetes tend to have a sweet smelling urine (or, sometimes, with a bad smell) since, if this disease is not controlled, glucose passes directly into the blood, which would make, at the time of going to the bathroom, the urine is concentrated in sugar, which would generate this peculiar aroma.

This will be one of the first things to keep in mind. If you have recently noticed a change in the smell of your urine, as well as more urge to urinate, it is probably 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 will find it in this other article on Why does my urine smell sweet.

Another way to know if I have diabetes without going to the doctor is to see if we have healing problems. If a diabetic person does a wound, it is more likely to take time to heal and to become infected. This is really very dangerous, since it could be the case that you have to amputate the damaged area, depending on the severity of the infection, as well as how long it has not been cured.

This problem is mainly due to a failure in the immune system, which tends to occur more frequently in the 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, nutrients nor white blood cells can work on the healing process.

Therefore, if you find that your wounds do not heal properly or that they become infected frequently, it is not only likely that you have 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.

Without a doubt, the most effective way to know if you have diabetes, besides going to the doctor, is to get a diabetes test. This can be homemade, they can do it in a pharmacyOr you can buy a kit and make it yourself at home. This type of test consists of checking your blood sugar level through a small finger prick.

To check if you are diabetic at home, you must first buy a glucose meter, either at a pharmacy or at any other store with pharmaceutical products. 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 level of glucose in the blood

To know if your sugar level is correct, you must take these values ​​into account:

• Before eating– If you test 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 higher than 140 mg / dl, it would be very likely that you have 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, the best thing is that go to the doctor as soon as possible so I 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 if you have diabetes, you may be interested in this other oneHOWTO article on How to lower your blood glucose level.

This article is merely informative, at oneHOWTO we do not have the power to prescribe any medical treatment or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.

If you want to read more articles similar to How to know if I have diabetes without tests – find out, we recommend that you enter our category of Diseases and side effects.