The first thing that comes to mind for most people when the discussion of high blood sugar is brought up is diabetes. It’s an extremely dangerous and deadly condition, but long before the individual is diagnosed with it, the body gives away signs that their blood sugar level is very high.
Because many people’s diets consist of artificial and processed foods, the number of people that are suffering from high blood sugar is dramatically increasing. The only way to put a stop to this is to educate ourselves and watch for the signs that are body is providing us.
Continue reading to find out what the most important signs are that tell you your blood sugar level is too high.
Excessive Urination/Urinating During the Night: Granted if you drink high amounts of water before you go to bed, there is a good chance you’re waking up in the middle of the night to urinate. But if you’re blood sugar level is too high, you could pick up a urinary tract infection which can result in excessive urinating.
Blurred Vision: Don’t overreact and go buy a pair of glasses if you begin to have temporary blurred vision. In most cases it’s high blood sugar, which causes the lens in the eyes to swell up.
Difficulty Concentrating: When the body is lacking insulin, it’s unable to remove glucose from the bloodstream into the cells. This doesn’t allow the body to properly function. This is why you feel tired and can’t concentrate properly. High blood sugar levels can dehydrate you because the body is trying to remove excess glucose through urination.
Dry Mouth: Because of the high glucose levels in your blood and saliva, which are caused by high blood sugar levels, your mouth becomes dry.
Impotence: This issue which only refers to men, stems from problems that are caused by poor long-term blood sugar control. This damages the nerves and the blood vessels.
Recurrent Infections: There are several recurring infections that need to be monitored. Dysfunction of the thyroid, adrenal and pituitary glands. Also watch out for numerous diseases in the pancreas and severe increase in blood glucose.
Slow Healing Wounds: If you find that the smallest cuts and bruises are taking longer than usual to heal, high blood sugar levels could be the cause. It affects the nerves and can lead to poor blood circulation, making it tough for blood – need for skin repair – to reach the wounded area.
Stomach Problems: When you have high blood sugar levels, emptying the food from your stomach could be delayed. This can lead to bloating, distention, abdominal pain, nausea, or vomiting.
Constant Fatigue or Extreme Tiredness: If your thyroid level is low, there is a good chance you are going to feel tired, sleepy or depressed. In order to fight infections, it takes energy, which can result in constant fatigue and high blood sugar levels.
Thirst: When you have high blood sugar levels, your kidneys are forced to work overtime to filter and absorb the excess sugar. In order to achieve that, liquids need to flow through the body in order to urinate the sugar.
Dry and Itchy Skin: When there is poor blood circulation flow through the body, it causes itchy skin. The most common areas of the body that become itchiest are the lower parts of your legs.
Always Hungry: You may be one of those people that have a big appetite, and that’s fine. However, for people who normally do not have a large appetite, this could be because you’re lacking a hormone called incretin. Incretin reduces the flow of sugar from the liver after consuming a meal. If you lack this hormone, food empties quicker and you’ll be hungry again shortly after dinner, which increases your blood sugar level.
Excess Abdominal Weight/Fat: This is one of the most common signs that you have high blood sugar levels. The food that you have consumed was not all able to get into the cells as energy which would nourish the cells, so in turn, you feel hungry again.
Nerve Problems: Simply put, if your blood sugar levels are high, it can damage the blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients to the nerves, which can lead to nerve problems.
Skin Changes: If you begin to experience discoloration and certain growths on your skin, your blood sugar level may be high. Also, you may also dark, thick areas of skin may begin to form on the back of your neck and your hands as well.
Tingling and Numbness: This goes hand-in-hand with nerve damage. If you experience tingling and numbness in certain areas of your body, your blood sugar level may be high. This type of nerve damage is called neuropathy.