Why Does Diabetes Make You Excessively Thirsty
Weve composed before about the signs and symptoms of diabetes. While there are a great deal of sources about what symptoms diabetes causes, as well as some excellent info about why theyre bad for you, what you do not frequently get are the whys. And while the whys arent always important for your long-lasting health, they can help you to understand whats happening with your body and why it acts the way it does. That, in turn, can help with acceptance and understanding of how to much better treat the symptoms, which in turn can help you remain on an excellent diabetes management routine. In short, you do not NEED to understand why diabetes causes excessive thirst, but knowing the system behind it can make your blood glucose control regimen make more sense and assist you adhere to it.
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Why Does Diabetes Make You Thirsty
Two of the most common symptoms of diabetes are increased thirst and increased urine production. These symptoms are so prevalent in diabetics that they are often the reason why someone visits the doctor and is eventually diagnosed with the disease. But it is no coincidence that the two symptoms appear to be directly connected.
Why Diabetes Makes You Thirsty
Diabetes is a condition characterized by an excess buildup of sugar in the body. This buildup is due to the body’s inability to process sugar correctly instead of sugar being used for energy, it ends up in the bloodstream.
As with all other material in the bloodstream, sugar eventually makes its way to the kidneys. The kidneys’ function is to filter out impurities from the blood and expel them from the body by way of urine. But when sugar starts to collect in the kidneys, they sense a problem. In order to remove the excess sugar, they begin to work harder but are still not able to handle the increased load.
The kidneys need more fluid to handle the extra sugar volume. They find this fluid in the only resource that they have, by removing it from the body’s tissues, leaving the tissues lacking sufficient hydration. This action automatically notifies the brain that there is a deficit of liquid in the body, and the brain responds by putting out messages that the body requires more fluids to replenish what has been taken from the tissues, causing excessive thirst.
Why Am I Always Thirsty Even Though I Drink A Lot Of Water
Abnormal urination and thirst, unexplained hunger, fatigue, unexplained irritability, including the presence of ketones in the urine, and sometimes even blurred vision can be an early sign of diabetes.
If youre constantly thirsty, the first step should be to go to a doctor to check if your thirst is a result of diabetes.
The most common symptoms of diabetes are often referred to as The Three P’s of diabetes. There are several ways to diagnose diabetes. One of those are:
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Diabetic Hunger Or Hyperphagia
But here is the thing: these normal, healthy responses require insulin. The responses go awry when your body has insulin resistance. Your muscles, liver, and fat cells cannot remove the glucose from your blood and use it properly. Instead, your blood glucose levels stay high and your muscles do not have the fuel they need.
You are starving!
Eating more will not help. Extra food will only add extra glucose to your already-loaded bloodstream. What you do need is a way to get that glucose into your cells. You need to:
- Increase insulin sensitivity with medications and/or lifestyle changes such as healthy weight loss and more physical activity,
- Increase your insulin levels by taking insulin, or
- Both.
Other Potential Causes Of Frequent Urination
There is no normal amount of times to pee on a daily basis. Frequent urination is usually defined as having to go more frequently than you normally do. If thats the case, it could be a sign that something is wrong.
Urinating more often than normal can result from a number of different factors. Diabetes is only one possible explanation. Some other conditions that can sometimes affect your bladder function include:
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What Causes Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes occurs when your immune system, the bodys system for fighting infection, attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. Scientists think type 1 diabetes is caused by genes and environmental factors, such as viruses, that might trigger the disease. Studies such as TrialNet are working to pinpoint causes of type 1 diabetes and possible ways to prevent or slow the disease.
Why Do Diabetics Get So Thirsty
Its normal to feel thirsty when you dont drink enough water, during hot days, or after you have powered through a strenuous workout. About 70 percent of your body weight is water. Thirst is natural signal of when your body is running low on water. But if you have diabetes, it may not relieve even though you constantly refill your cup why? There are some reasons of why diabetics can get so thirsty!
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What Should I Do If I Experience These Symptoms
If you experience these common symptoms but have not been diagnosed with diabetes, you should see your doctor and discuss what you are experiencing. As part of this evaluation, your doctor will measure your blood glucose to determine if it is high and whether you may have diabetes.
If you have already been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, excessive thirst and frequent urination are signs that your blood sugar is not well controlled. Talk to your doctor about a treatment plan that will help you better manage your blood sugar levels. You should also talk to your doctor about getting screened for kidney disease.2
Diabetic kidney disease can be prevented by keeping your blood sugar levels in your target range. If not treated, kidney disease can cause kidney failure, which means your kidneys have less than 15 percent of normal kidney function. Diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure in the United States, and many people with kidney failure either need dialysis or a kidney transplant.2
Why Does Diabetes Cause Frequent Urination
Diabetes is a condition that, among other symptoms, causes your body to have trouble creating or using insulin.
Insulin is a hormone that draws glucose or sugar into the cells to use as energy. This can result in highly elevated blood sugar levels.
Too much sugar in your blood is extremely taxing on the kidneys, which work to process that sugar. When the kidneys arent up to the job, much of that glucose is eliminated from the body through your urine.
This process also flushes out valuable hydrating fluids from your body, often leaving people with diabetes peeing frequently as well as dehydrated.
Early on, you may not even notice that youre urinating more often than normal. One of the key warning signs, however, should be if frequent urination starts to wake you up from sleep and deplete your energy levels.
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Diabetes And Weight Loss
When glucose gets left in the blood, it doesn’t reach the cells and the cells therefore don’t get energy. They then send a signal to the brain that they need more fuel, which prompts the brain to trigger the hunger response. This is the reason that a person with untreated diabetes experiences excessive hunger: It’s the body’s way of saying the cells need more fuel.
This condition of the cells not getting enough fuel leads to weight loss. But, as explained by Diabetes.co.uk, eating more food can’t fix the problem, because more food just creates more glucose. Without proper insulin action, glucose can’t get into the cells to give them energy instead, it backs up into the bloodstream, resulting in high blood sugar levels.
In addition to triggering the hunger response, the body of someone with untreated diabetes will attempt to generate fuel by breaking down fat and muscle tissue, the Cleveland Clinic explains. This increases the unintended weight loss.
The longer that a person’s diabetes goes undiagnosed, the more weight they could lose unintentionally. Once a person begins treatment, however, they tend to gain weight, which is a good outcome, Elizabeth Halprin, MD, clinical director of adult diabetes at Boston’s Joslin Diabetes Center, tells LIVESTRONG.com.
There Are Various Forms Of Diabetes Insipidus
- Neurogenic – the brain doesn’t produce enough of the hormone vasopressin. Some of the events that could cause this form of diabetes insipidus include head injury, infection , brain tumour, ruptured aneurysm or brain surgery. In about half of cases, the cause remains unknown .
- Nephrogenic – the kidneys aren’t sensitive to vasopressin and fail to respond. This comparatively rare form of diabetes insipidus is caused by an inherited disorder that affects the tubules, the tiny structures inside the kidneys that absorb water. Men are more prone to this condition than women. In adults nephrogenic diabetes insipidus can be caused by treatment with lithium and by hypercalcemia.
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Urinary Tract Infections And Yeast Infections
High sugar levels within the urine are a breeding ground for bacteria and yeast near the genitalia. Urinary tract infections come with a burning sensation during urination and cloudy, dark or off-smelling urine. Yeast infections come with itching, burning and discharge. People with diabetes are twice as likely to suffer from these types of infections.
Red Flag: Regularly occurring UTIs or yeast infections.
Genes And Family History
As in type 1 diabetes, certain genes may make you more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. The disease tends to run in families and occurs more often in these racial/ethnic groups:
- African Americans
- Native Hawaiians
- Pacific Islanders
Genes also can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes by increasing a persons tendency to become overweight or obese.
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Where Will I Go For My Patient Support Needs
- The ADA blog features real, user-submitted stories of how people manage their diabetes, and is broken into categories .
- For those with type 2 diabetes, the ADAs free, online Living With Type 2 Diabetes program will continue. You are encouraged to register for this program and take small steps to big changes.
- The ADA offers Healthy Living information and resources for all people with diabetes and their loved ones at diabetes.org/healthy-living. Be sure to sign up for timely information on topics you care about, from the latest medical breakthroughs, treatments and lifestyle tips to diabetes-friendly recipes for people living with diabetes and their families, at diabetes.org/healthylivingnews.
- For those who have questions about diabetes management, the ADAs free Ask the Experts series provides a community where people can learn about specific topics, ask their questions, and receive answers from diabetes experts, live. Learn more at diabetes.org/experts.
- As always, the ADAs Center For Information is here for you at 1-800-DIABETES .
- We are grateful to our community members who have come to share their experiences and learn from one another, and we look forward to continuing that tradition in the Collab community and through our partners at BT1 and around the diabetes community. We encourage you to remain involved!
Overweight Obesity And Physical Inactivity
You are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you are not physically active and are overweight or obese. Extra weight sometimes causes insulin resistance and is common in people with type 2 diabetes. The location of body fat also makes a difference. Extra belly fat is linked to insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and heart and blood vessel disease. To see if your weight puts you at risk for type 2 diabetes, check out these Body Mass Index charts.
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Thirst In Different Types Of Diabetes
Excessive thirst in diabetes is called polydipsia. Itâs common in both diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus.
Diabetes mellitus, which includes type 1 and type 2 diabetes, happens when your blood sugar is too high. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease that causes your pancreas to stop making insulin, a hormone that helps blood sugar get into your cells. In type 2, your body doesnât make enough insulin or doesnât use insulin well.
Diabetes insipidus does not relate to your blood sugar levels. Itâs a rare disorder that affects your kidneys and the hormones that make them work properly. Diabetes insipidus causes your body to produce large amounts of urine, making you pee a lot, which dehydrates you.
Both high blood sugar and frequent urination can result in constant, severe thirst.
Excessive Thirst And Urination May Be Signs Of Diabetes
Q. My father was a Type 2 diabetic. I am 39, not overweight, don’t smoke and am basically healthy. But I get extremely thirsty after I drink a lot . I’m fine until I have to urinate, then my mouth dries up as if all the moisture in my body is gone. I don’t understand why I feel so dehydrated when I should feel rehydrated.
I mentioned this to a diabetic person I know, and she says it sounds like diabetes. I am concerned because it used to happen only once in a while, but now it is happening almost daily. Do you think I should be tested for diabetes or could it be something else?
–E.S.
A. The quick answers to your questions are yes, you definitely should be tested for diabetes, and yes, it could be something else. Let me explain.
Diabetes mellitus is an endocrine disorder in which blood levels of glucose are abnormally high because insulin is not released or used properly. Insulin is a hormone released from the pancreas and is responsible for maintaining appropriate blood-sugar levels.
There are two types of diabetes mellitus, Type 1 and Type 2. In Type 1 diabetes, also called insulin-dependent diabetes, the pancreas produces little or no insulin.
In Type 2 diabetes, which your father had, the pancreas usually produces insulin, but the body cannot use the insulin effectively. The end result is an unhealthy buildup of glucose in the blood and an inability of the body to make efficient use of its main source of fuel. This type of diabetes is often seen in families.
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Polydipsia Or Excessive Thirst As A Sign Of Diabetes
Is excessive thirst a sign of diabetes? Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that causes your pancreas to stop producing insulin, a hormone that is essential to getting energy from food. The disease strikes people of all ages and is unrelated to diet or lifestyle. People living with this disease must regularly monitor their blood-sugar levels, inject or infuse insulin, and carefully regulate doses with eating and activity throughout the day.
Polydipsia And Polyuria: What Happens To All That Water
So, you drink. And drink. And drink. Then you run to the bathroom. A lot. The formal term for excessive drinking is polydipsia and excessive urination is polyuria. As common sense would suggest, all that fluid that you drink needs to come out of your body.
There is an additional twist, though. As the extra water that you drink is excreted from your body, so is extra sugar from your bloodstream. It is another way that your body tries to lower your blood sugar levels while insulin is not doing its job properly. This is a strain on your kidneys and a contributing factor to a higher risk for diabetes-related kidney disease.
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Is It Polydipsia Or Something Else
If you have thirst that wonât go away no matter how much you drink, or you pee an unusual amount every day, you could have polydipsia. But donât jump to conclusions about your diabetes status. Keep in mind that many medications can cause thirst and dry mouth, including:
- Antipsychotics
- Sexual and bladder problems
Why Are Diabetics Thirsty And What Can You Do About It
Jolie Wiener
Weve always been told to drink plenty of water, and we are familiar with the importance of hydration. But do you ever feel like a thirsty camel gu…
Weve always been told to drink plenty of water, and we are familiar with the importance of hydration. But do you ever feel like a thirsty camel gulping down water in a desert oasis? You cant seem to quench your excessive thirst, even though youre drinking more than the recommended two liters a day.
General health,lifestyle, and age can contribute to how much a person drinks. But for a diabetic, it means something different. No matter how much you drink, the thirst and the feeling of a dry mouth can remain. This creates a vicious cycle of drinking and urinating.
For people with diabetes, dry mouth and excessive thirst is the norm. This is a result of diabetic’s high glucose levels, whereas their body tries to get rid of the increased sugar in their blood. It does this in two different ways:
- It absorbs glucose into your cells for energy.
- It flushes the glucose out of your body completely.
While both reflect proper body function, one of these methods is whats likely causing your increased thirst and dry mouth. Excessive thirst is a sign of diabetes. It is also medically called polydipsia. Thirst is linked to another common symptom of diabetes that is related to urinating more than normal or polyuria.
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