When symptoms occur, they include excessive thirst or urination, fatigue, weight loss, or blurred vision. The only way to know for sure if you have diabetes is to get tested. The most common tests are the A1C test and the plasma glucose test. People who have type 1 diabetes may also have nausea, vomiting, or stomach aches.
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes can appear within a few weeks or months and can be serious. Type 1 diabetes usually starts when you're a child, teenager, or young adult, but it can appear at any age. The symptoms of type 2 diabetes usually take several years to appear. Some people don't notice any symptoms at all.
Type 2 diabetes usually starts when you're an adult, although more and more children and teens are developing it. Because symptoms are difficult to detect, it's important to know the risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Be sure to visit your doctor if you have any of them. Although diabetes can cause other symptoms, the most common is high blood sugar.
The telltale sign that you have diabetes is a higher than normal glucose level, a type of blood sugar, says Brian Jameson, DO, an endocrinologist at Geisinger.
