Generally speaking there are three primary and two secondary diabetes symptoms. Taken by themselves, they make it hard to arrive at a concise diagnosis of type 2 diabetes; symptoms put together, on the other hand, paint a very clear picture that leads to a diagnosis requiring immediate action. When type 2 diabetes symptoms require immediate action, your close working relationship with your doctor is essential.
The three primary type 2 diabetes symptoms are excessive urination, excessive thirst, and extreme mood swings. The two secondary symptoms are excessive appetite and extreme fatigue that is not alleviated with sufficient rest periods. As you visit your physician, she or he will most likely not only run a urinary glucose test but may also suggest a two hour insulin resistance test. It is imperative that you follow through with these tests and permit your doctor to get a complete picture of your current state of health.
When type 2 diabetes treatment of symptoms require immediate action, you will most likely be asked by your physician to do the following:
- Consult with a registered dietician to revamp your nutritional choices. The odds are good that obesity is at the root of your diabetes and one of the most effective ways of dealing with it rests in weight loss brought on by healthier food choices. This is a great time to discuss the kinds of foods and snacks you enjoy and it is most certainly not the time to hide your bag of potato chips habit at night. As a matter of fact, this is the time to be honest and open with all of your little nutritional sins — don't worry, the dietician will have heard most of them before!
- Modify your behavior. If you enjoy a bag of chips while watching television, this is the time to change that habit. While you do not have to completely deprive yourself, you may need to consider switching from chips to carrots, apple slices, or pumpkin seeds. The same is true for other times that you automatically associate with eating. When you ingest food out of boredom instead out of need, the problem arises when you fail to have a fall back position for the activity. Find another way of making the activity enjoyable and then exercise it frequently to break the old habit and usher in the newer, healthier habit.
- Approach the changes as being for the long haul. Type 2 diabetes symptoms are a warning that your current lifestyle is making your body sick. If you fail to heed this warning, you may find that the next step is the administration of diabetes medicine. Other consequences with respect to your health may also come into play. This leads to the necessity to make these lifestyle changes for the long duration and thus short term diets are ineffective at best. To this end, do not consider relying on a fad diet to lose some of the weight quickly. Instead, focus on making your weight loss gradual but permanent.
