My friend thinks she has diabetes please help?

Question

her sympoms are

she gets light headed

she feels out of it a lot

she has bad headaches

shes thirsty alll the time

she hates bright lights

what r other symptoms she should look for?

and, if its not diabetes what else could she have?

Answer 1

While these symptoms COULD be diabetes, she would have other symptoms that you would have noticed and mentioned.

It is also possible that she has the opposite of diabetes -- HYPOGLYCEMIA, too little blood sugar.  Symptoms of hypoglycemai are light headed, headaches, mental confusion (feeling out of it), and sensitivity to light.  In most people, this is caused by not eating enough. this problem is especially common in teenage girls who think that are "too fat", so they skip meals in order to lose weight.

Headache and hates bright lights could be migrain headaches.

Diabetes canNOT be diagnosed by symptoms alone.  Diabetes can ONLY be diagnosed with blood tests from the doctor office.

If you friend is truly concerned then she needs to see a doctor and ask for an A1C test.  this is a very quick and simple test. Most doctors do it in their office in 5-10 minutes.

if this test comes back NORMAL, then your friend probably does NOT have diabetes.

If this test comes back LOW then your friend probably has HYPOGLYCEMIA.

If this test comes back HIGH, then the doctor will want to do more tests for diabetes, or for a problem called HYPOCLYCEMIA.

Blood Tests are the ONLY way to diagnose diabetes.  if your friend is really concerned she MUST see a doctor.

Answer 2

The thing about diagnosing diabetes is that it has different symptoms in different people.  AND the symptoms of diabetes can be lots of things, not just diabetes.

It sounds like it could be diabetes, though.

If you know someone who is diabetic, he or she will have a blood glucose meter and probably would be happy to test your friend.  That can rule out diabetes.  It's almost painless, it just takes a tiny speck of blood from your forearm (you used to have to prick your fingers!  I hated that!)

But if her blood sugar is high, then you ought to go to a doctor. He will order a series of tests because it can be lots of things besides diabetes.

Good luck!