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Extreme thirst as a sign of diabetes

Rabdos

Rabdos

Well-Known Member
Messages
404
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello

Being with long covid, I am experiencing extreme thirst for several months. I am known borderline diabetic type 2 but never had major symptoms from it.
I read that covid can cause diabetes and I wonder if anyone has such experience?

Also, would it be possible that extreme thirst can be the main/only diabetes related symptom after a covid-linked diabetes deterioration?
I have no weight/appetite change, urination changes etc.

Of course I will be discussing with my doctor but would like to hear some fellow patient thoughts.

Thanks!
 
When my children were young and I occasionally worried that they might be developing T1 I used to use urine testing strips from the chemist to see if they were passing sugar. You typically pass sugar when your bg is over 10mmol/L so though it tells you much less than a meter it is an option that should pick up if your bgs are running very high and you don't fancy buying a meter and/or pricking your fingers.
 
You are right that extreme thirst is a symptom of diabetes, but not necessarily diabetes. There are many other diseases accompanied by intense thirst (for example, kidney or liver disease, violation of the adrenal glands or parathyroid glands and etc). In order to diagnose diabetes with confidence, you should have hyperglycemia or glycosuria (I think this symptom is easier to check, because you can just buy strips for urine analysis, not a glucose meter). In any case, go to the doctor, the forum is not the place where you can be diagnosed
 
It’s best to do a blood test (random) to find out if you have moved on from borderline diabetes to the real deal.

In my experience, my crazy thirst was accompanied by frequent urination (including several times during the night) before I was diagnosed.

As an aside, when I was recovering from Covid, the steroids I was administered caused severe highs and even gifted me a UTI, but those highs were temporary, and stopping the steroids calmed my blood sugar down.
 
Whilst it can be a symptom of diabetes it can also be other things. An in reverse type 2 doesn’t always present with any symptoms. There’s a fair few of us that had none at all (or none that were recognised as diabetes). It’s well documented covid comes with a rise in type 2 diagnoses. So go talk to your dr and ask for a check based on that and the thirst symptom. Shouldn’t be an issue to get it especially if you were borderline already.

If they are difficult you could try get a fingerprick test or two at a chemist as some will do them free. Fasted would likely be the most convincing for a dr but even a high random one should make them investigate further.
 
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