Sugar Diabetes Support System

Salute to Orlando Pirates Football Club

Because managing glucose levels is an important aspect of living with diabetes, it may be important to know about both hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. Learn more here:

Hypoglycemia vs. Hyperglycemia: 5 Not-So-Obvious Differences | DiabetesTeam If you’re living with type 2 diabetes (also known as diabetes mellitus), you understand how important it is to keep glucose (blood sugar) levels within a n

Knowing how to manage diabetes care costs can be stressful and difficult to navigate. Explore tips and resources on finding financial support for diabetes treatment, including options like government programs and patient assistance programs here:

How To Find Financial Support for Diabetes Treatment | DiabetesTeam Living with diabetes can be expensive, including the costs of insulin and other medications and of taking time off work to see your doctor. People with di

Why insulin causes weight gain

Weight gain can be a typical side effect of insulin therapy. Insulin helps you manage your blood sugar by assisting your cells in absorbing sugar (glucose).

Without insulin, your body’s cells are unable to use sugar for energy. You’ll eliminate the extra glucose in your bloodstream through your urine or it will stay in the blood causing high blood sugar levels.

You may experience weight loss before you start insulin therapy. The loss of sugar in your urine takes water with it, so some of this weight loss is due to water loss. Weight loss may also be partially by the kidneys increasingly removing glucose via urine.

When you start insulin therapy and begin getting your blood sugar under control, the glucose in your body is absorbed and stored. This causes weight gain if the amount you eat is more than you need for the day.

It’s important not to cut back on your insulin, even if you gain weight. You may lose weight again when you’re not on insulin, but you’re increasing your risk of complications. Also, once you start treatment again, the weight will come back.

This can lead to an unhealthy weight loss pattern and long-term complications such as heart disease or kidney damage. Insulin is the best way to lower your blood glucose for those with type 2 diabetes that is not well managed. And remember, never make any changes to your insulin therapy unless your doctor recommends doing so.

You can manage your weight while taking insulin. It may involve adapting lifestyle behaviors such as changing your eating habits and increasing physical activity to help you maintain a moderate weight.

Diabetic nephropathy is a slowly progressing condition that can be hard to detect. You may not notice any symptoms until your condition has progressed into later stages.

Diabetic nephropathy happens when you develop kidney disease as a result of complications from diabetes.

You may never experience any severe symptoms with diabetic nephropathy. But some other conditions, like high blood pressure, can increase your chance of complications.

Read on to learn more about the early signs and symptoms, some common causes of diabetic nephropathy, and what diagnosis and treatment options are available.

As with most kidney diseases, diabetic nephropathy has five stages. Doctors determine each stage using a couple of factors:

glomerular filtration rate (GFR), which is a measurement of how well your kidneys are filtering out toxins and other waste
damage and functionality, which refers to how much kidney damage you have and how the condition is affecting your kidney function

First symptoms of diabetic nephropathy

You’ll likely start to notice the earliest symptomsTrusted Source at stage 2, when your GFR begins to dip below 89. But even at this stage, it’s still possible that your symptoms will be very mild.

Some of the first symptoms of diabetic nephropathy include:

occasional fatigue that’s not dependent on your activity level
loss of appetite for no clear reason
consistent headaches
dry or itchy skin that’s not connected to weather or humidity levels
nausea
vomiting with no apparent cause
mild swelling in your arms and legs

Diabetic nephropathy causes

High blood pressure and high blood sugar related to diabetes are the two main causes of diabetic nephropathy.

Other factors that can increase your likelihood of diabetic nephropathy include:

African American, Hispanic, or American Indian ancestry
a family history of kidney disease
type 1 diabetes that develops before you’re 20 years old
smoking
obesity
eye disease or nerve damage from diabetes

Diabetic nephropathy treatment

Depending on your symptoms and stage, treatment options for diabetic nephropathy include:

medications to control your diabetes symptoms and prevent complications
diet and lifestyle changes, such as reducing your sodium intake or increasing your activity level to control your blood pressure
dialysis to help your kidneys function more effectively
kidney transplant to replace one or both kidneys

When to contact a doctor

Contact a doctor if any of your symptoms are severe or last for more than a few weeks without getting better.

You should also seek consistent medical treatment if you have diagnosed type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Untreated diabetes is more likely to result in complications like diabetic nephropathy.