What are the signs of type 2 diabetes in women, and how can a woman take care of her health and prevent diabetes type 2? In this guide, you can learn everything about the signs of type 2 diabetes in women and other important details.
The Early Signs of Type 2 Diabetes in Women
There are many signs of type 2 diabetes in women that can be detected at the early stages of the disease. Down below, you can find more details about the warning signs of type 2 diabetes in women:
White patches in the mouth
White patches are also called Leukoplakia. The appearance of those might be a signal that your organism is going through some serious changes. These usually appear on the inside of your mouth. This might mean that your organism’s glucose levels are high, and bacteria in your saliva keep growing. Diabetes is related to the risk of Leukoplakia, as well as smoking and cancer.
White patches can be removed by laser therapy, scalper, and freezing procedures. The therapy should be individually discussed with your doctor.
Redness and soreness
Diabetes might affect nerves and cause diabetic neuropathy. If you have diabetes, you might also develop Necrobiosis lipoidica, as a result of which your skin might become red and thin.
Diabetic blisters might also occur, and they might appear on your toes, fingers, feet, and even legs and arms. These blisters might be small and large, but they won’t cause any pain most of the time.
Such conditions can be treated, but it is important to start taking care of those as soon as possible.
Trouble eating or swallowing
Some patients who have diabetes might experience trouble eating and swallowing that are often caused by nerve damage from high blood sugar, which is also called diabetic neuropathy.
Difficulty swallowing might also be related to other problems. So to detect whether it is a symptom of diabetes or not, it is better to contact your doctor.
Some patients experience trouble eating as well. Still, it is important to maintain a balanced diet that would allow you to take care of your health and have a healthier body. If you don’t eat enough, your sugar levels might drop, and it will lead to hypoglycemia.
Swollen red gums or inner cheeks
Saliva around your teeth under the gums has higher sugar in it due to the increased sugar levels that often happen because of diabetes. Your gums might also be swollen, bleeding, or tender due to diabetes.
Cushing syndrome is what often causes swollen inner cheeks in a case of diabetes. Because of that, you might also gain weight.
To treat the issue with your gums, you should speak not only to your doctor but your dentist as well. This way, you’ll understand how your treatment is supposed to go.
Decrease in sex drive
High blood sugar levels increase your nerves and blood vessels. As a result, a supply of blood to your organs might be affected. This means that you will lose some feeling in your organs, which often causes a decreased sex drive.
The Same Signs and Symptoms in Men and Women
Both men and women might experience the same symptoms of type 2 diabetes. These are the most common signs of type 2 diabetes in women and men:
Excessive thirst and hunger
Due to hyperglycemia, patients who have uncontrolled diabetes might experience thirst and hunger even after consuming food. This happens because glucose isn’t capable of entering cells, and the body can’t convert the consumed food into energy. Due to the lack of insulin in your bloodstream, your body experiences thirst and hunger.
However, excessive thirst and hunger do not necessarily mean that a person has diabetes. This might also happen if you are not drinking enough water, sweating a lot, or have just consumed something spicy or salty.
Due to excessive thirst and hunger, the patient might feel the urge to urinate more often. Your organism does that to get rid of unneeded sugar.
Frequent urination
As mentioned previously, frequent urination might be one of the symptoms of diabetes, as well as of other conditions during which you experience excessive thirst and hunger.
Weight loss or gain
Diabetes can result in both weight loss and gain. Many patients experience high blood sugar levels, and because of that, they have to urinate a lot, which can often lead to dehydration, which might have serious consequences if it isn’t taken care of. Muscle breakdown is another thing that might happen to a patient who has diabetes. However, if the weight loss is intentional, there is nothing to worry about.
Weight gain is also possible. It might happen because of overeating and high sugar blood levels. In the first case, the patient will gain weight because they experience constant hunger, and in the second case, the patient will have to eat more in order to avoid hypoglycemia.
Slow-healing wounds
Diabetes might also reduce the ability of the skin to heal itself. As a result, it will take more time for your wounds to heal. In some cases, even small cuts might lead to wounds that wouldn’t heal for a long time.
Skin infections
Diabetes type 2 might cause many skin problems. These are fungal infections, bacterial infections, itching, rash, as well as many others. There are also some skin problems that tend to happen mostly to people who have diabetes. These are diabetic blisters, diabetic dermopathy, eruptive xanthomatosis, and necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum. Your skin might be hot or swollen, which is one of the first signs of type 2 diabetes in adult women.
To treat your skin that was affected by diabetes, it is important to isolate the affected area and keep it dry at all times. Such types of infections often occur because of warm and moist folds. The patient infected with skin infections might also have to take antifungal and steroid medicine.
| Men | Women | Men and Women |
| Erectile dysfunction, low testosterone, and retrograde ejaculation | Vaginal yeast infections, vaginal dryness, urinary tract infections, decreased sex drive | Increased hunger, excessive third, fatigue, frequent urination, kidney damage, nerve damage, and weight loss |
Warning Signs of Type 2 Diabetes in Women
Diabetes type 2 was believed to be adult-onset, but children and young adults might also experience it. Severeness of disease and early signs don’t always depend on the age, but the older a woman is, the bigger the risk of having a disease is. The most common diabetes type 2 risk factor is being overweight or being over 45 years old. There are many other diabetes type 2 symptoms, risks, and signs as well.
Up to 35 years
Early signs of diabetes type 2 are:
- Hunger and tiredness. If your body doesn’t produce enough insulin, it will lead to constant fatigue and a feeling of hunger. You will have no energy because glucose in your body isn’t taken in.
- Dry mouth. Your body uses all the fluid to pee, so other parts of your body will get less fluid, and you will experience dryness in your mouth.
- Pain or numbness in your feet. This is another symptom and early sign of diabetes that is caused by nerve damage.
- Yeast infection. Infections might appear on different sections of your skin, including under breasts, between fingers and toes, around sex organs, etc.
- Hypoglycemia. This is a condition in which your blood sugar is lower than normal.
Up to 45 years
Women over the age of 35 should have regular checkups in order to make sure that there are no signs of diabetes and they are in good health. It is important to have a healthy diet and avoid consuming too many carbohydrates and soda drinks. It is also better not to skip breakfast.
Other signs of diabetes type 2 include fatigue, extreme thirst, blurred vision, tender gums, slow-healing sores and wounds, unexpected weight loss, dark skin, tingling in your hands and feet, metabolic diseases, and increased urination.
However, it is possible to have diabetes without any obvious symptoms. To make sure you detect early signs of diabetes, check your blood glucose level regularly.
Up to 60 years
Some of the common symptoms of type 2 diabetes in a 60-year-old woman include feeling tired all the time and getting tired fast, losing weight unintentionally, and urinating very often. Being more than 45 years of age is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. The older you get, the bigger risks are, so it is important to constantly visit your doctor and take some preventative steps to stay healthy.
The elderly are at higher risk of getting diabetes type 2 because they’ve been exposed to sugar for longer than other people, meaning that the risks of having hypoglycemia are higher. To detect symptoms of diabetes type 2 in a 60-year-old woman, it is better to increase the number of doctor visits and control blood pressure.
Complications of Diabetes During Pregnancy
Many women are afraid that pregnancy will not go well if they have diabetes. However, it is not always true, and women can have healthy pregnancies while being diagnosed with diabetes type 2. Still, this is important to control your conditions and visit your doctor even more often.
If the patient is only planning to get pregnant, it is better to take care of blood glucose levels first. It is better to get the levels as close to the needed number as possible. This will help pregnant women make sure that their pregnancy will be safer.
If glucose levels are too high, there are certain risks of birth defects. High blood sugar levels might also lead to other serious conditions, such as cognitive impairments and developmental delays.
How to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes in Women
These are tips you should follow in order to prevent diabetes type 2:
- Don’t smoke. If you do, it would be a good idea for you to quit. Smoking is a habit that puts you at higher risk of getting diabetes.
- Limit the alcohol intake. Alcoholic drinks can lead to many serious diseases, so it is better to drink less and more rarely. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t drink at all: it is just better to drink occasionally rather than often.
- Control your blood pressure. This can be easily done just by sticking to a few simple rules, such as regularly exercising, eating healthy foods, and making sure your weight remains within normal parameters.
- Maintain a balanced diet. It is good not only for your general health but also for preventing type 2 diabetes. Of course, it won’t be a guarantee that you will never have diabetes, but eating more fruits and vegetables, as well as avoiding trans fats and saturated fats, can help you become much healthier.
- Check your risks of diabetes regularly. The older your get, the more important it becomes for you to have regular checkups and visit your doctor once in a while. There are many simple steps you can follow to assess your health and understand your risks. Talk to your doctor to determine the best way.
- Eat less processed food. This goes for takeaway and restaurants as well. Most meals from cafes are high in salt and fat, and usually, these contain much more calories than the same meals that could have been made at home. Try to cook for yourself as much as possible.
When to Call Your Doctor
Here are the situations in which you should call your doctor in order to get the right diagnosis:
- Numbness, pain, tingling. These might be just some harmless feelings or can actually mean that you are experiencing nerve damage.
- Skin problems. If you have any kind of skin infections or issues, this might be one of the diabetes symptoms. One of the most common signs of type 2 diabetes in women is skin issues, so don’t ignore them.
- Changes in your health. This goes not only for diabetes but other diseases as well. Any change in your health should be tested.
- Weakness, tiredness, and illness. If you are experiencing nausea, fever, chills, diarrhea, as well as other common symptoms, this might be a sign that your blood sugar levels were affected.
- High blood sugar. This is another common sign of diabetes type 2 that should be monitored and checked on regularly.
Remember to call your doctor in any case when you feel unwell and sick. It is better to detect diseases at the early stages of development.