Can you have diabetes without symptoms?

Answer 1

The quick answer is yes, but only mildly and only transiently. Generally healthy people with good glucose tolerance can handle just about any illness, medication or stress load with little perturbation in their blood glucose levels. That said, blood glucose does vary quite a bit. After eating, for example, it will be elevated. People under a lot of stress can have a mildly elevated blood glucose. Those who are taking high-dose steroids can have much higher blood glucose, particularly if they are normally considered "borderline." If a person is stressed, ill and ate about an hour ago, I would not be too concerned about a glucose of 180, say. Still, glucose over 200 mg/dL under any circumstancesis considered diagnostic of Diabetes regardless of the situation. -S.Bender MD

Answer 2

High blood sugar (Hyperglycemia), in fasting state, is usually indicate Diabetes mellitus. However, there could be a number of reasons when blood sugar (or blood glucose) could be raised, such as: - Bulimia nervosa, (the binge eating disorder), can produce high blood glucose level, due to the sudden intake of large amount of high calorie food. - Stress, the body's answer to prolonged stress can be the release of cortisol, the "stress hormon", which also can raise the blood glucose level. - Acute stress situations (stroke, heart attack) - Infection, inflammation - Certain medications (beta blockers, some diuretics, some weight loss medication, antipsychotic agents, and others

Answer 3

I would say yes! I have had diabetes for the last two years. Type II. I have been on medications and I watch my diet. I went to get my eyeglasses and the eye doctor told me from the damage done to my eyes from the diabetes I would have had it over 10 years already! Hope this helps. Cookie

Answer 4

Yes, but not for long.

Hyperglycemia is a normal response to a large sugar intake, but within 1 to 2 hours your body should pump out lots of insulin, consume all the excess blood sugar and go back to a normal level. If it can't then you're diabetic.

This is why a single blood glucose test isn't sufficient to determine diabetes. A glucose tolerance test shows how fast your blood sugar can be reduced to normal. The a1c test or fructosamine test can show how high your glucose has been, on average, over a period of weeks. Either of those can quickly show if you're really diabetic.

Also keep in mind that there's some evidence that sustained hyperglycemia can *cause* diabetes too. Long-term effects of hyperglycemia include damage to the pancreatic beta cells, and insulin resistance, either of which lead to (or worsen) diabetes. So it's a vicious circle once it begins.