Type 2 Diabetes – Polyuria, Polydipsia and Polyphagia!

Complications from Type 2 diabetes can also cause many side effects. While some are more commonly known, there are others an individual may be experiencing and not even know they are related to their disease. Some complications often overlooked are:

• polyuria,
• polydipsia, and
• polyphagia.

In all three of these conditions, the first part of the words, “poly”, means too much of something.

1. In polyuria, it refers to when an individual urinates excessively or has increased urination. What is considered excessive or increased urination? The average amount of urine expelled is considered to be around 3 liters per day for adults and 2 liters per day for a child.

This condition can be due to a defect in the water balance of an individual who does not have control of their Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. But it can also be due to polydipsia, which refers to excessive thirst.

2. Polydipsia can be found in both children and adults, but is most often found in middle-aged women or with individuals who are taking certain medications. Certain medications can have their own side effect of giving the sensation of having a dry mouth.

But there is another cause for this condition and it has to do with the presence of hypothalamic lesions that work directly against the thirst sensation. These lesions are often associated with certain medical conditions such as sarcoidosis, which is inflammation of certain areas of the body, most often the lymph nodes, liver, lungs and other tissues.

It also occurs when individual are not taking their Type 2 diabetes medication correctly, or when the prescribed doses are no longer effective. Regardless of the cause, this is a condition that can become very serious. If the body is consuming far more liquid that it is effectively able to excrete, then the individual’s serum sodium level can become dangerously high, resulting in possible seizures and even cardiac arrest.

3. Polyphagia: The last of the conditions, known as polyphagia, has to do with an individual having an excessive appetite or enormous feelings of hunger. In relation to diabetes, this condition occurs when the body’s cells are not getting enough glucose, or sugar. It can be due to the body either being resistant to insulin so the sugar that is “knocking” at the cell’s doors and cannot be processed, or the body is simply not able to produce enough insulin for its needs. This causes the sensation of feeling hungry.

A person with this condition goes through a vicious, and often uncontrollable cycle. They eat large quantities of food from which excess sugars are flushed out in their urine. The energy the body would have benefited from is gone, the cell’s cannot absorb sugar, so the body reacts in the only way it knows, which is to feel hungry. Polyphaiga is most commonly found in diabetics, Type 2 diabetics. Unfortunately, this is also probably the most difficult to prevent.