Diabetes

Diabetes is a serious condition where your blood glucose level is too high. It can happen when your body doesn't produce enough insulin or the insulin it produces isn't effective. Or, when your body can't produce any insulin at all.

There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2

When you’ve got type 1 diabetes, you can’t make any insulin at all. If you’ve got type 2 diabetes, which is the most common, it’s a bit different. The insulin you make either can’t work effectively, or you can’t produce enough of it. They’re different conditions, but they’re both serious. 

There are lots of other types of diabetes. They include gestational diabetes, which some women may go on to develop during pregnancy, type 3c, MODY and Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA).  

In all types of diabetes, glucose can’t get into your cells properly, so it begins to build up in your blood. And too much glucose in your blood causes a lot of different problems. To begin with, it may lead to diabetes symptoms.

What causes diabetes?

  • The causes of diabetes depend on the type of diabetes you have.

  • What all types of diabetes have in common is that they cause people to have too much glucose (sugar) in their blood. But we all need some glucose. It’s what gives us energy. We get glucose when our bodies break down the carbohydrates that we eat or drink. And that glucose is released into our blood.

  • We also need a hormone called insulin. It’s made by our pancreas, and it’s insulin that allows the glucose in our blood to enter our cells and fuel our bodies.

  • If you don’t have diabetes, your pancreas senses when glucose has entered your bloodstream and releases the right amount of insulin, so the glucose can get into your cells. But if you have diabetes, this system doesn’t work.

Symptoms

The symptoms can depend on the type of diabetes you have. But the common symptoms of diabetes include:

  • Going to the toilet a lot, especially at night

  • Being really thirsty

  • Feeling more tired than usual

  • Losing weight without trying to

  • Genital itching or thrush

  • Cuts and wounds take longer to heal

  • Blurred vision

We’ve got more information about the signs and symptoms of diabetes, as well as advice about what to do if you have some.

How is diabetes diagnosed?

Diabetes is diagnosed from a blood test. If there are no obvious symptoms it can go undiagnosed.

Early diagnosis helps prevent diabetes complications. 

Treatment for diabetes

  • Treatment is about trying to keep blood sugars within a target range. Being as active as possible, eating healthily and going for regular health checks will help you do this. Some people will also need to take insulin or other medication and check their blood sugars regularly. 

  • Lots of things can affect blood sugars, so it can be tricky to balance. But it’s possible to lead a full life. It's about being in tune with your body and learning what works for you.

Types of Diabetes

Diabetes and your emotions

Diabetes doesn't just affect you physically, it can affect you emotionally too.

Whether you've just been diagnosed or you've lived with diabetes for a long time, you may need support for all the emotions you're feeling. This could be stress, feeling low and depressed, or burnt out. The people around you can feel all of this too. Whatever you're feeling, you are not alone. Here's some information you might find helpful – you might like to share it with your family and friends too.

Talking about diabetes and how it's making you feel isn’t always easy. It can be hard to get started, or find someone you think you can open up to. Maybe you don't feel like you need to talk about anything or you don't want to burden anyone. But offloading some of what you're feeling has so many benefits, both for you and for those close to you.

Read Diabetes Uk’s advice on talking about your diabetes

4.3 million people are living with a diagnosis of diabetes in the UK

Getting used to life with diabetes can be difficult, but we’ve got lots of information to help you learn how to manage your condition effectively.

From advice about what to eat, to emotional support and guidance about driving, we’re here to help you live well with diabetes.

Find out more about managing your diabetes today

Stress and diabetes…

Everyone can feel stressed from time to time. But having diabetes to manage as well as everything else in life can feel very overwhelming. Stress can affect your blood sugar levels, so it's important you know how to recognise when you're stressed and how to deal with it. We can help you cope with stress when you have diabetes.

Being diagnosed with diabetes can come as a shock. First reactions may be disbelief, feeling overwhelmed, even anger. Usually these feelings ease after a while and diabetes becomes part of life. But sometimes these feelings don’t go away easily. If you feel this way, you're not alone. 

Diabetes can be difficult to live with day to day and get you down, this is completely normal. But if these feelings won't go away, you might have depression. Having depression and diabetes is more common than you might think – people with diabetes are twice as likely to develop depression than people who don't have diabetes. We can help you know the signs of depression and how to manage it.

Diabetes can be really tough to live with. Sometimes people feel distressed, which can include feeling frustrated, guilty, sad or worried. It's understandable if you feel this way from time to time – you’re not alone. There are lots of things you can do to help you cope with feeling diabetes distress.

Emotions and Food

Diabetes can put more of a focus on food and diet. Having to pay close to attention to what you eat and learn new ways to cook can be stressful. Some people find they eat more when they're stressed or eat less because they're feeling low. Eating different foods can have an impact on your mood too – find out more about the link between your feelings and food.

Sometimes, it can mean more of a focus on weight and body image too. This can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food, something called
disordered eating, or possibly an eating disorder. Diabulimia is a serious eating disorder that people with type 1 diabetes can develop. We've got more information on diabulimia and what can help if you're struggling with it.

Fear of Hypos

Hypoglycaemia or a hypo is when your blood glucose level (blood sugar) goes too low. Not everyone with diabetes can get hypos, but some often worry or get anxious about having them. If these feelings don't go away or start to take over your daily life, then it's important you talk to someone about it. Find out how to work through your hypo anxiety.

Driving and Diabetes

For most people with diabetes, driving isn’t a problem, and you can hold a driving licence and carry on driving.

Here you’ll find everything you need to know about diabetes and driving

Find out more at Diabetes UK

If you need someone to talk to, you can call the Samaritans 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 116 123