Constant hunger could be a sign of health conditions including diabetes, hyperthyroidism, depression and pregnancy. It's important to rule out medical conditions while addressing those hunger pangs.
Hyperphagia (or polyphagia) is a condition that causes feelings of uncontrolled hunger (despite eating regularly), extreme food cravings, fluctuations in blood glucose levels, digestive issues, and weight gain. It may occur due to stress, hormonal changes, or genetics.
Extreme feelings of hunger can be caused by several things including problems with your thyroid, blood sugar levels, or a stressful lifestyle with not enough sleep.
One of the most challenging aspects of living with diabetes is that it can make you extra hungry for the one thing that affects your blood sugar the most: food. More specifically, sugary food. This condition is called Polyphagia and is essentially “excessive hunger.” It's very common in people with diabetes.
Hunger and cravings are a frustrating side-effect of high blood sugar levels.
Extreme hunger is common after periods of dieting or restrictive eating and can last from days to months. Ignoring your natural hunger signals (even if they seem extreme) when they come up may work temporarily but they will likely come back with a vengeance and leave you stuck in the eat-repent-repeat diet cycle.
The hormone cortisol rises with chronic stress and can lead to increased appetite, says registered dietitian Allison Knott. “It can be true hunger if you have extended stress that is promoting this cortisol production to the point of impacting your appetite,” she says.
The symptoms you experience won't exactly match those of another person. However, the most common diabetes symptoms experienced by many people with diabetes are increased thirst, increased urination, feeling tired and losing weight.
Because your body doesn't absorb blood sugar efficiently when you have prediabetes, you don't get as much energy from each snack or meal as you once did. "As a result, you tend to feel unusually hungry and want to eat more," Dr. Li says.
Physicians can use a few different ways to test for prediabetes, including the A1C test, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test or oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). A1C results of 5.7 to 6.4 percent, FPG levels of 100 to 125, or OGTT levels of 140 to 199 indicate prediabetes.
Pale or transparent yellow urine
Diabetes insipidus is a condition in which the body produces excess urine. It can cause people to pass large quantities of light-colored urine every time they urinate. It can also cause people to feel very thirsty, leading them to drink fluids frequently.
feeling or being sick. abdominal (tummy) pain. rapid, deep breathing. signs of dehydration, such as a headache, dry skin and a weak, rapid heartbeat.
Many people with diabetes will describe themselves as feeling tired, lethargic or fatigued at times. It could be a result of stress, hard work or a lack of a decent night's sleep but it could also be related to having too high or too low blood glucose levels.
Many people have type 2 diabetes for years without realising because the early symptoms tend to be general, or there are no symptoms at all.
Left untreated, diabetes can lead to heart disease, stroke, nerve and kidney damage, vision loss and more. Even if you have mild blood sugar elevations, you can damage your organs. Diabetes is a common condition.
What does diabetes itching feel like? If you have diabetes, itching can be intense. It's an irritating feeling that makes it hard not to scratch, but scratching can make the itch worse. You can itch anywhere, but if you have nerve damage (neuropathy) associated with diabetes, your lower legs may itch.
One type of headache caused by high blood sugar is known as occipital neuralgia, and may feel like the scalp, upper neck, back of head, or behind the ears is inflamed or in stabbing, throbbing, or shock-like pain.
Untreated diabetes can lead to several health complications like diabetic ketoacidosis, nerve damage, kidney problems, heart disease, stroke, and negative impacts on mental health—all due to unregulated high blood sugar.