When it comes to diabetes, there isn’t much more serious than diabetic ketoacidosis. This is a major complication of diabetes that can happen when the body produces far much of a series of blood acids that are called ketones. This is directly caused by the body’s inability to produce insulin, so it affects those with both types I and types II diabetes. Type I diabetics are completely unable to produce insulin while those that suffer from type II can only produce a limited amount.
In either case, when the body does not produce enough insulin, ketones are produced. Insulin is used by your body to break down glucose into a form that can enter the cells and give them energy. When the insulin is not being produced in sufficient amounts, the body is forced to break down the fat stores, which has the unfortunate side effect of producing ketones. A few aren’t going to matter but, but the amount produced when your body continually has to break down fat to convert into energy is extremely dangerous, possibly even deadly. The amount of ketones produced by someone unable to produce insulin themselves is poisonous and causes a number of symptoms, all listed below.
Signs of Ketoacidosis to Watch Out For
Ketoacidosis can develop very quickly. In fact, many of them could happen within 24 hours of those fat stores breaking down. If you detect any of these symptoms, and you have diabetes or are at risk for it, you need to seek emergency care immediately.
1. Extreme thirst
The first symptom that we’re going to discuss is extremely thirsty. This is kind of a unique one because the others on this list of symptoms might be attributed to something else. But thirst and frequent urination don’t happen very often.
Everyone has pain from time to time and experiences low energy levels. In addition, an upset stomach can cause nausea and vomiting. But if you are thirsty constantly and running to the bathroom every few minutes, then you may want to get checked out and make sure that you are not in the beginning stages of ketoacidosis.
