April 7, 2009
Hyperglycemia and DKA
Question from Rochester, New York, USA:
Does hyperglycemia cause an increase in appetite or a loss of appetite? In my experience, when my blood sugar rises, I become extremely hungry as well as tired and thirsty. Out of curiosity, I was looking up hyperglycemia symptoms on the Internet and have found many sites claiming that hyperglycemia causes a loss of appetite. Which have you found to be true?
Answer:
The type of symptoms are related to the magnitude of the rise in glucose and how long someone has had high glucose levels. The person who usually has good control and has a lapse in control may have a decrease in appetite. However, the person with weeks to months of hyperglycemia, enough to cause weight loss, persistent frequent urination, and thirst may have a marked increase in appetite necessary to try and catch up with the loss of calories lost in the urine.
JTL
