Can undiagnosed diabetes cause weight gain?

Author: Austen Howell II  |  Last update: Friday, September 26, 2025

Everyone's experience with diabetes symptoms is unique. [2] Some individuals have many symptoms, while others do not experience any. [2] Although weight gain is possible for people with undiagnosed diabetes, it is generally not considered a symptom.

Can diabetes cause weight gain before diagnosis?

Similarly, although weight gain was common from 10 years to 1 year before diagnosis, 44.4% (368/828) actually lost weight, demonstrating that the weight changes both before and after diagnosis are characterised by great variability (S1 Table).

What are the three most common symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes?

Symptoms
  • Feeling more thirsty than usual.
  • Urinating often.
  • Losing weight without trying.
  • Presence of ketones in the urine. ...
  • Feeling tired and weak.
  • Feeling irritable or having other mood changes.
  • Having blurry vision.
  • Having slow-healing sores.

Can having untreated diabetes cause weight gain?

While most healthy individuals will experience some weight gain as they age, people with diabetes are more likely to gain weight faster. In addition, unhealthy lifestyle choices such as eating a lot of sugar, caffeine, and alcohol and not getting enough physical activity can increase the risk for weight gain.

Is it hard to lose weight with undiagnosed diabetes?

If weight loss helps reach that goal, people need to know if it's harder to achieve than without diabetes. From all the information out there you might think it is. In diabetes, the fat-burning mitochondria (the powerhouse of our cells) may be more sluggish and hunger hormones may be out of whack.

How To Gain Weight With Diabetes IF You are Underweight. SUGARMD

What is a diabetic belly?

But that doesn't mean abdominal weight gain should be ignored. It can be an early sign of so-called "diabetic belly," a build-up of visceral fat in your abdomen which may be a symptom of type 2 diabetes and can increase your chances of developing other serious medical conditions.

How quickly can you reverse diabetes?

A 2019 study suggests that if a person follows a very low calorie diet of approximately 400 to 800 calories per day, T2DM reversal may be possible for approximately 79% of people within 8 to 12 weeks.

Why are some diabetics skinny?

If cells can't create or use enough insulin to convert glucose into energy, they may think your body's starving and start consuming muscle and body fat instead. If blood sugars are high in a diabetes patient, it can make them urinate frequently, and this results in dehydration as a possible cause of weight loss.

What does diabetes hunger feel like?

Polyphagia (hyperphagia) is a feeling of extreme, insatiable hunger. It's a common sign of diabetes, but it can have other medical causes, such as hyperthyroidism and atypical depression.

Why am I gaining weight so fast?

Weight gain and short-term fluctuations may happen for a variety of reasons, such as aging or making lifestyle and dietary changes. However, fast weight gain can be a sign of an underlying health condition, such as a problem with the thyroid, kidneys, or heart.

Can you smell if someone has diabetes?

Diabetes: Diabetes is one of the most well-known health conditions linked to changes in body odor. People with uncontrolled diabetes can experience a fruity or acetone-like smell (think nail polish remover) on their breath or skin.

What is often mistaken for diabetes?

The condition is often called latent autoimmune diabetes of adults, or LADA for short. Patients with it can be misdiagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and spend months or years trying to manage the wrong condition.

What should diabetics drink first thing in the morning?

Water. Plain water is the best drink for everyone, but especially for people living with diabetes. It's naturally hydrating and free of carbohydrates and calories.

What does undiagnosed diabetes feel like?

Diabetes often starts with mild symptoms such as feeling very hungry and tired, needing to pee a lot, being very thirsty, having a dry mouth, itchy skin, and blurry vision. Type 1 diabetes symptoms appear quickly and are more severe, while type 2 symptoms develop slowly.

What type of diabetes makes you gain weight?

Your body relies on insulin, produced by the pancreas, to keep blood sugar under control. When the hormone goes out of whack, you can gain weight, become prediabetic and, ultimately, may develop type 2 diabetes if the sequence continues.

How do you feel when your blood sugar is too high?

Hyperglycemia occurs when the level of blood glucose gets too high. Hyperglycemia can affect people of any age and can cause a range of symptoms, including excessive thirst, hunger, fatigue, and/or an urge to urinate larger amounts than usual.

What are the signs of diabetes in a woman?

The symptoms of diabetes include feeling very thirsty, passing more urine than usual, and feeling tired all the time. The symptoms occur because some or all of the glucose stays in your blood and isn't used as fuel for energy. Your body tries to get rid of the excess glucose in your urine.

What foods do diabetics crave?

In people with diabetes who are susceptible to hypoglycemia, sugar cravings develop as your body looks to get sugar. In this case, the temptation can arise for people to overeat sugar, such is the urge, but a lot of the time sugar cravings can develop out of the blue.

Why am I so tired and hungry lately as a female?

Your symptoms can be due to several different conditions such as diabetes, an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism), or congestive heart failure. Depression and mood disorders can sometimes also cause physical symptoms such as these.

Does pre-diabetes make you gain weight?

The pancreas reacts by producing more insulin to try to keep up with higher blood sugar levels. This condition is known as hyperinsulinemia. If your cells become too resistant to insulin, it can result in elevated blood sugar levels, which can lead to weight gain, prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.

Can diabetes be reversed?

There's no cure for diabetes and no way to completely get rid of it. However, diabetes can be reversed in most people. Reversing diabetes means carefully managing blood sugars to a point where medications are no longer necessary, and staying at that manageable point through a healthy routine of diet and exercise.

Will losing 30 pounds reverse diabetes?

But the chance that it could send you into remission may give you strong motivation to stick to it. Most of the people who reversed their type 2 diabetes lost 30 pounds or more.

Is diabetes a disability?

The short answer is "Yes."

Under most laws, diabetes is a protected as a disability. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are protected as disabilities.

What A1C is no longer diabetic?

The number represents the portion of hemoglobin proteins that are glycated, or holding glucose. The higher the percentage, the higher your blood sugar levels have been over the last few months. For diagnosing purposes, an A1C level of: Less than 5.7% means you don't have diabetes.

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