What are the symptoms of Gestational Diabetes?

Most women with gestational diabetes do not experience any major problem in the initial stages and may remain unaware about the disease. Hence during pregnancy your doctor will recommend screening for gestational diabetes. The tests are usually done between the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy but in high risk cases (such as women with a history of gestational diabetes in previous pregnancy, or women with excessive weight gain) the tests may be done earlier. Read to know about the signs and symptoms of gestational diabetes.

• Increased frequency of urination and increased thirst: The increase in blood sugar level causes fluids to move out your cells, which makes you feel thirsty and so you drink more water. This causes increased frequency of urination. Besides this the high blood glucose level leads to loss of glucose through urination. Water also moves with the glucose and this causes your bladder to fill up and results in frequent urination.
• Rapid or sudden weight gain: This results due to eating excessively as you feel very hungry or are hungry most of the time.
• Always feeling tired or exhausted: Even though the blood glucose levels are high, your cells starve (as your body cannot use the glucose in the blood due to lack of insulin) and do not get their essential energy. So you feel tired and fatigued.
• Dizziness or light headedness  that increases on standing up.
• Feeling very hungry or hungry most of the time: You feel hungry as your body cannot use the glucose in the blood due to insulin resistance and the cells of your body remain depleted of energy source; so you feel hungry more frequently.
• Blurred or hazy vision.
• Frequent infections of the urinary tract and vaginal infections.

If you have symptoms suggestive of high blood sugar (increased thirst, increased frequency of urination, rapid weight gain) consult your doctor so that you can be tested for gestational diabetes.

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