You may first notice T1D symptoms that include extreme thirst, frequent urination, nausea, vomiting, tiredness, and unexplained weight loss. These can come on quickly and become dangerous over days or weeks if not diagnosed and promptly treated.
Type 1 diabetes can develop suddenly, with the most common symptoms coming on quickly.
These symptoms are a direct result of increasing blood sugar levels due to T1D onset. They can become life threatening if the person experiencing them doesn’t get correctly diagnosed by a medical professional and begin insulin treatment.
Here are the most common symptoms of T1D you may notice.
These can vary in intensity and may worsen very fast or gradually, possibly over days or weeks.
- extreme thirst
- frequent urination
- drowsiness and fatigue
- blurry and sudden vision changes
- nausea and vomiting
Stages of T1D
Since 2015, it’s now understood that T1D develops on a staged continuum, with 3 stages reflecting the onset of this autoimmune condition.
The first two stages are
By the time someone begins experiencing T1D symptoms and receives a diagnosis, they have entered Stage 3.
Find out more about Tzield, an IV medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023 to help delay T1D from progressing to the point of symptoms in stage 3.
Yes, those who’ve developed T1D but haven’t yet been diagnosed and started on insulin can experience an array of other symptoms. These may follow or accompany other symptoms to varying degrees.
- unexplained weight loss
- stomach pain
- dry, fruity breath
- increased hunger
- heavy breathing
These symptoms can be a sign of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a medical emergency that happens when your blood sugar is very high and ketones build up in dangerous levels in the body. It happens when there isn’t enough insulin in the body to process blood sugar into energy. That leads to your liver starting to process fat into energy, releasing ketones into the blood.
Children and adults with undiagnosed T1D often experience this as a first indication they’ve developed the autoimmune condition.
Developing any of these symptoms is not a guarantee that you’ve developed T1D.
However, you may know if there are any risk factors or a
If anyone in the immediate or earlier generations of your family has had diabetes, the chances are higher that you may be at risk for developing this condition. That means if any of these symptoms do appear, it may serve as a more noticeable sign that T1D could be a cause.
Learn more about type 1 diabetes
Explore more about T1D here, including risk factors, possible causes, and how this autoimmune condition is managed once diagnosed.
People developing type 1 diabetes may experience a number of different symptoms. But the most common may include thirst, urination, fatigue, weight loss, and nausea or vomiting.
Type 1 symptoms may appear as a flu or illness, and so it’s important to always keep that in mind and plan to see a medical professional immediately if any possible T1D symptoms begin.
If not diagnosed quickly, someone experiencing newly-onset T1D can quickly experience dangerously high blood sugar levels that can become life threatening if insulin treatment isn’t started.