I’m 62 and I have started feeling thirsty all the time. I drink a lot of tea and water, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. I even wake up thirsty in the middle of the night. A friend said it could be diabetes. Is she right?
She may well be. Undiagnosed diabetes can present as being unusually thirsty and needing to wee all the time and the risks of diabetes in later life increase the bigger you are – if your waist measures more than 31.5 inches (37 inches for men), you are definitely a candidate. The symptoms are caused by high sugar levels in the blood which also causes sugar in the urine. It is simple to check with a dip test on a urine sample or a blood test so make an appointment at your surgery and take a urine sample along with you.