Remicade (infliximab): Side effects, dosage, cost, and more
Signs And Symptoms Of Dry Mouth (Xerostomia)
Xerostomia (dry mouth) occurs when the mouth doesn't produce enough saliva. Symptoms of dry mouth often start out mild before worsening over time. They may include severely chapped lips, difficulty swallowing, and a loss of taste.
Lifestyle factors like smoking tobacco, consuming caffeine, and drinking excess alcohol excessively can increase your risk of dry mouth. Taking certain medications, like antihistamines and blood pressure medications, can also increase your likelihood of developing dry mouth.
Dry mouth can usually be treated at home, but prescription treatments may be needed in more severe cases. Your dentist or primary healthcare provider may notice signs of dry mouth and provide tips on how to best treat it. Managing dry mouth is important to prevent gum disease, tooth decay, and cavities.
When you don't have enough saliva to keep the inside of your mouth moist, it can feel dry, sticky, and pasty inside. Your tongue might stick to the roof of your mouth, making it hard to talk and swallow. You might also find yourself drinking more water, chewing gum, or sucking on candy to manage dehydration. Xerostomia can also lead to cracked or chapped lips and deep grooves on your tongue. The corners of your mouth may have a white, sticky film with tiny bubbles. Dryness around the corners of your mouth can lead to angular chelitis (red, cracked sores at the corners of your mouth). People with dry mouth are more likely to get oral thrush, a yeast infection in the mouth. Thrush can cause a white film to form on the surface of your tongue, redness, and soreness inside your mouth. When your mouth doesn't produce enough saliva, the mucous membranes (the moist tissues inside your mouth) get dry. This can cause the inside of your mouth to look pale or white and less shiny. These signs may indicate dehydration (not getting enough fluids) or dry mouth. A dry mouth can also cause discomfort in your throat, leading to hoarseness when speaking. This comes from irritation and swelling in your throat that affects your vocal cords. Allergies and infections can also cause similar symptoms. Consult your dentist or primary healthcare provider if you are unsure if your dry mouth is a symptom of allergies or an infection. Having enough saliva is important for breaking down your food. Without enough saliva, you may experience difficulty chewing and swallowing. For people who wear dentures, dry mouth can cause discomfort if your dentures are not fitted properly or rub against your gums. Without enough saliva to protect your mouth, your risk of developing mouth ulcers (sores) increases. Mouth sores can appear on the skin inside your mouth, your gums, or your tongue. They are painful patches that can greatly range in size. In addition to causing mouth ulcers, dry mouth can make it more difficult for them to heal. This can make them last longer, even with treatment. If you have a dry mouth, you may feel a burning sensation inside your mouth, especially after eating. Saliva moisturizes the inside of your mouth and protects it from potential bacteria or toxins that may have otherwise caused irritation. The less saliva you have, the more irritation you may experience on your tongue or the roof of your mouth. This discomfort can make eating, drinking, and speaking more challenging. Saliva helps distribute flavors across your tongue. With less saliva, your sense of taste can change. Foods might seem bland, or you may notice a metallic or bitter taste in your mouth. These changes can make eating less enjoyable and affect your appetite. Part of good oral hygiene is preventing bacteria from building up inside your mouth. Saliva helps to keep your mouth clean by washing away food particles and bacteria that cause odor. Lower saliva levels allow these particles to linger in your mouth, leading to bad breath. Brushing alone may not be enough to get rid of the odor. You can manage bad breath by using alcohol-free mouthwash, brushing twice daily, and flossing. Drinking plenty of water and using saliva stimulants can also help reduce bad breath and improve oral freshness. Researchers recommend drinking at least 8-12 cups of water a day. Saliva rinses away food particles and prevents acids from mixing with bacteria. It also keeps gums and teeth moist, which prevents irritation and swelling. When you have a dry mouth, food and bacteria stay on teeth and gums longer, causing a buildup of plaque on your teeth. Plaque buildup can lead to cavities and gingivitis (gum disease) A common symptom of gingivitis is red, swollen, and sensitive gums, especially after brushing and flossing. You may also notice your gums receding and revealing more of your tooth at its root. Receding gums can increase tooth sensitivity. In some severe instances, dry mouth can cause enamel erosion—small cracks in your tooth that can break it down completely if left untreated. Dry eyes and dry mouth often occur together, especially in conditions like Sjogren's syndrome (SS), where the immune system attacks moisture-producing glands. You may feel like you have something in your eyes or notice redness, blurred vision, and sensitivity to light. Many people with dry mouth also experience dryness in the face and inside the nose, causing facial tightness, flakiness, and occasional nosebleeds. Dry mouth isn't contagious, so you can't catch or spread it to others. It usually results as a side effect of medications, medical conditions, and dehydration. However, some symptoms of dry mouth, like a sore throat, could be a symptom of a contagious infection like the flu, a cold, or mononucleosis (mono). To avoid spreading an illness, avoid sharing toothbrushes or other utensils that contact your mouth. Contact your primary care provider or dentist if you have dry mouth, bad breath, or other symptoms that make it difficult to chew and swallow food. Other specialists who can help treat dry mouth include periodontists (a doctor specializing in gum disease) and ear, nose, and throat specialists (ENT). For treatment, a dentist or periodontist may suggest an alcohol-free mouthwash specifically for dry mouth. They may also recommend flossing, using toothpaste with fluoride, and chewing sugar-free gum to reduce the chances of plaque build-up. Common prescriptions include Salagen (pilocarpine) and Evoxac (cevimeline) to stimulate your salivary glands. Your healthcare provider may recommend increasing your water intake to treat dehydration. Lifestyle changes that can increase your daily hydration include limiting your alcohol intake, drinking less caffeine, and using a humidifier while you sleep. If you experience severe symptoms like trouble breathing or swallowing, chest pain, or a high fever with dry mouth, seek emergency care immediately. A dry mouth occurs when you have trouble producing enough saliva to lubricate the inside of your mouth properly. Many factors can cause dry mouth, including taking certain medications, having an infection, or being dehydrated. This can make chewing, swallowing, and, in some cases, speaking more difficult. You may also feel constantly thirsty and soreness in your throat. See a dentist, periodontist, or ENT to discuss how to best treat your dry mouth symptoms.Thanks for your feedback!
14 Signs And Symptoms Of Type 2 Diabetes
1. Frequent urination
Frequent urination, excessive urination, or both — also known as polyuria — are a sign that your blood sugar levels are high enough to "spill" into your urine.
When your kidneys can't keep up with the amount of glucose, they allow some of it to go into your urine. This means that you have to urinate often, including at night.
2. Extreme thirst
Extreme thirst is another common early symptom of diabetes. It's tied to high blood sugar levels and is worsened by frequent urination. Often, drinking won't satisfy the thirst.
Experiencing extreme thirst or dehydration can lead to cognitive dysfunction, which may interfere with your daily life.
3. Increased hunger
Intense hunger, or polyphagia, is also an early warning sign of diabetes.
Your body uses the glucose in your blood to feed your cells. When this system is broken, your cells can't absorb the glucose. As a result, your body is constantly looking for more fuel, causing persistent hunger.
4. Nerve pain or numbness
If you have type 2 diabetes, you might experience tingling or numbness in your hands, fingers, feet, and toes. This is a sign of nerve damage, or diabetic neuropathy.
This condition typically develops slowly. You're likely to experience this after years of living with diabetes, but it can be a first sign for some.
5. Slow healing wounds
There are several reasons wounds will heal more slowly if you have diabetes. Over time, high blood sugar levels narrow your blood vessels, slowing blood circulation and restricting needed nutrients and oxygen from getting to wounds.
Prolonged, high blood sugar levels also damage your immune system, so your body has a harder time fighting infection.
6. Blurred vision
Blurred vision usually occurs early in unmanaged diabetes. It can be a result of suddenly high blood sugar levels, which affect the tiny blood vessels in the eyes, causing fluid to seep into the lens of the eye. The blurriness will usually resolve on its own. But you should still see an eye doctor right away.
Unmanaged diabetes may lead to the following eye conditions:
With prolonged high blood sugar levels, you become at risk for more serious conditions that can lead to blindness, such as diabetic retinopathy.
7. Dark skin patches
Dark, velvety discoloration in the folds of your skin is called acanthosis nigricans. This is another early warning sign of type 2 diabetes. It's most common in the armpits, neck, and groin regions. The skin in the affected area also becomes thickened.
This is caused by an excess of insulin in the blood. It's common in people with type 2 diabetes because insulin resistance is the main precursor to this condition.
8. Frequent infections
Anybody can get a bacterial, fungal, or yeast infection, but people with type 2 diabetes tend to get them more often.
When your blood sugar is too high for your kidneys to filter, sugar ends up in the urine. This can cause urinary tract infections, as well as yeast infections. Gum and skin infections are also common.
Bacterial infections
You can often treat these at home by yourself, but you may need an antibiotic prescribed by a doctor. Common bacterial infections in people with diabetes include:
Fungal infections
People with diabetes most often get the fungal infection caused by Candida albicans. This is a yeast-like fungus that causes itchy red rashes surrounded by tiny blisters and scales.
These infections are most found in warm, moist folds of skin, such as:
9. Itchy skin
Itchy skin is often caused by diabetes, and it's sometimes one of the first symptoms. It can be caused by a variety of conditions related to diabetes, including:
10. Dry mouth
Doctors don't know exactly why dry mouth, or xerostomia, occurs with diabetes. They believe it's related to high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, which is related to diabetes.
11. Fatigue
Extreme fatigue is one of the hallmark symptoms of diabetes, sometimes called diabetes fatigue syndrome.
Researchers don't know exactly why it occurs. Many studies have been conducted on fatigue and diabetes, but none have completely pinpointed the causal connection.
The most common explanation is that diabetes-related fatigue is caused by fluctuating blood glucose levels that don't supply enough glucose for the body to use for energy. Researchers also acknowledge the difficulty of studying the connection between diabetes and fatigue.
Many co-occurring conditions can cause fatigue, as well as lifestyle factors, including:
12. Unintended weight loss
If you're losing weight without trying to, this can be a diabetes warning sign. It can also be a sign of other conditions, so be sure to check with your doctor and get tested.
If you do have type 2 diabetes, there's so much extra glucose circulating in your body that it goes into your urine. This may cause you to lose weight, even while you're eating more and more to satisfy your hunger.
Researchers have found that people who experience unintended weight loss before a diabetes diagnosis are more likely to develop diabetic complications later, including diabetic retinopathy (eye disease) and diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease).
13. Irritability
Irritability or mood changes can be a sign of type 2 diabetes. There are many other medical conditions that can cause shifts in mood. So don't assume you have diabetes if you're suddenly feeling a little cranky.
Mood changes that are associated with type 2 diabetes usually appear with other signs of diabetes, not on their own. A growing amount of research indicates a correlation between your moods and the seesaw changes in your blood sugar that characterize diabetes.
Blood sugar highs and lows are closely related to mental health symptoms such as:
14. Prediabetes
People almost always develop prediabetes before type 2 diabetes. Your blood sugar levels at the prediabetes level are high but not yet high enough to warrant a diabetes diagnosis. With prediabetes, you might experience some diabetes symptoms, or you might not.
If you know or believe that you're living with prediabetes, here are the blood levels that the three main types of diabetes tests will show:
The Effects Of Diabetes On Your Body
Diabetes can affect many parts of your body, including heart, kidneys, eyes, feet, and legs. Various complications are possible the longer you live with the condition and if you have high blood sugar levels over time.
When you hear the word "diabetes," your first thought is likely about high blood sugar.
Blood sugar is often an underestimated component of your health. An imbalance in blood sugar levels over a period of time could develop into diabetes.
Diabetes affects your body's ability to produce or use insulin, a hormone that allows your body to turn glucose (sugar) into energy.
Below are the symptoms that may occur in your body when diabetes develops.
Diabetes can be effectively managed when diagnosed early. However, when left untreated, it can lead to potential complications that include:
Usually after you eat or drink, your body will break down sugars from your food and use them to generate energy in your cells.
To make this happen, your pancreas needs to produce a hormone called insulin. Insulin is what helps the process of taking sugar from the blood and passing it to the cells for use or energy.
If you have diabetes, your pancreas either produces too little insulin or none at all. The insulin can't be used effectively.
This allows blood glucose levels to rise while the rest of your cells are deprived of much-needed energy. This can lead to a wide variety of problems affecting every major body system.
The effect of diabetes on your body also depends on the type of diabetes you have. There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2.
Type 1, also called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is an immune system disorder. Your immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells in your pancreas, destroying your body's ability to make insulin. With type 1 diabetes, you must take insulin to live. Most people receive their type 1 diagnosis as a child or young adult.
Type 2 is related to insulin resistance. It used to occur in older populations, but now more younger populations are developing type 2 diabetes. This is a result of certain lifestyle, dietary, and exercise habits.
With type 2 diabetes, your pancreas stops using insulin effectively. This further causes issues with using sugar from the blood and converting it into energy. Eventually, this can lead to the need for insulin medication.
You can effectively manage earlier phases like prediabetes with a balanced diet, exercise, and careful monitoring of blood sugars. This can also prevent the development of type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes is a manageable condition. In some cases, it can even go into remission if needed lifestyle changes are made.
Gestational diabetes is high blood sugar that develops during pregnancy. Most of the time, you can manage gestational diabetes through diet and exercise. It also typically resolves after the delivery of the baby.
Gestational diabetes can increase your risk of complications during pregnancy. It can also increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life for both you and your child.
If your pancreas produces little or no insulin — or if your body can't use it — other hormones are used to turn fat into energy. This can create high levels of toxic chemicals, including acids and ketone bodies, which may lead to a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis.
Diabetic ketoacidosis is a serious complication of the disease. Symptoms include:
Your breath may have a sweet scent caused by the elevated levels of ketones in the blood. High blood sugar levels and excess ketones in your urine can confirm diabetic ketoacidosis. If untreated, this condition can lead to loss of consciousness or even death.
You might become dehydrated with this condition. You may even lose consciousness. HHS is most common in people whose diabetes is undiagnosed or who haven't been able to manage their diabetes well. It can also occur due to a heart attack, stroke, or infection.
High blood glucose levels may cause gastroparesis. This is when it's hard for your stomach to completely empty. This delay can cause blood glucose levels to rise. As a result, you may also experience:
Diabetes raises your risk of developing high blood pressure, which puts further strain on your heart.
When you have high blood glucose levels, this can contribute to the formation of fatty deposits in blood vessel walls. Over time, it can restrict blood flow and increase the risk of atherosclerosis, or narrowing of the blood vessels due to plaque buildup within them.
If you smoke, consider quitting if you're at risk of diabetes. Smoking increases your risk of cardiovascular problems and may cause restricted blood flow. Your doctor can help you create a quit plan.
The narrowed blood vessels in your legs and feet may also cause problems in those areas. For example, your feet may feel cold, or you may be unable to feel heat due to a lack of sensation.
This condition is known as peripheral neuropathy, which is a type of diabetic neuropathy that causes decreased sensation in the extremities. It's particularly dangerous because it may prevent you from noticing an injury or infection.
Diabetes also increases your risk of developing infections or ulcers of the foot. Inadequate blood flow and nerve damage may increase the likelihood of having a foot or leg amputated (removed).
If you have diabetes, it's critical that you take good care of your feet and inspect them often.
Diabetes can also affect your skin, the largest organ of your body. Along with dehydration, your body's lack of moisture due to high blood sugar can cause the skin on your feet to dry and crack.
It's important to completely dry your feet after bathing or swimming. You can use petroleum jelly or gentle creams, but avoid letting these areas become too moist.
Moist, warm folds in the skin are susceptible to fungal or bacterial infections. These tend to develop in the following areas:
Symptoms include redness or other color changes, blistering, and itchiness.
High-pressure spots under your foot can lead to calluses. These can contract infection or develop ulcers. If you do get an ulcer, see a doctor immediately to lower the risk of losing your foot.
You may also be more prone to:
Unmanaged diabetes can also lead to three skin conditions:
These skin conditions usually clear up when the body attains optimal blood sugar levels.
Diabetes causes diabetic neuropathy or damage to the nerves. This can affect your perception of heat, cold, and pain. It can also make you more susceptible to injury.
The chances that you won't notice these injuries and let them develop into serious infections or conditions increases, too.
Changes in hormones during pregnancy can cause gestational diabetes and, in turn, increase your risk of high blood pressure. Two types of high blood pressure conditions that you need to watch out for during pregnancy: preeclampsia and eclampsia.
In most cases, gestational diabetes is easily managed, and glucose levels return to normal after the baby is born. Symptoms are similar to other types of diabetes but may also include repeated infections affecting the vagina and bladder.
If you develop gestational diabetes, your baby may have a higher birth weight. This can make delivery more complicated. You're also at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes several years following your baby's delivery.
It can also be helpful to connect with other people who understand what you're going through. Our free app, T2D Healthline, connects you with real people living with type 2 diabetes. Ask questions, give advice, and build relationships with people who get it. Download the app for iPhone or Android.
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