Most of the people who have diabetes do not have any symptoms at disease onset. The only way to detect diabetes in the early stage is - Test, Test, and Test.
Still, there are many reasons why people go for a blood sugar (glucose) test. The symptoms can broadly be classified into three groups:

- Metabolic symptoms
- Non-resolving infection
- Symptoms due to complications
- Weight loss
- Frequent micturition
- Nighttime micturition
- Repetitive thirst
- Voracious appetite
- Recurrent boils in the skin, non-healing wound, recurrent urine infection, or white discharge, and repeated tooth infection often compels the treating physicians to test blood sugar and often that reveals an uncontrolled diabetes state.
- Some patients come to know about their diabetic status only when some complication sets in.
- Not surprisingly, a significant number of patients are 1st time diagnosed at cardiac or stroke unit when they present with a heart attack or brain stroke.
- Many patients complain of a tingling sensation of feet or visual blurring, indicating nerve or eye damage.
As per the American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines, one should not wait for symptoms to develop. Rather periodic screening for diabetes should be done as per their risk factor profile.
Their recommendation for the age of testing is given below. 1. Testing should be considered in overweight or obese (BMI >23 kg/m2 in Asian Americans) adults (>18 years age) who have one or more of the following risk factors:- First-degree relative with diabetes
- High-risk race/ethnicity (e.g., African American, Latino, Native American, Asian American, Pacific Islander)
- History of CVD
- Hypertension (>140/90 mmHg or on therapy for hypertension)
- HDL cholesterol level ,35 mg/dL (0.90 mmol/L) and/or a triglyceride level .250 mg/dL (2.82 mmol/L)
- Women with polycystic ovary syndrome
- Physical inactivity
- Other clinical conditions associated with insulin resistance (e.g., severe obesity, acanthosis nigricans)