Excessive Thirst & Urination

• The most obvious symptom of onset diabetes involves excessive thirst and urination. Since the sugar in the blood is elevated, the body will begin to experience a certain level of dehydration. This is partly due to the tissue in the body absorbing more and more fluid to counteract the amount of glucose, prompting an abnormal amount of thirst. As you drink more to quench this thirst, you'll begin to produce more urine. The other reason behind this change in both thirst and urination is that the body also attempts to rid the excess glucose from its system through an increase in urination, causing further dehydration and prompting the need for more liquids.
  
  

Hunger

• Since the insulin isn't effectively moving the glucose from the blood into the cells, the body will eventually become undernourished. In most people, this state will generate a response by the system in the form of hunger. Though a person may still be eating the same amounts of food as before, not enough of it is being transported into the cells to satiate that hunger.
  
  

Fatigue

• Onset diabetes also prompts fatigue and exhaustion in most people. This is largely due to the decreased movement of glucose from the blood into the cells. Though a person may still be eating the same amounts of food as before, not enough of it is being transported into the cells to generate energy, causing the person to become overly fatigued.
  
  

Weight Loss

• Many people dealing with onset diabetes will also begin to experience unexplained weight loss. This particular symptom is similar to both hunger and fatigue, as it's initiated by the lack of movement of the glucose into the cells. Since the cells of the body aren't being nourished as normal, they begin to seek out other sources of sustenance. The easiest being that of fat and muscle. As soon as the body turns to these sources, their presence in the body will slowly decrease, causing weight loss.
  
  

Infections

• It is a little-known fact that diabetes is actually an autoimmune disorder. This usually means there is another facet to the disease --- infections. Since the immune response of the body will be slightly impeded by the condition, a person may begin to suffer from more frequent infections as well as increased difficulty in healing.
  
  

Visual Disturbance

• As the blood suffers from an increase in the level of glucose, onset diabetes also affects the blood vessels in the eyes, as more and more fluid may be leeched from its tissues. This would prompt a visual disturbance best described as a blurred sense of vision.
  
  

Skin Discoloration

• It isn't uncommon for someone dealing with onset diabetes to also suffer from a discoloration of the skin. Most of the time, this discoloration will affect the neck and underarms, causing them to become darkened and thicker than normal.