These are the classic symptoms of diabetes:

1. Rapid weight loss -- Something like 10% of your body weight in six weeks to two months.

2. Frequent urination -- Say four times during the night and every couple of hours during the day. Your body cannot use all of the carbohydrates you are eating and expels the unused glucose as waste.

3. Constant thirst/dehydration -- Goes with above. This often complicates things, because a lot of people beat their thirst with sweetened soft drinks. You might also notice dry skin.

4. Unexplained pains and cramps in your limbs/extremities -- worry about this. It is a function of circulatory problems and, potentially of diabetes-associated nerve problems.

5. Vision problems -- Increase in blood sugar has an osmotic effect on your eyes [which are, after all, sacks of water], changing their shape and causing blurriness.

6. Bad breath -- An uncontrolled diabetic's breath smells like a heavy drinker's due to the increase in keytones in his bloodstream.

7. Constant fatigue -- A diabetic's body is wasting away, literally pissing itself out. He will feel extremely weak a lot of the time and, at others, like he's drunk [mainly because he is, sort of -- those keytones again].

If you have these symptoms -- particularly 1, 2, 3, 7 -- go see a doctor and get tested. If you're overweight, you're in a high-risk group; if you eat a lot of junk food, you're in a high-risk group; if you're stressed, you're in a high risk group... you get the picture.