Health encyclopaedia - Alphabetical Topic List
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Symptoms of Diabetes insipidus
The two most common symptoms of diabetes insipidus are:
- Feeling thirsty all the time (polydipsia),
- Making a lot of urine (polyuria) – more than 3 litres in 24 hours,
- Needing to urinate often at night-time (nocturia).
When too much water is lost, the concentration of other substances in the body can get dangerously high. For example, there may be too much sodium in the body. Sodium is part of sodium chloride – also known as salt – which is needed to make the body work. If there is too much of it, however, it can cause confusion and possibly coma.
Children with untreated nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (caused by problems in the kidneys) tend to feed poorly and do not grow or gain weight at the normal rate. They can become very dehydrated when they are ill, when they get too hot, or when they do not have water for a short period of time. They may be short for their age and have a painful, swollen bladder.
