Test Your Knowledge

The most notable symptom of diabetes insipidus (DI) is a feeling of thirst that causes a person to drink large volumes of water to compensate for water being lost in the urine. This excessive thirst (polydipsia) in turn leads to drinking a lot of fluids, causing an excessive amount of urine (polyuria) that is clear and watery.

According to the Diabetes Insipidus Foundation, excessive thirst in an adult can be defined as drinking more than four quarts (3.8 liters) a day. Excessive urination can be defined as more than 50 milliliters per gram of body weight, about 3.5 quarts daily for a 150-pound (68-kilogram) adult.

Other signs and symptoms of diabetes insipidus may include:

• Dry skin
  
  
• Dry mucous membranes
  
  
• Constipation
  
  
• Muscle weakness or lethargy
  
  
• Dehydration, possibly leading to dizziness and general weakness, a sunken appearance to eyes, fever, rapid heart rate or weight loss
  
  
• Bedwetting
  
  
• The need to urinate during the night – sometimes getting up two to three times each night (in middle-age and elderly men, enlargement of the prostate gland is a common cause of this symptom)
  
  
• Fatigue from getting up during the night to urinate