onset of diabetes?

I'm hoping that someone here can tell me that I'm paranoid, I've been experiencing some strange symptoms that I think may be associated with diabetes. My mother has diabetes, she was diagnosed when she was thirteen, as far as I know she's the only person in my family who has it. I'm 19 now. Sorry this is going to be a long post but I want to try to cover everything that's been happening.

I'll start with the more trivial symptoms. For one thing, when I was a little kid I used to have really, really thick hair, like unmanagably thick. When I was about 15-16 it started thinning, and I think it's stopped thinning now, but my hair is very very thin now, and it used to be just the opposite.

A few months ago I started experiencing (and still am) what I initially thought was a UTI. I went to the wellness center at my college and they said I didn't have a UTI, and basically told me they didn't believe that there was anything wrong with me. Around the same time that that started happening, probably a little after that started happening, I began to notice that I'm thirsty all the time, I literally have to carry water with me everywhere I go. I live in the green mountains of Vermont, and I do a lot of camping/hiking/biking and I work on a horse farm so I get a good amount of excersize (I'm also a vegetarian, and I consider myself a bit of a health but) but even on the days when I don't get an excessive amount of physical excersize, I still have to drink what seems like an abnormal amount of water just to stay hydrated and comfortable. There was also a period of about a month after this all started happening when it seemed like I was tired all the time and had no energy, which is not normal for me. It seems to have improved now but it still comes and goes.

Now for the part that's concerning me the most, actually this is the reason I'm here making this post right now, I've passed out or come close to it three times in the last month. The first time was in a drawing class, it was actually probably a little over a month ago. I wasn't dehydrated and I had eaten lunch a couple hours before class, and I felt fine when I went to class. The teacher asked the class to stand around him and watch what he was doing, and as I was standing behind him I got this really bizarre low buzzing tone in my ear. It started off quiet and got louder and louder until it was literally so loud that I couldn't hear anything else, then I got really light headed and dizzy and disoriented and I felt like I was going to pass out if I didn't sit down, so I went to a chair and sat down. After a couple minutes I felt a little better, so I stood back up and went back over to the group. After standing for a minute or two, the exact same thing happened again, and I had to go sit down again. That time I stayed sitting for the rest of the class, and after class I got up and left and felt fine.

The second time it happened was maybe three weeks ago when I was camping with three close friends in Connecticut. We were about to get into a canoe and go fishing on a lake, and I went into the woods to pee before we got on the boat, and while I was walking in the woods I got the same light headed, dizzy, about-to-pass-out feeling, and I literally had to lie down in the middle of the trail in the woods for about 10 minutes before I felt like I'd be ok if I stood up. None of my friends saw this, but I told them about it afterwards. Again, I wasn't dehydrated and I had eaten earlier that day.

Then a couple days ago I went to a concert with a few friends, and straight up passed out in the middle of a crowd. It was in between sets, and the concert was outside, and everyone was just kind of standing around hanging out waiting for the music to start again. It wasn't overly crowded or hot, it was a comfortable atmosphere. I was just standing there talking to my friend, and I started to get the same feeling coming on again, and I looked around for a place to sit down and everyone was standing up and I couldn't see anyplace to sit down. So I was standing there, half listening to what my friend was talking about, but mostly just trying to think of where I could sit down before I passed out, and the next thing I know I'm lying on the ground, my friend is yelling for an ambulance and everyone is crowding around me wondering what happened. When I woke up I was completely disoriented, had no idea where I was or what was happening, it was like waking up from a very deep sleep in a strange place. One of my friends helped me up and handed me a water bottle and a security guard found me a chair and I sat with my friends for awhile and told them most of what I've said in this post. I felt better pretty much immediately after regaining consciousness, but my friend said that my face turned blue and I hit the ground so fast that no one even had time to catch me or react, and I was only out for a few seconds. But it was scary, especially since like the other times, I know I wasn't dehydrated. Could this have something to do with low blood sugar? I really have no idea...which is why I'm hoping that someone here might be able to help me.

I haven't seen a doctor yet for three reasons, first of all, my car is a piece of sh*t, which is why my bike is my primary source of transportation, and the closest hospital is about a 45 minute drive on a highway. I do have friends who have cars, but I wouldn't want to ask them unless it was really important...although that's kind of a bad excuse because this is probably pretty important. Secondly, I don't want to look like one of those crazy people who makes up illnesses and tries to convince doctors that I'm sick...because even though that's not what I'm doing, I've had doctors treat me like that before and it sucks. Lastly, I don't want someone to tell me that I need insulin injections for the rest of my life. I hate the thought of becoming dependent on something like that. I'm a very natural, outdoorsy, holisitc kind of person, I don't even take tylonol...but I've never heard of any other approaches to treating diabetes...are there any?

anyway, sorry this is so long, but I'm pretty sure I covered everything, if anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer them, really all I want is some outside opinions on what might be going on here...hopefully someone can help me out. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

-Lilly