[Tattoo azz]

RELAX!!!!
you can drink pretty much as much as you like, just remember that alcohol tends to drop your bg's (although not for everyone), so long as you eat plenty of healthy carbs like brown bread, pasta and stuff like that before you start you will be fine. You will probably need to keep a tighter than usual eye on your bg though and most impotant have something to eat like a couple slices of toast before you go to bed, this is so your bg's don't plummett during the early hrs.

[KCP]

Id just like to add that perhaps when you do have a 'bender' (which I do occaisionally) within my group of freinds there is always one person who isnt drinking. SO, all my friends are well versed on my drunken behaviour and are able to tell the difference between a hypo and drunkeness..
Perhaps its a good idea to keep people you trust around you at such times just in case? I know on more than one occasion i have had a trip to an ER halted by a quick moving friend with a chocolate bar

[Cormac_Doyle]

In my personal experience, alcohol does not drop my BG ... it raises them slightly - the absorption profile will obviously depend on the type of drink ... but more importantly; assuming that I have taken a normal amount of Lantus, they will drop back again.

However, the dangerous thing about alcohol is that it can cause to to not be aware of an impeding low ... hence the warnings about going low while drinking.

[HelenM]

I think there is a different attitude to drinking in the US than to here. Most people drink wine in moderation, there is no taboo, therefore doctors do not immediately say that people with diabetes shouldn't drink, the guidelines are the same as for the rest of the population (unlesss someones taking certain medications).I had a glass of wine of wine with lunch on a diabetic course at the hospital the other week. It is usually advised that some carbs are eaten at the same time, (NB sangria is often relatively high in carbs) .
Everyone diabetic or not needs to become aware of the effects of alcohol on their own metabolism and take care particularly when first drinking any new drinks.
Strangely enough the only times I have been aversely affected by alcohol since being a teenager were in the period when I was undiagnosed but (I assume) had very high blood sugars.

[Subby]

I'm not a regular or heavy drinker but I've drunk enough in my time. I find that as long as BG is pretty steady to start with and I have a good meal behind me, beer is the best way to go. Whether it pushes slightly up or slightly down seems random. There are a few factors in play. I just keep checking and correcting.

Spirits are a whole other thing. They spike me like spoonfulls of sugar, even when mixed without carbs. Vodka is probably the least problematic of spirits for me. I always steer clear of the sickly sweet things like Frangelica, Desert wines, etc. The sugar is just too much and I'll double my BG in no time.

So I mainly stick to beer, it's generally neutral - with a bit of help.

As for starting out, just have a drink or two at the next opportunity, as long as you can test hourly to really get a picture for how an alcohol works for you. It's about the only way you will find out how you react. Sometimes the only way forward is just to forge on and observe the effects - carefully.

A big factor for drinking is alcohol acts as an inhibitor of glucogen released from your liver, so watch the hypos. It seems to occur for some time after - which may explain why I can have a wonderful, easy time of control (if pushing low a bit,) the day after quite a few.

Last thing I'll say is that I really don't drink much these days, I think more than a few and I do suffer all sorts of bad effects - nightmares, moodiness, feeling flat, etc. I don't know if it's exacerbated by being diabetic, but regardless watch for problems.

[xMenace]

Originally Posted by Subby

A big factor for drinking is alcohol acts as an inhibitor of glucogen released from your liver, so watch the hypos. It seems to occur for some time after - which may explain why I can have a wonderful, easy time of control (if pushing low a bit,) the day after quite a few.

I've gone hypo hours after drinking.

The rule I follow is after I'm done drinking, I set a temp basal of 50% for one hour for each drink I've had plus one hour. So if I have four beers, I'll set a 50% basal for five hours after my last one.

Scheiner in "Think Like A Pancreas" has another formula which if I remember right is even more aggressive than mine.

Of course I bolus for most drinks.

[dodo]

Spirits are a whole other thing. They spike me like spoonfulls of sugar, even when mixed without carbs. Vodka is probably the least problematic of spirits for me. I always steer clear of the sickly sweet things like Frangelica, Desert wines, etc. The sugar is just too much and I'll double my BG in no time.

Spirits do the same to me! That is why I only drink wine and beer!

[kansas]

I know everyone is different but since I am a 24 yr old female, I crave the sweet "girly" drinks that so many of my friends partake in. But my sugars always spiked into the 300 - 400s because of the amount of sugar. What works for me - I mix vodka (usually 1/3 of the drink) and the sweeter stuff (the other 2/3). The vodka has enough alcohol content that my blood sugars will stay stable all night long and I never have to worry about hypos or highs.

[Subby]

Originally Posted by xMenace

I've gone hypo hours after drinking.

The rule I follow is after I'm done drinking, I set a temp basal of 50% for one hour for each drink I've had plus one hour. So if I have four beers, I'll set a 50% basal for five hours after my last one.

Scheiner in "Think Like A Pancreas" has another formula which if I remember right is even more aggressive than mine.

Of course I bolus for most drinks.

Heh, forgot to mention to bolus too, so Kat when you were asking about low carb beers and so forth, whether it's low carb or not bolus per it's content as per normal food - but watch for that hypo reaction afterwards. My impression has usually been the liver inhibitor side effect can vary quite a bit between people.

As for drinking low carb - I wouldn't worry about it if it's to the detriment of enjoying your drink... (and if you can handle some carbs, of course) ... the only low carb beer I tried was pretty horrible Maybe there's nice ones out there!

Actually, just realised I haven't drunk more than a drink or two since going on the pump. Hmmm, maybe I'll have to go out and do some research tomorrow night... thanks for sharing your pump approach John, I'll try something like that.

[fgummett]

I've not touched a drop since Dx
Between the various meds it seems best that way... I was not heavy drinker for the last few years anyway... not like when I was in the Royal Navy. But I do occasionally hanker after a cold brewski on a hot Summer's evening or a nicely aged single malt whisky/whiskey when relaxing at home before bed

[mark_in_toronto]

Originally Posted by Subby

A big factor for drinking is alcohol acts as an inhibitor of glucogen released from your liver, so watch the hypos.

For me, for an unknown reason, my sugar just starts to climb overnight. It wasn't always this way, in the past year this sugar rise started to happen despite drinking rum or vodka or rye (zero carbs). The rise doesn't happen right away, it happens a few hours later so this is what I can't figure out. Even beer has this effect overnight on my sugar, even though my sugar is fine as I take the proper amount of insulin for the carbs in beer.

I started to compensate by taking more insulin overnight, which worked well, until one night last week when I woke up paralyzed due to a severe low. My body (and blood sugar) just seems to react unpredictably lately...I know, I know....quit drinking! Long story, stressed with job etc.

[PERKDOUG]

Alcohol partially shuts down the liver which means that gluconeogensis (the liver conversion of blood proteins to glucose) is inhibited. Therefore for some time after a few drinks there is little contribution of glucose from this process. A few hours later gluconeogensis resumes, raising your blood sugar.

[Dimes]

I have found alcohol to be unpredictable as well. I am trying to move towards wine, of which I drink mostly red, because it more consistently brings down my bg, so I know I just need a little snack to counterbalance and I'm good. As for beer, if it's more than 2-3, it's a little dicey what may happen, either high or low. Lately I have been going a little high on beer.

[mark_in_toronto]

Originally Posted by PERKDOUG

Alcohol partially shuts down the liver which means that gluconeogensis (the liver conversion of blood proteins to glucose) is inhibited. Therefore for some time after a few drinks there is little contribution of glucose from this process. A few hours later gluconeogensis resumes, raising your blood sugar.

If we use this ideology, then I should be experiencing lows while the liver is removing alcohol from the bloodstream. I don't experience this. I still don't know why I had such a brutal low on one occasion, after being fine other times.

Further to this, I'm finding that if I'm having a couple, and eat something I usually eat such as a sandwich, I require about 50% more insulin than I do without alcohol. There seems to be insulin resistance, something I've read about before but it pertains more to Type 2 diabetics. Weird.

[jbrowning2612]

It just depends on what I drink as to what my BG does. Margaritas will shoot it sky high, but Malibu with pineapple juice usually doesn't do much to it. It'll go up a little, but not much.