[mark_in_toronto]

Ya, I know...diabetics shouldn't drink....I just want to ask a question: With alcohol, has anybody experienced a differing reaction from one day to the next...i.e. did you have highs one day, then another time lows?

Having a rye/diet coke (or two) was repeatedly putting my sugar up, then in the last week, I had a pretty brutal low. Just wondering if anybody has come across this experience/

Mark

[dodo]

Yes that happened to me! I've heard that scientists don't really know the effects of alcohol with blood sugars. That is why diabetics shouldn't drink alcohol.
If I plan on drinking more than one drink I test more than usual!

[KCP]

Yep.. most of the time tho i keep a very close eye on what im doing.. See, im still young and I want to socialise with a few friends occaisionally and sometimes this involves alcohol. I have found that I can drink wine fine as long as I eat as well and test test test!!
Sometimes the next day I will be fine, perfectly good blood sugars.. other times i will be lower than usual.. not often tho do I go high, only whilst im actually drinking.. afterwards, not often at all!

[viranth]

I don't drink myself, but a friend of my parents has type 1 with pump. And she drinks when they're at dinners and such.

But the key here is what amount do you drink. If you just go nuts your BG will be wild, but if you take it easy and be careful, it can cause no problems at all.

[Chappo]

Drinking doesn't touch my blood sugars at all. Beer and spirits are perfect, i have gone all night a couple of times, and my BG's have been stable as.

Shamefully, i have had 3 times were i have been bringing day's worth of food up after wayyy too many drinks. Somehow i remember to monitor my BG's at these times and they've been fine - usually the sugar in rum and the carbs in beer offset the lows.

Except red wine. Heavy reds like Cab Sauv's, aged Shiraz's and Merlots can play havoc with my BG's. One glass can often send me hypo if i'm not eating with it.

[Kat]

yeah I've wondered about drinking because my friends throw a lot of parties but since I got diagnosed I haven't touched a drop! I'm to scared to.
I am going to Spain in the fall for a study abroad program with my junior college and last time i was in Spain I drank the occasional beer or sangria with my dinners and it was really nice because it was legal being under 21 there. So this time it would also be nice to drink but I am too afraid to now and am not sure how or how many diabetics acctually do it.

????????????for the most part I think I just don't want to drink, it's bad for you anyway right, so....I don't know, my 21st birthday isn't going to be so exciting anymore....****! =/ sigh ah well, that's life right.

[Lizzie G]

guys i have to disagree with all your posts about how diabetics 'shouldnt drink'. that is utter rubbish and just one of those things that we are told because medics dont generally have a great deal of personal experience of how a good boozing session affect a diabetic! unless you have a horrid unhealthy lifestyle and sit around all day long stuffing your face with cakes there is no reason whatsoever you shouldnt enjoy a good drink (or 2, or even 5!) just like anyone else. in fact there is nothing any of us shouldnt do, just take the time to observe the effects different things have on your blood sugar and make the appropriate allowances, for example, if you have had an absolute skinful you know that when you go to bed your liver is going to be too busy dealing with all that booze to do much of a job of pumping out any glucose, so you're not going to have your DP, so if you normally cover with extra insulin reduce this, or eat some toast, but let your hair down and enjoy life a bit! i have excellent control, do a lot of sport and eat and drink exactly what i like. admittedly i do have a taste for things healthy in general, but since i found out i was diabetic my diet hasnt changed at all...it makes me so mad to hear that people think they cant do things because of diabetes, especially FUN things (but in moderation of course!)

[Lizzie G]

Originally Posted by Kat

yeah I've wondered about drinking because my friends throw a lot of parties but since I got diagnosed I haven't touched a drop! I'm to scared to.
I am going to Spain in the fall for a study abroad program with my junior college and last time i was in Spain I drank the occasional beer or sangria with my dinners and it was really nice because it was legal being under 21 there. So this time it would also be nice to drink but I am too afraid to now and am not sure how or how many diabetics acctually do it.

????????????for the most part I think I just don't want to drink, it's bad for you anyway right, so....I don't know, my 21st birthday isn't going to be so exciting anymore....****! =/ sigh ah well, that's life right.

see my previous post. its absolutely fine. PM me if you like, seriously you should not be worried about drinking as long as you understand your body's personal response and dont put yourself in danger of a big hypo. generally i find: wine just brings my BG down, beer starts off by going up then comes down, spirits i dont touch....i would say though, if you're not experienced at managing your blood sugars dont go crazy

[judi t]

I'm with you, Lizzie G. I'm enjoying a chardonnay as I type. Okay, drink in moderation, but don't think of yourself as an invalid who can't do stuff because you're 'diabetic' - hate that adjective. I've been a drinker all my adult life, including the past 27 years of type 1 D. I think I look really good on it! Call it self-medication. I have a stressful job and I enjoy wine in the evenings. Just be aware of how your own body responds to it, and don't drink too much.

[Lizzie G]

Originally Posted by judi t

I'm with you, Lizzie G. I'm enjoying a chardonnay as I type. Okay, drink in moderation, but don't think of yourself as an invalid who can't do stuff because you're 'diabetic' - hate that adjective. I've been a drinker all my adult life, including the past 27 years of type 1 D. I think I look really good on it! Call it self-medication. I have a stressful job and I enjoy wine in the evenings. Just be aware of how your own body responds to it, and don't drink too much.

im jealous - its morning here so at work!

[BlueSky]

I probably drink more than I should, mainly because I make all my own stuff. I make beer, wine, cider, mead, spirits and liqueurs. And I do it in 24 litre fermentation batches ...

Excessive amounts of alcohol can cause a low the next morning. But since I started using Lantus, I haven't had any problems with it.

[Kat]

Thanks for the advice. I don't think that I am limited because I'm a diabetic just that there are things I choose not to do because it's better for my body in general not to.
But I do want to 'learn' how to drink, how my body responds to such and such. I'm just a little scarred to do the experiment and find out. But I think I'm going to this summer. i'll have a calm night at home watching a movie with my family and drink a beer and see what happens, since that is mostly what I'd be drinking in spain. Though in spain it's just random beers so I won't know how many carbs....?
So do I just find out how many carbs are in it and then cover for it and eat something at the same time to avoid a low? And then check every hour or so for 4 hours or something?
Heh, sorry to be ignorant about this =/
THANKS!

[Lizzie G]

Originally Posted by Kat

Thanks for the advice. I don't think that I am limited because I'm a diabetic just that there are things I choose not to do because it's better for my body in general not to.

i agree...

But I do want to 'learn' how to drink, how my body responds to such and such. I'm just a little scarred to do the experiment and find out. But I think I'm going to this summer. i'll have a calm night at home watching a movie with my family and drink a beer and see what happens, since that is mostly what I'd be drinking in spain. Though in spain it's just random beers so I won't know how many carbs....?
So do I just find out how many carbs are in it and then cover for it and eat something at the same time to avoid a low? And then check every hour or so for 4 hours or something?
Heh, sorry to be ignorant about this =/
THANKS!

in my experience (but everyone is different) white wine/beer overall ends up acting carb neutral, i dont take any insulin to cover it and even take less insulin with any meal i have. if drinking without food will often have to have a small snack without insulin to cover it....

hey its not ignorant, its worse to be so well versed you know what every single drink does for you!!! in terms of testing every hour is probably a good idea until you know better...however, you might observe your blood sugar go up to start with on some drinks, dont correct, just wait and see what happends over the next four hours, i can almost guarantee you will drop, and a combination of too much alcohol with excess insulin would not be pretty.

i would also say try and drink things like wine and beer, even cider, and avoid things with sugary mixers, alcopops etc, it just makes it harder to tell what your blood sugar is doing, plus these things taste foul and are full of nasties that nobodys body would like.

[shiftzor]

Alcohol isn't too hard to predict when you have tested enough. Do not forget that caffeine may be a cause of whacky bg as I find it unpredictable. I don’t drink diet coke at all now as it contains caffeine, only the diet coke caffeine free for me. Recently I have found that alcohol doesn't drop my bg, which it use to, this results in me staying high for hours on end. I need to start correcting and counting the number of carbs in beer. Drinking beer is fine only if it can be done safely, very similar to chocolate or anything sweet.

[davef]

I'm with Lizzie, okay I'm a Type 2 so it may not be exactly the same as for T1's. But like all things it's about moderation and monitoring. I had the same worries when DX'ed, which was just before Christmas and the party season. I drink mostly red wine, but have also had beer. A day out with the boy's would be odd if you are the only guy standing in the pub, watching a game if I was drinking wine, so I have beer on those occasions.

Make sure to eat before drinking, nibble something while drinking and pace yourself. I try alternate my drinks with water. I test more frequently. My morning numbers the following day tend to be a bit lower. I *believe* that T1's are more likely to go low with alcohol, so just keep a check on numbers.

So have a drink, eat, enjoy it and monitor BG.