Hi
There are a few things that can be quite important to remember as far as drinking is concerned.
1) First of all alcoholic drinks have different levels of carbohydrates and sugar in them so will affect your blood sugar in different ways. Generally spirits and wine have very few if any carbs in them whereas beer, ale, cider and alcopops have larger amounts in them. So you would be advised to stick with spirits and a mixer or wine as this will make your levels easier to manage. Do your own research on what you like to drink to establish the carb / sugar levels.
2) It is best to eat while drinking but it doesn’t mean you have to sit down to a 3 course meal. If you are not planning on eating out then just take a cereal bar or something like that to eat while out.
3) Regular blood sugar testing is really important and I can’t stress this enough particularly as you are newly diagnosed and very much still finding your way. I would recommend every 1 to 2 hours while out and I would also consider setting an alarm for 2am-3am to check your sugars are still OK. If high you can take some short acting insulin to counteract this or if they are low take some glucose and some longer lasting carbs such as bread to keep your levels up when you go back to sleep. Diabetes is a very individual condition and affects different peoples bodies in different ways and until you get used to living with this take care.
4) Make sure you carry your insulin, blood testing machine and fast acting glucose at all times when out. Also make sure that there is someone with you who knows what to do in case of a hypo.
5) I am not sure if you have had a hypo yet (you will trust me) but they are quite distinctive and you will feel them coming on. Again the symptoms of these vary from individual to individual but you may feel shaky, get blurred vision, start to sweat profusely, get a bad headache or start to have trouble in making yourself understood. Unfortunately bad hypos can mimic the effects of being drunk so I would advise caution at this early stage with getting too drunk. Night time hypos when you are asleep are really quite horrible things however the good news for you is nearly all diabetics wake up while having them and can deal with them. For most T1’s they are more of an annoyance than being actually dangerous however you should not underestimate them. Generally your liver will kick in to release stored glucose however as mentioned in one of the earlier replies its ability to do this while trying to process alcohol becomes much reduced. I unfortunately have limited hypo awareness (basically I don’t always get symptoms of a hypo or they are very faint) as I have been diabetic for many years so they are more of a problem for me but as you are a newbie your body will still be very sensitive to them.
6) I don’t know if you have been made aware of what is known as the Honeymoon Period but this is a further reason to be slightly cautious of drinking at this stage. When you first start to inject insulin your pancreas can basically start functioning again to a limited degree. This is very erratic and irregular but it may go on for up to a year or it may not happen at all. The problem this gives you as a newbie is it makes it very hard to control your blood sugar. You are injecting insulin and monitoring your glucose levels and everything is great until your pancreas decides to start working again for a bit. You will obviously not be aware of this until your levels drop. This can happen at any time (or not at all) which is why you are at greater risk in these early stages from suffering hypos. This will stop (if it ever starts) but you do need to be aware it can happen.
So basically to summarise my rather long post. Make sure you take precautions. It’s liking learning to ride a bike. It’s really hard at this stage, you’re not sure what you’re doing, you’re nervous and to be honest you will probably fall off a few times. But the longer you are on the ride the easier it will get. Just make sure the people around you are aware of your condition and what to do if you have a hypo you can’t deal with (very very unlikely) and just try not to get too drunk at this stage. But by all means go out, have some fun and don’t let this stop you living your life. Most diabetics get by reasonably well as functioning members of society and many live amazing lives. It can just makes things a little bit harder but when you get a success you can feel even better that you have overcome the challenge. Good luck and have a great Christmas!
I'm 22 and recently been dignosed with type 1 diabetes. I'm dying to go and have a drink with friends but i was told that i can only have a glass of wine with a meal. any suggestions? don't really want to sit and eat a full on meal at the pub! 
