Type 1 Alcohol

Bennett1211

Member
Messages
18
Type of diabetes
Type 1
I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice regarding insulin whilst drinking alcohol.
I don't drink very often but I am planning on going out the bar next week to play some pool with some mates.
I will probably have around 10 pints of lager. ( I know this is more than he recommended units)
I have looked up that one pint has roughly 15g carbs in it.
Does this mean I should tak 1.5 units of insulin for each pint I consume or should I work it differently with alcohol?
Perhaps just take my normal dosage with my meal beforehand and then correct the high sugar levels after drinking when I have another high carb meal?
Any advice?
Thanks a lot!
 

Jamesuk9

Well-Known Member
Messages
504
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
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Diet only
10 pints of lager? that's got to be a disaster waiting to happen... Not even sensible for non diabetics.

I'd have a rethink in your shoes.....
 

urbanracer

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5,186
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Type 1
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Not being able to eat as many chocolate digestives as I used to.
I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice regarding insulin whilst drinking alcohol.
I don't drink very often but I am planning on going out the bar next week to play some pool with some mates.
I will probably have around 10 pints of lager. ( I know this is more than he recommended units)
I have looked up that one pint has roughly 15g carbs in it.
Does this mean I should tak 1.5 units of insulin for each pint I consume or should I work it differently with alcohol?
Perhaps just take my normal dosage with my meal beforehand and then correct the high sugar levels after drinking when I have another high carb meal?
Any advice?
Thanks a lot!

.

We have an information page for alcohol
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-and-alcohol.html
Alcohol lowers blood glucose levels. You may find with beer that your blood sugars drop while your body deals with the alcohol and then comes back up again when it starts dealing with the carbs. Injecting insulin thus becomes tricky, so I wouldn't drink large amounts until you're sure of what affect it's having on you
 
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Bennett1211

Member
Messages
18
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Not really, never used to bother me. Not necking them back in half an hour. It will be over the course of a day.
Just unsure if I need to treat the carbs in alcohol the same as everything else or if it's different due to the fact it's alcohol.
Just want to know other peoples experiences.
 

noblehead

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Just want to know other peoples experiences.

Believe me our experiences (just as it is with food) can vary from person to person when it comes to alcohol.

As a suggestion, a few days before the bar trip have a few lagers in the safety of your own home to see what effect the alcohol has on your bg levels, but I'd be wary drinking excessively but the choice is yours.

Enjoy your day and keep safe.
 

Scott-C

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,474
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Lagers spike me like crazy, pretty much like lucozade would do, and there's always a temptation to over-bolus for it, but the flip-side is that it can drop savagely later on. It's to do with how it interferes with how the liver works. I'd keep an eye on it as the evening progresses, maybe a small micro-bolus of 1 or 2 units here or there to save getting too crazy high, but always be aware that if it spikes and then flattens out at a peak, it might be the pre-cursor to a sudden drop. Definitely make sure you have some complex carbs before going to bed to ward off night hypos. In fact, it's one if the occasions where the delayed pizza effect of pizza, fish and chips etc is actually quite useful.

By the way, 10 pints is crazy: be sensible and stick to 7 or 8 max!
 
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catapillar

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,390
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Generally the advice is not to bolus for alcohol.

Your liver cannot multitask, if it's busy processing alcohol it won't be able to give out glucose which is what your basal insulin is normally pushing back against, but if it's not there to push back there's a risk of hypos. Normally that risk is likely to materialise in the night after drinking.

If you're drinking all day such a carby drink and eating it probably will push blood sugar up through the day and it might be a good idea to cautiously bolus for it with food. But because of the amount of alcohol your liver won't be giving out glucose overnight - you'd be wise to take on some uncovered carbs before bed. Treating a hypo while hungover is no fun.

Make sure the mates you're playing pool with know you're diabetic or it might be an idea to keep some medical ID on you. Drunk and hypo can be rather too similar.
 

Bennett1211

Member
Messages
18
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Thank you for the advice!
I'm not necessarily going to have 10 pints I just want worse case scenario as it's easy to lose track of how much I have had.
I'm going to have a few in the house tomorrow night and check BG Every half hour and see what effect it has on me.

Cheers folks
 

Dairygrade

Well-Known Member
Messages
314
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Having diabetes
Brings back memories for me when i had my 40birthday 20 years ago i was working in my local hospital so when we finished we all went for a drink well ok drinks as i don't normally drink a great deal it must have had some crazy affects because next day i woke up in the same hos that i worked at embarrassed isn't the word apparently my b's were about 1.5 i was lucky i was with people who knew what to do so if you want to have a drink that's ok but just be careful and check sugars at end of night cheers
 
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MH2010

Well-Known Member
Messages
438
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I personally dont have any insulin for alcohol.

My sugars can rise to a level my meter just reads 'hi' but soon starts rapidly dropping and tends to stay quite low the next day after drinking as well.

I would say have a drink or 2 at home and see how you get on, everyone is different so no1 knows the right or wrong thing for you to do.
 
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lukkymik

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Messages
79
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
The opposites of above!!!!
Much depends on whether you are Type 1 or 2 alongside your reaction to alcohol!!! If it were me as a 15 year type 2 I'd stick to a couple of pints and an enjoyable night out. I've found my ability to cope with alcohol had diminished rapidly since I went onto insulin. Not sure how old you are but I've gone from a 8/9 pint teenager to hardly bothering at all as it's just not worth the hassle. Trust me if you explain to your mates that you could have serious problems if you try to keep up with them.. Believe me if they're good friends they'll understand and if they don't get it then you're in with the wrong crowd!!!
 
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