Scary incident

[Fiona I]

Last night,
I went out from work and shared a couple of bottles of wine with a colleague. Unfortunately I did not take my metformin. I left her at the tram stop at 11-30 quite coherent but then I have no memory until I was at a tram stop 13 miles away from where I should have been. I did not drink enough to cause memory loss. Could my sugar have gone really high and caused me to pass out or something. I am very confused battered and bruised.

 

[-beckyb93-]

Hi - if you didn't take your meteor min you sugars could had rapidly increased or decreased then it could have caused the memory loss! In the past when i haven't taken my insulin I had similar experiences - I do not recall an entire evening with my friends but I was assured that it happened! So of you missed your metformin then yes that could affect your memory!

 

[martwolves]

It all depends on what you ate and when. Having high BS levels tends to feel ok, but having them high all the time can cause organ damage. A one off is ok. If I ever have a bit too much to drink, it doesn't affect me, but I drink small amounts regularly. If you rarely drink, which is wise and I need to heed my own advice here, it will hit you harder suddenly drinking a whole bottle of wines worth, especially on an empty stomach. There are many factors to consider, your general health, your BS control levels, diet and eating patterns, time of the month, hours worked, stress factors, medication dosage and so on. Think about what was different from a normal day APART from the drink first and then compare WITH the wine. Is it a massive change? Sometimes if I've had a long day and have a post work pint, I make sure the train I catch terminates at Wolves. I'd hate to wake in Manchester, Edinburgh or Glasgow. I once got a Wolves terminator and fell asleep and woke up in Walsall after it had stopped and gone back through Birmingham and on to Walsall. That added 2 hours to my journey home and another half hour on the bus. If I'm tired on the way to the city centre I sit at the front of the bus and the drivers wake me when we get there, it's not very often. On the way home my stop is halfway, so I have to remain awake or I'll end up back in town. Lol. I hope you find an answer, maybe you didn't have a great nights sleep. I suffer from that, especially in warm weather. Good luck.

Marty Boy.

 

[martwolves]

I wouldn't even attempt to drag a meteor min me. can you imagine the moon in your pocket?

 

[mo1905]

I'd very much doubt that not taking metformin or a temp high BG reading would cause memory loss. Likely possibilities I think would be a little more vino than you usually drink or that the wine dropped your levels and you suffered a hypo ? DImpossible to tell really without BG readings. Hopefully this was a one off occurance.
Mo

 

[ConradJ]

I agree with Mo, although severe lows are known to cause short-term forgetfulness - I've had a few of those to testify!

I realise it's slightly off topic, but I've just come across this research request (T1 and T1.5's only) about memory, which may be of interest to some of us:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=46141

 

[elaine77]

I would be inclined to think levels went too high not too low because

A: you're type 2 who don't normally suffer from hypos if Metformin is the only med u take...
B: wine is lethal and full of sugar

Scary though...I would maybe mention it to ur GP at the next appointment just so they aware and may be able to she'd some light on it for u...


Diagnosed with GD in 2010, Completely disappeared postpartum. Re-diagnosed December 2012 with type 1.5 diabetes, age 26, BMI 23 currently controlled by only Metformin, 500mg twice a day.

 

[carty]

I am inclined to think that the problem was more likely to be caused by the alcohol rather than the DB
Although wine is made with grapes and sugar the sugar turns to alcohol and alcohol causes BGs to go down rather than up
CAROL

 

[Glen]

Could your drink have been spiked? Even more scary thought.

 

[hanadr]

DFiona
Metformin doesn't drop your sugar much and it's not very fast acting anyway. I would guess the alcohol caused your problem.
Hana

 

[elaine77]

That's funny my consultant told me to avoid wine and cider as it will push by BG right up not down


Diagnosed with GD in 2010, Completely disappeared postpartum. Re-diagnosed December 2012 with type 1.5 diabetes, age 26, BMI 23 currently controlled by only Metformin, 500mg twice a day.

 

[mrman]

Alchohol is a tricky one. Initially depending on the sugar content of alchohol it can send your levels through the roof, cider being one of the highest. however as the alchohol is cleared by your body the liver is busy doing this and therefore stops releasing glycogen so your sugars can come crashing down. That its why it is advised when using insulin to not correct a high before bed after consuming alcohol and depending on quantity drank even have a carby snack to avoid a night hypo. Especially advised to have.a snack if only been drinking shorts with diet mixers as they won't raise sugars much but still stops the liver working properly afterwards.
however diabetics type 2/1.5 not on insulin will see higher levels but not see such dramatic drops afterwards as no basal insulin present to cause such a crash afterwards. Hope that all makes sense, does in my head lol.

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[elaine77]

Yes that's what I was saying Brett, the OP is type 2 I think and so won't have hypos as they just take Metformin hence my reluctance to believe wine would cause a hypo in their circumstances, especially so soon after consuming the alcohol (as they were just on their way home, not through the night in bed...yeh?) that's what I would have thought anyway..


Diagnosed with GD in 2010, Completely disappeared postpartum. Re-diagnosed December 2012 with type 1.5 diabetes, age 26, BMI 23 currently controlled by only Metformin, 500mg twice a day.

 

[mrman]

Sorry, did stray off topic a bit from the op question. do also think most likely caused a high. however not had memory loss from a high that I can remember

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[elaine77]

Nope but I've had memory loss from the vodka..... Pre-diabetes I might add! Lol!


Diagnosed with GD in 2010, Completely disappeared postpartum. Re-diagnosed December 2012 with type 1.5 diabetes, age 26, BMI 23 currently controlled by only Metformin, 500mg twice a day.

 

[LittleWolf]

Alcohol sends me LOW then high and I am not on medication. But apparently the other way around is far more common.

I feel incredibly drowsy when running high sugars. But people tend to most often report doing things they dont remember when they are low. If non diabetics can experiencing lows after drinking on an empty stomach I'm inclined to think a T2 could as well.


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[SpaceChick]

I'm fine drinking wine, my levels stay steady. But then when I drink wine it's always a glass of wine or two with a meal.

Last night I had a rare skinful of shorts..... Woke up about an hour ago feeling 'strange' and very hungry....tested my BS and they were much higher than I'd have expected. Got up and drunk some water and ate some roast chicken from the fridge (wanted to avoid any carbs in view of the high BS but needed to eat something).

Am now sat up in bed unable to sleep :crazy:

I think I've learned my lesson that I can't have the occasional binge like I used too probably better for me anyhow :wink:

So I'll stick to a glass of wine with food and that's that.

I'm guessing your sugars were high and not low too.

 

[rogerinfrance]

hanadr is absolutely correct, metformin will not be a player in this instance.
Short story, when I was with BFG in Germany the guys were told not to drink too much, many came out of the bars thinking they were OK and walked about 10 paces and collapsed. You have to aware of what you are drinking!

 

[Thommothebear]

Sounds much more like a spiked drink to me.

 

[Dusk71]

I wondered Fiona how u felt when u woke up? Did u have a raging thirst ( could have been dehydrated?) or hunger ( as in low bs?)


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