Alcohol and night lows

Hi all,

So last night I went out for some drinks and some food with friends. Over the space of 5 hours I had 3 single vodka and Diet Coke and a slice of pizza with a few chips.

When I got in at 10 I checked my levels and I was at 12 so I didn’t treat as I knew I had drunk alcohol so I didn’t want to end up hypo. I then went to bed.

I had a really bad night sleep and when I woke up and scanned my Libre it showed me that I was between 2-3 for 3 hours and I only woke up on a 4 (which is very low for me as I wake up between a 8-9 on average).

I thought there may have been an issue with the Libre but when I checked with my monitor I was at 4 so I do suspect the Libre graphs is correct. I also feel extremely groggy this morning and have had an upset stomach and stomach pains. I tried to have a carby breakfast to get higher levels so had 2x white toast but I am still only sitting at 7 and my Libre is showing a gradual decline arrow (which is great for me as I would normally be over 10 with toast) .

I now feel extremely worried about drinking alcohol and having a bad hypo in the night.

Any tips to avoid this from happening again as I have a few weddings coming up over the summer and I don’t want this to happen again!

I think the only thing that bought me up to the 4s is the dawn phenomenon....

Thanks for any suggestions!

kitedoc said:

All i think to explain your experience is that maybe the alcohol stopped your body being able to respond fully to a lowering blood sugar.
The relaxing effect of the evening may have also allowed your insulin to work more effectively also so your bsl dropped further than usual.
What to do? In your place, but nit as advice or opinion:
I could decide not to drink alcohol at all, reasoning that it is in fact a toxin, produced by a bunch of yeast cells in order to stop another variety from pinching its food. Appointing myself a designated driver for others could help reinforce that decision and make for an understandable reason for my behaviour.
Otherwise i would need to eat some carbs regularly along with the drinking of alcohol to ensure my bsl did not drop and monitor things regularly.

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Thanks for there advice.

To be honest I’m not a big drinker at all - I perhaps only have a couple of drinks every 2-3 months and I don’t really want to stop this entirely.

I thought that by eating the pizza and chips it would have been enough carbs to counteract the alcohol.... evidently not!

NicoleC1971 said:

If you are a light weight drinker (literally) and female then your liver can't respond to glucagon and generate glucose as it is too busy processing the 'poison' (incidentally this is why alcohol can be fattening over and above it's calorie content).
Eating a bit more pizza may have helped as would reducing your basal (if on a pump) for the early hours or the meal bolus although this would have left you a little higher than you might like at bedtime. Without knowing your regime it is hard to make useful selections but you get the idea!
A night time low is horrible but at least you did wake up to sort it out and seem to have good hypo sensitivity.
I hope you enjoy those weddings plus a few drinks.

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Thanks for the message. Unfortunately I didn’t wake up it’s only when I scanned my Libre I saw I had been so low. That’s what I’m worried about if it happens again! I was tossing and turning all night but I didn’t have a hypo feeling like I do in the day.

I’m currently on MDI not a pump. But I guess next time perhaps I need to eat more if I am drinking!

SimonCrox said:

I would also just check that no one was kindly buying doubles for you instead of singles. But I would tend to agree with NicoleC1971 about lightweight drinkers. But a lesson for all of us.
Best wishes

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Thanks for the response.

They were defiantly singles as I was at the bar ordering them..

Circuspony said:

I can only manage a couple of glasses of red wine these days sadly. I'm also paranoid because my SiL's T1d cousin died in his mid 30s in his sleep and it was put down to not waking with a hypo. He'd been out for drinks and a curry with friends the night before.

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That is terrifying!

I’m not a particularly big drinker anyway as I hate the feeling of being drunk.

I’m also currently on my third hypo of the day after the vodka last night. I’m sure it must be the alcohol which is causing the hypos as I don’t usually experience quite so many in a day...

This didn’t happen when I was first diagnosed back in November!