Alcohol & Diabetes

EagerEsmerelda said:

Hello. Have a long term drink problem. Have just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Got to stop drinking. Could it be the drink has made my blood sugar readings look like i am diabetic when actually it is not diabetes at all?

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I'm not entirely sure but I have heard that heavy alcohol use can make you resistant to your bodies own naturally produced insulin.

Best of luck with going sober-Alcoholism is a VERY tough illness.

Paul

EagerEsmerelda said:

Hello. Have a long term drink problem. Have just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Got to stop drinking. Could it be the drink has made my blood sugar readings look like i am diabetic when actually it is not diabetes at all?

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Good luck with stopping drinking. It isn't easy and sometimes there is not much help around. Do try and get some though as it is a hard enough journey without doing it on your own.

EagerEsmerelda said:

I am hoping no drink alone will seriously reduce my weight.

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Good point! Alcohol can be very fattening in large quantities so it will most certainly help a lot.

I too am a heavy drinker and used to drink Rose wine and Brandy and Orange juice and although I have tried to stop I just can't.

My best friend says "Simple. Just don't buy it or have it in the house". Of course he is right....

I now drink Vodka and diet lemonade which doesn't make my blood sugars rocket as Wine and Brandy and Orange used to.

It's all still calories though. Less than my usual drinks but at least I am making an effort.

But I still drink too much. I refrain from saying I'm an alcoholic. I prefer the term 'Drink dependant'.

Hi,
I too would class myself as an alcohol addict (100+ units per week), in my opinion alcoholism doesn't exist it's just socially acceptable drug addiction at the end of the day and it's something i'm determined to knock on the head.

My BS readings don't fluctuate on alcohol much even though 100% of the consumption is premium lager, however due to the heavy drinking I have developed high blood pressure which at the moment (unlike diabetes) is badly controlled.

I have no doubt in my mind that the alcohol intake has brought my diabetes forward by 10 years as both my father and grandfather developed it around 48 (i'm 37), i also realise that the this quantity of alcohol contributed to my excess weight which i'm slowly shedding now due to cutting down.

My doctor called me alcohol dependant, after I told him how much I drank each day. After work I'd do half bottle vodka, 3/4 Stella's, at the weekend I'd aim for the full bottle, or 20+ Stella's. He send me for blood tests, repeated them tests again a week later, gave me statin,BP tabs, straightaway, then finally diagnosed T2.

This all happened in June, My turning point came when I downed a full litre of vodka followed by my new statin,you can guess the rest, violently sick within hours which lasted 2 days. Wife went ballistic.

After I recovered and went on the metformin, I decided I needed to change my life and sort myself out. 5 months later I only drink very occasionally, Bg are good, weightloss even better, I do blame the drink however I blame myself more. I believe that the alcohol played a key role in me having T2.

Sorry for the rambling, thought I'd share my story.

Cheers Andy




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My relationship with alcohol sneaked up on me.

It was probably about 10 years ago when I realised it was a problem though it was sometime after that before I really did anything about it. I was/am primarily a beer drinker, I didn't drink through the day just that couple of hours in the late evening and then quite quickly so maybe only in the pub an hour or two but 3 to 5 pints down my neck every night with the odd bender of 5-7 pints and half a bottle of the strong stuff.

I really couldn't go without a drink every night and breaking that habit was the hard one. No idea how I did it

Not now though, slowly cut back and I go months without a pint. My last bottle of Gin lasted 18 months.