• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Alcohol

sofs888

Well-Known Member
Messages
53
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi everyone,

I was out for a family member's birthday tonight and had a few drinks... I've not been drunk since diagnosis and starting insulin so not sure what to expect!

I am on novorapid and Lantus. I had a vodka diet coke, 2 regular glasses of wine, an espresso martini and a Bailey's... A right mix I know


I had the drinks during/just after eating a big meal (that I injected for).

I have just tested my sugar and it's 13 - not uncommon at the moment as I'm still running slightly high as my body gets used to everything. About to take my 10 units of Lantus.

Feeling slightly tipsy and just want to know any tips on what to do. Read all the information about alcohol and type 1 but now just scaring myself that I'm going to have a hypo that results in a seizure... **** you Google!

Thanks in advance!
 
At least in my experience those particular drinks should be pretty irrelevant to your sugar levels, particularly as part of a meal. There should be nothing to worry about. If you were drinking beers or ciders and such, it's a completely different story.
 
Would body size and gender be potential factors to consider though? I'm not a T1 but I've read a bit about this issue as a first aider. Regardless of type, 5 standard drinks (at a minimum) could be a lot of alcohol for a small female compared to a normal sized male... just potentially/hypothetically? Timing of food eaten is of course a factor, which is a positive.
 
Probably, but the point is that there isn't a lot of carbs in those drinks except for the espresso martini. I can easily drink a bottle of wine by myself and it has virtually no effect on my sugar levels. Again, beers and ciders will contain a lot more carbs and you would usually drink a lot more of it than wine or spirits.
For the record I'm not a particularly large male, weighing in at 68kg according to my latest DN letter.
 
Do have somethimg to eat before you crash for the night. Our livers will deal with the alcohol before they will help us out of a hypo by releasing stored glucose, because they can only do one thing at a time. Don’t worry about your 13, and I personally wouldn’t correct it, that’ll probably keep you out of a hypo overnight - but have some toast or a cereal bar to be on the safe side. You can always correct in the morning. Don’t skip your Lantus though.

Let us know how you are in the morning x
 
I wasn't referring to you specifically, just in general. And a female of say 54kg will handle alcohol differently to a male of even just 68kg. That's not related to diabetes. A male and female of the same weight will react differently.

I think the alcohol content matters along with carb content but as I'm not a T1 I won't comment further.
 
It’s a fair old whack of booze, and if the OP hasn’t drunk in a while, it could hit her hard. So it’s best to have some food, plenty of water, and get a good night’s sleep... My own alcohol tolerance is irrelevant.
 
Thank you everyone, will have a belvita before bed - would rather be slightly higher than low! I'm about 53kg so would be interesting to know if factors such as that do affect it! Always been able to handle my alcohol but as Mel said, it's been a while so who knows!!! X
 
If you’re worried, maybe set an alarm for 3-4am to check your levels, and make sure you’re got glucose by the bed! It’s horrible having to get up to get some when you’re hypo as well as a bit wibbly x
 
Mel dCP said:
If you’re worried, maybe set an alarm for 3-4am to check your levels, and make sure you’re got glucose by the bed! It’s horrible having to get up to get some when you’re hypo as well as a bit wibbly x
Click to expand...
That's definitely the excuse I use for having tons and tons of sweets near my bed.
 
Morning! Night was ok, couldn't get to sleep for ages - think I was just concerned! No problem, sugar is actually fairly high, it's at 10, but that's not too uncommon as the last few mornings it's been in the 8-10 mark! I have read that you're still more prone to having a hypo the next day after drinking, is that correct?
 
Glad you’re ok, yes, keep an eye out for hypos today, your liver is probably still busy
 
Hi Sofs88,
2 standard drinks maximum is the health recommendation for you. My concern is what do you do if you start vomiting from effects of the alcohol and your BSL starts to drop ?
Your liver is blocked by the alcohol from releasing glucose to help combat the hypo as @ Mel dCP points out, and, with vomiting, you may not be able to take in enough sugar by mouth to manage the hypo. And glucagon injection does NOT help.
So someone has to call out the ambulance, hoping in the meantime that your low blood sugar is not causing permanent brain damage before iv glucose restores your BSL to normal.
Too much alcohol may cause loss of control in more ways than one.
Please , please be mindful of your health. I am not saying you are the only one this has happened to, and in a crowd and with profit as an incentive to the bar tenders etc things can easily go beyond the limit of safety.
 
a vodka diet coke, 2 regular glasses of wine, an espresso martini and a Bailey's..

and you're only a bit tipsy? I'd be tw***ted.
 
Hahaha thanks Chris, made me laugh! Kitedoc, I've never been in a position where alcohol has made me violently sick and I don't intend on getting like that. That said, only having two drinks is often unrealistic in social situations too! Whilst yes it's true that a situatioike that could occur to someone (and probably has before) it's just a bit scaremonger-like and to some younger users may scare them off having a good night out!
 
Sadly I had a few “good nights out” in my 20s that landed me in hospital with hideous hypos because of the risks of drinking too much with T1. We’re not trying to scare you, but it’s a very real risk for us, sadly
 
Perhaps you could start a new trend. Two alcohol drinks per evening out ( for men it is 4) and no egging on by the men. If they do not understand the difference then they are rotters ! Do we have to hold with out-dated convention and the advertising of an industry which does not give a **** what its beverage cab do to a person's liver, brain and other organs? A shocking statistic in Oz is that half the juveniles in prison have foetal-alcohol syndrome.
My way of reasoning against drinking alcohol is that alcohol is produced by yeasts in order to defend their territory. It is a defensive toxin. We might get some over-rated effects from small amounts but toxins like alcohol and many others cause us harm not only to our organs but potentially to our children, our relationships, to our physical selves (think car accidents) and to our thinking and ability to function. Every time you drink alcohol you risk harm. The benefits of anti-oxidants, promoted by wine drinkers etc can be obtained through grapes etc, No alcohol needed.
All I ask is to think about it. If people cannot socialise without an alochol(ic) drink, there is something wrong with society in general.
 
On the plus side having just enjoyed a glass of red with my meal, I can say it was very enjoyable, and as a lot of my diet falls short of the ultra enjoyable these days giving that up would be the final straw.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…