Drinking on the (Diabetic) Job

I'm type 2, no meds. I drink red wine, which doesn't raise my BG.

I drink vodka and diet coke and it doesn't affect my BG's at all, though, I am half convinced that if I have quite a few drinks - ie. about 6-7 units then I'm far less likely to suffer from my intermittent dawn phenomenon - though I don't think the medical professionals will take this as a cure to my DP

**shell** said:

Good afternoon All
Now that the weekend is nearly here. I was just wondering how people manage alcohol and there diabetes and more importantly what they drink? All in moderation of course!
I only recently discovered how much wine spikes me and how fast! Normally I stick with spirits and soda water/slimline tonic. I don't bolus unless I am eating too. Then make sure I have a snack before bed. Although this low carb malarkey makes pizza not the best go to.
x

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Have you tried Fathead Pizza? Quite nice.

Red red wine is great but as you say I get a little more relaxed about the snacking/chocolate! And less inclined to go to the gym the next day. But it is a lovely way to unwind!

I used to be fine with both red and white wine, as long as they were dry, but after a few decades I had to stick to red as white wine now sends me high.

I'm fine with spirits (brandy or gin and slim) but have to make sure I have a snack before bed.

Red wine makes me fat though doesn't seem to affect BG. I stick to G&slim line T but a nice glass of fizz (or 5) is fine

SueJB said:

Red wine makes me fat though doesn't seem to affect BG. I stick to G&slim line T but a nice glass of fizz (or 5) is fine

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As long as it's Brut!

dancer said:

As long as it's Brut!

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The bruter the better!!

I drink wine ... which has little affect at the time but makes my BG drop over night
Or beer which I need to inject for which is much easier on a pump.

I keep away from caffeine, as it keeps me awake all night, and any sweet mixers, such as juice, so avoid spirits as they go down too quickly neat.

vodka and diet coke for me never bolus for alchohol only food .have a piece of toast or a crumpet b4 bed as i tend to drop overnight or early the next morning used to be a lager drinker but since diagnosis dont tend to have it as spikes are far too high

Rokaab said:

I drink vodka and diet coke and it doesn't affect my BG's at all, though, I am half convinced that if I have quite a few drinks - ie. about 6-7 units then I'm far less likely to suffer from my intermittent dawn phenomenon - though I don't think the medical professionals will take this as a cure to my DP

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I appreciate that your comment is tongue in cheek, but I can quite see how a few drinks could improve the morning dump. If your liver is going flat out trying to cope with all that poisonous alcohol it has precious little time to produce glucose to get you going in the morning. There is a school of thought that a little drop of alcohol is good for diabetics. Personally, being diagnosed with T2 was the last straw as far as my drinking was concerned. I've never been alcohol dependent but there have been times in my life when I've drunk more than the maximum recommended number of units. So, I took the decision and I haven't touched a drop since last November. Do you know what? Once you decide that you have done with it, the process of giving up is easy. I really don't miss it at all. I'm 63 now and I took my first drink at 14. I wish I'd given it up after that first drink.
I now exercise more, I've lost a seventh of my body weight and I am on a LCHF diet. It is impossible to say whether one of these changes has made the difference or whether it's a combination of these changes, but my HBa1c is down from 53 to 42 and a number of other health issues are so improved that I have reduced or stopped the medication for them.
My advice is, stop drinking or at very least keep well within the guidelines. Drinking is like smoking. We don't need to do it and it does us harm.

As I follow a low carb diet now (18 months in), I always drink a nice dry red and it doesn't mess with my blood sugars...and this does often help with the DP...

Single malt whiskey all the way for this T1!

Rokaab said:

I drink vodka and diet coke and it doesn't affect my BG's at all, though, I am half convinced that if I have quite a few drinks - ie. about 6-7 units then I'm far less likely to suffer from my intermittent dawn phenomenon - though I don't think the medical professionals will take this as a cure to my DP

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It's possibly due to your liver being too busy trying to flush out the alcohol poison, that it doesn't have time for dumping glucose till later.

Robbity

**shell** said:

I was just wondering how people manage alcohol and there diabetes

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I don't.

The idea of drinking alcohol at this point is utterly terrifying, what if something really serious happens?

@NoKindOfSusie every newly diagnosed Type 1 worries about what might happen with alcohol (and everything else). You just have to try things out. Start small . . . If you like wine, try a glass (not a bottle!) with your evening meal. Test 2 hours later to check that all's well and again before bed. If you're really worried, check around 2am to make sure you're not going low. If all's well, and still OK before breakfast, you can repeat the same thing another day. If you're happy with one glass, that's you set but if you usually have 2 glasses, try the same experiment with 2 glasses instead of 1.

You would normally have hypo treatments beside your bed "just in case", so you would be prepared for that possibility.

If you prefer beer, that's a different story. I have seen beer described as a pint of sugar, on the forum, and found that to be true after having a small beer on holiday several years ago. I would wait till you're more confident before even considering bolussing for alcohol.

Your confidence will grow. Just take things slowly (and I'm not just talking about drinking alcohol). Try out different foods to see how they affect your blood sugars. If you are higher than expected, 2 hours after eating, double check that you have counted the carbs accurately. Remember that 2 hours after eating, you can be above target but that doesn't necessarily mean there's something wrong.

If you try drinking alcohol, don't take it with a meal you haven't tried before, as if you go high/low, you wouldn't know if it was due to the food, alcohol or both.

I am more considered in both what and how much I drink then before, and I suppose as that means I drink less than before it could be termed a positive of T1!

On one of the recent chilly days, I was remembering when that would of seen me out for a nice walk in the country then a nice pub lunch with a few real ales and a warming shot of drambuie to finish. But too many beers means too many carbs, and drambuie is basically whisky and sugar!

I can still do the walk, eat almost the same lunch, but I find lagers like Bud Light and of course spirits with diet mixers, wine all easier to manage now... and I just don't get as inebriated as before so that I can keep an eye on things.

In fact with red wine especially I find it keeps me low, even through the next morning. Last night for example I had a couple of glasses and all morning today struggling to get above 5 even though I cut my insulin at breakfast as I knew what would happen!