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Going "Out Out"

Absolutely agree, I am not much of a drinker and became even less over the last couple of years. Once a month perhaps, even less sometimes.

I have no intention of abusing this condition, it's in my interest to be healthy. It might with the placebo effect but when I do get into range, I feel happier, less angry at the world and less irritable.

What i'd love to do is mark the 6 weeks of diagnosis with a couple of weeks of better readings, and getting to grips with it all, with a few drinks with my close friends who have been so good to me. Sometimes I can be quiet, and being around 5-6 Irish guys while they are having a good amount of alcohol and having a lot of fun, can be difficult to get in on when completely sober. Besides, I hated the hangovers, I suspect having Type 1 without knowing didn't help.
 
Hi @JoeT1,
I think your plan sounds good but I'd say make sure you carb up enough in the day... you might find you get drunk quicker if you've been low carbing. Personally I'd be drunk after 6 vodkas.
It's good you have a libre, will allow you to relax and be aware of the impact of alcohol on our blood glucose without overt thinking it.
I don't drink beer but last time I went out had a few vodkas, here's my post
 
tiredoftrying2017 said:
First night out with the Libre - T1

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/First-night-out-with-the-Libre---T1.127864/
Click to expand...

Excellent post and thank you. It's nice and reassuring to see a post like this, and somebody having a great time and being able to keep things under control. Can I ask a couple of questions on this.

Was that your level going to bed? If so, were you afraid at all of going hypo during the night from the alcohol?

Did you eat anything at the end of the night? After turning down the pizza, you didn't have anything?

Again, excellent to see somebody still living an exciting life.
 
Of course!
I was low when I got in at around 4am, about 3.5. Had my usual hypo treatment (half carton of juice) and I think I had a packet of rice cakes or some kind of snack I had with me (under 15g or carbs).
I find pizza untolerable, often spikes me so high I feel ill but you may be different.
 


Thank you. This is the sort of information I was looking for. Something small, around 15-20g of carbs...even 3-4 crackers perhaps with a little bit of cheese might suit me as it's easy, and i'll be away so can have in my bag.
 
Yes sounds good

Hope you have a good time.
If you are worried maybe just set an alarm a couple of hours after going to bed so you can check during the night and know where you are at.
 
JoeT1 i would say that having some thing to eat before you go out on Friday and maybe run your BS a bit higher than normal, I always take a bottle of lucozade just in case i need it and some plain biscuits. On Sat i am sure you will go in to bars where they serve food maybe have a snack such as a sandwich. This will soak some of the alcohol up as well and if its a all day drinking you can alternate between vodka and soda water and just soda water. This will help you as you will not be to drunk and it will flush your kidneys out and it all so helps will getting rid off the alcohol. Just make sure you have some thing handy when you are out in case your sugar drops but if you are in a pub there will be coke, red bull etc. The main thing is have a great time and after you have been away you can look at your BS levels, how much alcohol you have had, what food you ate and the next time you will see if you need to do anything different. One last thing if you are walking from pub to pub and maybe having a dance factor these in to you insulin you take and i wish i was going away for the weekend instead of standing at the side of a football pitch in the cold.
 
@leahkian @tiredoftrying2017

Thank you. After a bit of a wobble about it during the week, I think I am going to give it a go at the weekend while away. I'm just going to be sensible, enough to enjoy myself and let loose, not enough to get sick and make silly decisions

Will let you guys know how I am getting on over the weekend.
 
One question before I head off, what sort of level did you start drinking at? What I mean is, 5mmol, 7mmol and so on. My aim before bed is to be no less than 12mmol for safety
 

What bolus do you take when more than two glasses.....there is no carbs....
 
JoeT1 said:
One question before I head off, what sort of level did you start drinking at? What I mean is, 5mmol, 7mmol and so on. My aim before bed is to be no less than 12mmol for safety
Click to expand...

I'd say aim for slightly above your normal range so 7-8 rather than 4-5 but don't sweat it. Just enjoy yourself!
 
That's what I thought... And, it's turned out I'm at 8 without actually trying, the aim was 5 with my correction, but looks like the excitement has brought me up to 8mmol.

Will keep a close eye on things, this is where the Libre will show its use
 
Definitely and my advice would be don't be too obsessive with checking and also don't freak out if its climbing steadily. Just treat if heading low.
 
I do a 3 day music festival every year and usually my BGs run a little lower than normal even though I'm drinking Beer (with high alcohol content). I suspect it's good because I don't eat much, I expend energy because of the alcohol content of the beer and I'm dancing until the wee hours of the night,
But having said that you should be sure to bring your Glucometer with you - If this is your first time clubbing since diagnosed - with BG readings you can find out what you can get away with.
On another note - good for you doing the clubbing thing - having a fun life is soooooo important regardless of whether you have diabetes or not.
 
So the evening/night happened. It went reasonably well. Started off with vodka and soda water, 2 or 3 and then we grabbed some food. I found this difficult to judge in a gourmet burger joint.

Ordered a burger, judged it at about 40g, and some sort of meal that had some bread in it I think. Only have myself 4units for the lot.

Found that my levels rose to about 12, and then about 11.30 dropped rapidly. The guys went on to a big nightclub, but I didn't fancy it on my first night, and headed back to the hotel.

I stayed up for a while watching tv. Levels dropped to 5.2 and dropping rapidly, I had a full pack of walnuts, still dropping. I had a mouthful of lucozade and headed to bed.... Seemed to work, woke at 8.2 and stayed steady overnight.



So all in all, despite being anxious, went reasonably well. Apart from a barmaid dropping a full tray of drinks on my lap.....
 
Woohoo! Result Joe!
Glad you managed to sensibly enjoy yourself. I'd say your readings are pretty typical... spike after bread and drop after drink.
How long before eating did you take your insulin?
 
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