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I'm confused about what to do when I'm on the beer, Inject ? don't inject?

Rob Graham

Newbie
Messages
1
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Whenever I go out for a drink I never know whether to take insulin or not. Supposedly alcohol lowers blood glucose levels . . . . . . I try and stick to Diet coke and whatever . . . . but lets just say I fancy a sneaky pint or cider. Should I inject if I'm only having a couple. I'm in limbo ..........
 
Personally, I test & if I know I'm having a drink that's a bit sugary I google to get an estimate of how many carbs it has n take insulin to cover it, much easier when I stick to vodka n diet coke though. And just make sure I eat later to avoid the drop
 
The DAFNE guidelines say the first pint is free and then 1 unit of insulin per pint thereafter.
 
Hi Rob, I find it so difficult! Apparently the alcohol can increase the speed any insulin you have injected is used and so can definitely cause you to go low. However some alcoholic drinks are so sweet that you will inevitably go high! I find some ciders raise my sugars massively, as well as beer. Hypo symptoms can also be masked by drunkenness, which always scares me a bit. Therefore prob best not to inject unless you really feel confident you know how your body responds.
Personally, I drink spirits which don't have too many carbs and make sure I inject a little less insulin the meal before. Compared to nights out on pints of lager I am much better able to control my sugars that way...
 
Iv was told never to inject when I drink I was told just to eat cabs but that's probably cause if I do its vodka haha
 
A lot of beers and ciders are high in carbs so i always have a jab, its true alcohol can lower your blood sugar but most beers are only about 5% anyway, I still have a copy of the countdown book with the alcohol section in it says that a pint of Strongbow is 16 carbs and Woodpecker dry is 11 carbs if that helps.
 
Everyone has a little alcohol they lie if they say they don't initially yours levels would go high I've learnt not to compensate it with insulin just have a small snack later on and take normal night time injection it generally sorts it self out.
God we have to have some fun eh!!!
 
Depends how ****** I get. Usually I can keep fairly sensible and test/inject/correct, I find there's a fair amount of carbs in a pint of beer, in tonic-water etc and I ALWAYS need some insulin. However, if I get completely razzled, one gets a bit more careless and it's really easy to over-do the insulin. Then you're flopped out in the morning or raising your hand to the barman "can I have a fresh orange juice please, oh go on bung a vodka in it"
 

Don't do anything and monitor after. Alcohol can lower glucose later on as an after effect but the amount of carbs in beer is not a huge amount, so you have to take this into account.

I don't find my sugar to go up much when I drink beer.

Get yourself a few beers and do an experiment at home. See if your sugars rise a great deal an hour after the first. Write it down. Proceed to another, so on so forth. Then be careful of the potential for it to lower glucose later (doesn't happen with everybody though)
 
I find that it all depends on what your drinking. real ale is a tricky one. it takes a lot of testing both with the meter as well as the alcohol.try it at home a few times but remember that being out at the pub you might be burning more carbs than sitting watching TV .
my rules for ME is
test before drinking. i count the carbs but only give half the insulin . test before leaving the pub and 2 hours later. you can always adjust later and dont try to be to low. eat something before crashing out on the sofa.
 
If it's a long session, say an all day BBQ well into the evening, I won't take any bolus and just eat some carbs, say burger bread, to balance the alcohol. Last night we went and stayed with friends, went out for a meal, kept the basal the same, I had no bolus, but ate a portion of sautéed potatoes, we hit the voddy after the meal back home. This morning BG was 6.1. Alcohol does reduce my BG, I now have somewhat of a gauge on how much, but it's different for everyone, so my advice is to experiment but with extreme caution.
 
A couple of pints of beer equates to about 30-40 carbs from what I hear from a lot of you thats equivalent to a main meal would the 5% alcohol content really stop the need for you to inject ? It dosn't me! I had a couple of pints of Speckled Hen the other night without a jab and woke up the next morning with a BG of 16.
 

I'm sure not everyone drinks, some are teetotal or just don't like the taste.
I have fun, but not with alcohol
 
I think everything in moderation, In my experience being ****** is as bad as a hypo being confused not knowing where you are getting aggressive with people, and both at the same time dosn't bare thinking about!
 
Gemma was funny!!! she said the first one is free!!!! And i completely agree!!! With alcohol you need to be careful, and it what they teach you in dafne, but it really depend on each person, i would skip the first specially if i'm dancing and count the carbs from the second if i'm not dancing i would count from the first
 
Don't drink beer? also especially don't drink fruit cider, lesson learned there!
 
I don't drink beer but I do drink cider especially at either music festivals or watching rugby. At the rugby when I'm stationary I bolus a unit for each one, at festival, especially if lots of walking or dancing involved I bolus for the ones earlier in the day but not later (when my judgement is likely to be slightly impaired!) I always eat before bed (I get terrible munchies on booze!) and only bolus for about a third of what I should if my BG is within a reasonable level. If I hypo it's usually the following day
 
I have always been told to avoid insulin altogether when you're on the beers. Also i have always been told to eat a bag of chips or something carb like on the way home too. Being hyper for a few hours whilst you sleep is far less dangerous than you having a hypo which is mistaken for you simply being drunk.
 
I'll have a couple of beers without taking insulin and show what the libre graph does.
 
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