Newly Diagnosed Uni Student

Welcome @joneill97

There are a number of Type -s at uni here. Tagging @EllsKBells to,start

You can drink, but you need to be extra careful as alcohol can mask hypos and it can also cause delayed hypos after an evening of drinking.

Also, some Type 1s, myself included, find they need a few carbs with certain drinks eg wine and spirits. On the other hand, many Type 1s need to bolus for the carbs if they drink beer or cider.

My advice would be to avoid drinking much at all until you get a handle on Type 1. Then you can drink sensibly, if you choose to, but aleays be aware of the hypo risks and test lots, including during the night if necessary.

Nothing to do with alcohol, but if you want a great book about Type 1, Think Like A Pancreas is fantastic

joneill97 said:

Had quite the shock this weekend when I was called into the hospital after a regular check up (I only went for this as my parents were concerned about weight loss!) and diagnosed with type one diabetes.

This is my first post so I hope people can help and then hopefully I'll be able to help others in the future!

I have many questions but I suppose my main worry is how this could impact my "uni life" and experience as I go into third year.

It's not as if I go binge drinking every night or anything but every now and again I like to go out or go to the pub etc; how will diabetes affect this? Can I still get drunk and have a good time? Aha!

Lastly, I've never been a smoker and never intend to be, but in the last year I occasionally had one every week or two, just when stressed or social smoke, it would only be one every week or so: is that still feasible? Dissertation writing without just one stress release like that could hurt haha!!

Appreciative of any comments

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Welcome to the forum @joneill97.First of all, don't smoke, it will do you no good. If you intend to drink, be careful what you have. Mixed drinks, beer and liqueurs be wary. Note that alcohol can raise your bgl's, and then lower them over time, so keep an eye on your levels. Check on the @type 1 forum for more information. Good luck with your studies.

Hi @joneill97 and welcome to the forum! I'm sure diagnosis was quite a shock for you - I think it is for most of us.

I don't know how much help I can be - I can't drink because of other medication that I am on, and was only a very occasional drinker before. Cocktails always produced a spike followed by a huge crash. I would second @azure s advice not to drink until you've really got the hang of this. If you do, definitely go slowly, and limit yourself to one or two - especially in the early days, it can be difficult to tell the difference between the symptoms of a hypo and being drunk.

Don't smoke either, so I can't tell you what that will do. Give up! If you really really need it, I think @mahola smokes, so she will be more knowledgeable about effects on bg. But stress can impact bg anyway, so I really wouldn't advise adding in another variable to the equation.

Some more general uni related advice - make sure your personal tutor is aware of your diagnosis, and also get in touch with your university disability service, to make sure you are not disadvantaged, for instance being allowed to take your meter and snacks into exams, and possibly sitting them in a separate room, and any other special arrangements you may need. If you do a practical subjects where you have lab sessions or similar, your lab partner/lab tutors should also be made aware.

Make sure your housemates are aware - you will need to keep your insulin in the fridge, it is important that it isn't tampered with or moved out or shoved at the back. You may like to consider a mini-fridge in your room. Also, if you share food, they need to know that your hypo supplies are off limits. Keep hypo supplies in the bag you take with you to uni, your bedroom, and if you live in a house with multiple stories, some on every floor. It's worth making them aware of symptoms of a hypo.

Have you been given a sharps bin? If not, ask your GP for one, and find out what the local arrangements are for having them collected - you can't just put needles in the bin. When you see your GP/diabetic consultant, you could also ask for a 'BD Safeclip', which allows you to clip the ends off needles, so you aren't carrying sharps around with you when you are out and about. Also be on top of your prescriptions - get everything set up on repeat so you can order it online. You really, really don't want to run out.

I'm not going to lie to you, it does add an extra degree of difficulty to life, but it can be managed through a degree, and it doesn't need to limit you. I've just finished my undergrad, and I'm going on to do a masters, in spite of the monster.

That's all I can think of for now - sorry for the essay! Feel free to ask/DM me if you have any more questions.

Ooh, actually, I think @Nomi was diagnosed while she was at university, so she might be able to help

joneill97 said:

Can I still get drunk and have a good time? Aha!

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You can still have a good time without getting drunk.

I'd heed Azure's advice about not drinking too much until you've got a handle on your type 1 diabetes, plus the symptoms of a hypo can be masked by alcohol so do be careful @joneill97 (and friends may mistakenly believe you are drunk when in fact your having a hypo, the appearance can be similar).

joneill97 said:

Lastly, I've never been a smoker and never intend to be, but in the last year I occasionally had one every week or two, just when stressed or social smoke, it would only be one every week or so: is that still feasible?

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I did have an article saved on my laptop that went into great detail about the damaging effects of smoking when someone has diabetes, can't find it but my advice would be to stop and look for other ways of relieving the stress, a long walk is good or some other relaxation strategies such as Yoga.

Enjoy Uni and stay safe.

Hey @joneill97 ! Will write a longer post about uni and diabetes but re smoking, smokers on average have a higher Hb1ac than non smokers (they're not sure why and this is the case for non diabetics) but there is no direct impact that I have ever seen on my bg!