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Reduced alcohol tolerance

LucySW

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,963
Location
Denmark
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
l’ve been managing my Type 1 diabetes with low carb (& basal & bolus insulin of course) since diagnosis in mid-50s 6 years ago. My question has to do with alcohol sensitivity. I can’t drink much alcohol these days, which I always put down to my diet (high protein, high fat, lots of veg). I can cope with that.

But twice in the last two weeks, I’ve woken up with what I think is a hangover - nausea, waves of dizziness, sensitive to light, just feeling dreadful. This after *two glasses* red wine the night before, *with food & with water*.

Has anyone else on low carb had a similar experience?
 

In most cases, a hangover (notwithstanding the alcoholic consumption) is usually caused by dehydration. Have you tried having a couple of large glasses of water before bed?

I must say I'm a small, slight person, so my tolerance for alcohol has never been great, but after 7 years on low carb, I'm probably even less tolerant now.
 
I've been diagnosed 4 years ago and can drink just the same as before. Lowish carb, but not religeously so.
Can it be you were drinking more often before diagnosis so it's simply that you're not as used to drinking anymore?
 
I have noticed the morning after a night time hypo, I feel like I have a hangover. As alcohol can prohibit glucose release from our livers, is it possible @LucySW for your “hangover” to actually be the symptoms of a night time hypo?
Our bodies may self recover or rise due to dawn phenomenon so we may wake with the hypo.

When drinking, it is important to eat some more carbs or reduce basal insulin to avoid the risk of night time hypos.
 
LucySW said:
... Has anyone else on low carb had a similar experience?
Click to expand...
It probably has more to do with age. I don't drink wine in the evenings anymore because it messes with my sleep patterns. I only drink low alcohol beer, no later than 5pm or I have to get up during the night!
 
Hi @LucySW, I also struggled with this after I started eating very low carb a year and a half ago. My vicious hangovers would have me bent over the toilet for half the next day after 3-4 small glasses of wine, even with food and water. It just wasn't worth it, so I dropped alcohol.

I've read that people who are fat-burning have lower glycogen, so we get drunk faster and it hits us harder, but I don't know how true this is. Carbohydrates bind water, so it could have something to do with that too. You could experiment with eating more carbs with the alcohol, and see if it has any effect.
 
Could just be the red wine. https://www.insider.com/red-wine-worst-hangovers-2016-8 I've been teetotal for years now, but before that, I couldn't touch red wine without getting a massive migraine. White wine? No prob.
 
Must be the Southern hemisphere Jo ... cannot handle whites of any kind
 

@hyponilla, That’s just how it was with me too. I lost the whole day, just felt so awful. I’m trying eating a little carb &/or lots of green veg (lately I’ve been tired & not bothering so tending to just eat lots of protein). But yes, if it really is absolute low tolerance, the drink will probably go. It couldn’t be worth feeling that bad.
 
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