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Why do I always collapse when ive had alcohol?

D

diva19871987

Well-Known Member
Messages
74
Location
Nottingham
You may think this is a silly question but would love to hear other diabetics stories of mixing alcohol with diabetes. I stopped drinking as soon as I found out I was pregnant with my children 4-5 years ago. I've always had a strained relationship with alcohol and in the past I definitely used it to "forget" about things. I am one of those people that finds it impossible to stop at 1 drink. This was why I gave up completely because I just felt so poorly everytime I drank alcohol. I was having countless hospital trips with hypos nearly every time I drank alcohol. I drank alcohol last Friday and sure enough it happened again. I tested my sugar levels constantly and at one stage I was at 22.3 then plummeted to 1.2 after taking insulin. It seemed to dramatically effect my levels whilst I was having alcohol. I won't be drinking again as its just so dangerous and it doesnt sit well with me but would love to know if there are diabetics who know why this always happens and is it just something diabetics can't do? Thank you
 
I've never had quite such dramatic effects from drinking alcohol, but I have on more than a few occasions, drunk far more than one should drink and definitely more than a type1 diabetic should drink. I know alcohol does have a habit of sending your blood sugar sky high and then dropping it way down, so I don't think you're alone on that one. I'm not sure of the reasons why it does this though.

If you're taking a correction dose to bring down your levels when you've tested as high, perhaps you're taking too much and it's sending your levels too low?!

I think in the past I've managed it by taking a correction dose of insulin at the end of the night if I'm really high, but only if I have something substantial to eat, like a sandwhich which I then take insulin for as well. I could be completely wrong, but I think having the food helps to prevent the fall out at the end of the night when your levels plumit, even though you're taking some insulin for it.


I suppose the best thing is not to drink so much alcohol, but we all know that's easier said than done. Try and be safe! I know it's not easy.
 
I've never had anywhere near as dramatic effects. Sure, I have to keep an eye on my levels as I often find the my blood sugars run and little high or a little low as a result of drinking. I can definitely tolerate a drink or six on insulin though!

Not meaning to sound rude, but how much do you normally drink? Also, what is your usual poison of choice? I find some drinks eg liqueurs, beer etc really raise my levels. Others seem to make me more likely to have hypos. I usually still to wine and/or G&T. I also find I am a complete lightweight - but I think that's because I am quite petite rather than being diabetic!

Em
 
Hi Diva,

Its Lucy, sounds like you are having a rough time of it again Did you manage to sort the carb counting as this will give you the knowledge to make informed decisions to be able to manage drinking with T1. Prior to the course I would only drink red wine and only 1 glass at a time. Now I am a little more flexible and understand more how different alcohols affect BG.

Also how is the thyroid treatment going? If you are slightly overactive then this may speed up the rate at which the alchol is used and therefore more likely to hypo.

It must be difficult with 2 little ones but do try and find out about carb counting. I am nearly dancing this morning as feel that things are finaly evening out now other issues have been sorted.

I have an appt with my dietician this morning.

Please please try and get some help with carb counting not a quick fix and takes alot of perseverance but worth its weight in gold.

Google BDEC Online Diabetes Learning Programme to get you started.

Best wishes and take care,

Lucy xxx
 
I am not an expert at this but since I like my drink also I tried to find out what effect it might have on me. I looked up the Mayoclinic database and there I found that one of the symptoms of a hangover is low blood sugar. This is in a normal person and not necessarily a diabetic.

Another thing I learned from this forum is that alcohol interferes with the liver rush and makes the blood sugar lower as a result.

If you have all of that and take insulin I for one am not surprised that you had a very low reading.

The sugar content of wine and beer gives you a high reading quite quickly so if you deal with that then get all the other effects it sounds to me as if controlling the situation might become difficult.
 
You'd do well to stay away from alcohol Diva given your past experiences and in your shoes I'd do likewise

When I drank beer in my younger years (on twice daily injections) I would see my bg climb but the following morning they would crash at around 10am, now I don't drink beer and just enjoy a few glasses of red wine on a Friday and Saturday night, strangely enough red wine does little to my bg and I rarely now have a hypo the following morning.

Occasionally when eating out I'll enjoy a pint of Guinness as a treat, I usually just bolus a extra unit of novorapid which covers the carbs adequately.
 
I'm off to a Real Ale festival on August 30th which will no doubt see me Glug a fair few pints!!(As you do) BUT I don't know whether to increase my nighttime basal injection or leave it out altogether as I'm a wee bit worried about a nightime hypo as I've avoided hypo's so far(touch wood). :think:
 
Diva what's happening when you drink and your blood plummet is this..

When you drink alcohol, it's basically a poison that the liver needs to filter out of the blood... But while it's doing this it can't process and maintain it's glucose emergency store, so it shuts this process down, and concentrates on removing the alcohol from the blood stream, and doesn't restart restocking the emergency glucose store of the liver until it's cleared all alcohol out of the blood stream.. On average it takes 1 hour for the liver to process 1 unit of alcohol!

The liver doesn't stop the constant dribble of glucose it delivers to the blood stream, this only stops when it's drained all it's stores..

So when you start drinking, any carbs in the drink react same as any other carb on the blood glucose levels, as you've still got glucose entering your blood stream, but after a while this stops, and any insulin you've injected for cover the background needs (what's entering the blood stream from the liver) and any quick acting insulin combine together and all work on lowering the blood glucose, causing a very quick dropped in your blood glucose levels as you'll experiencing..

Mind you this does mean pose several problems, as if you've find yourself in an hypo's that you can't self treat, you either have little or no emergency glucose backup store in your liver, which means that a Glucogen Jab won't work, as either there's no emergency store to dump or too little to bring your levels back up sufficiently, and you in this status quo until your liver's cleared all alcohol, and restocked itself.. So next day can be very dodgy when it comes to hypo's,

So I don't bother any more, might have an glass of wine with a meal, but saying that in the last 2 years or so, I haven't even bothered with doing that!
 
Thank you all so much. Fab answers and it's all becoming a lot clearer now! The last time I drank on friday was the first time in nearly 5 years so I realise it probably hit me a lot harder. When ive had alcohol in the past and I see my levels getting so high I will admit that I panic and I just get so desperate to bring them back down, which is where the insulin comes in. With all the panic I probably take way too much for what my body needs with the alcohol.

When I got home that night my sugar level dropped and my partner had to get paramedics. I know, Im an idiot and it's so embarrasing! But apparently the paramedics used the injection which stimulates the liver to release glucose? How would this work if the liver was only interested in getting rid of the alcohol? Anyway the paramedics eventually used a glucose drip but should they have just done this first? Rather than trying to use the other injection even though the liver wouldn't be able to produce glucose?
 

That's a very good question to which I do not know the answer but from what little I know of the subject the injection could well have been ineffective due to the alcohol. Does anyone else know if this is correct.

Anyway, good luck in future and try not to overdo anything until you know just how much insulin to take.
 
I'm surprised that the paramedic tried the Glucogen Jab if you'd been drinking! Unless you were in an agitated state and battling against them, so getting an cannula into your arm was going to be extremely difficult!

So attempting to use the Glucogen Jab, gave them the option that there might be enough store of glucose in the liver to bring you part way back up, which might settle and calm you enough to enable to get a cannula into your arm! if there's nothing at some point you'll going to lose consciousness completely or enough to make you none responsive so they could get the cannula in!
 
So so glad you're sharing this. L

I've had to cut back because I had some scary issues with drink and insulin. One night I corrected without properly thinking (too much red wine) and woke up with a hypo an hour later (thank god I woke up!). Another time I had a lot of gin which pre-insulin never gave me bad hangovers but I was <4 most of next day and any source of quick sugar was instantly spewed back up. It was a miserable experience and I just feel it's not worth being the party girl I once was.

I drink with close family/friends who are great at asking if I've tested or just check how my "numbers are". If I'm high I hit soda/diet tonic (my mixers are never with sugar and I don't drink cocktails) if am high (in 12s) and had wine/spirits i dont correct but and have 10g snack, guaranteed to be no higher then 5-7 next day.

We can still have a life but just need to be extra cautious.
 
p.s I write this on my 4th vodka and diet tonic, now where are those Pringles?
 
Hey Noblehead!


That's really interesting. I've certainly found that alcohol lowers my fasting BG and keeps my BG low all the following day - sometimes too low and I struggle against hypos all day. Yesterday I ended up at 2.2 by 9.00am having had two glasses of white wine the previous evening :shock: - breakfast and insulin was the same as usual, but the insulin just seems to be more effective if I've had a couple of drinks the night before.

Smidge
 

This was a regular thing for me back when I was a heavy drinker 5 years ago. The following day I didn't just feel like death because of the alcohol but also the constant hypos which just left me so weak all day. It just seems like to much of an effort to allow myself to drink at all as a diabetic because as I said, once I start I can't stop. A bit like Pringles! You have 1 then you have them all in one go. I went years constantly feeling rough because it just played havoc with my diabetes and I never got control of it. One of the biggest and embarrasing things about hypos when drinking is it always seems to look like I'm one of the worlds biggest lightweights if they don't understand the diabetes. I have been know to collapse after 1 bottle of wine! Very annoying and embarrasing.
 

It can be just too easy to not think carefully about insulin and food when your trying to have a good time with friends and family. Without a doubt my drinking sessions didn't end being a good time. In fact they usually ended in a complete disaster when I needed paramedics to bring me back to the land of the living. Far too dangerous for me now I have children as it just emphasises hypos the following day. Not good when trying to get children to school if I've fell into a coma.
 
Also the hypos that follow drinking have effected my social life with my family. To a point where my family just hate it because it just seems inevitable that I'll end up needing there help with hypos later on after drinking. Not good and **** it is annoying.
 


Hi Smidge,

Interesting what you say but at least you know to keep an eye on your bg the following day, it does go to show how different we all are despite having the same condition......wine (or at least red wine) is the one drink I am fine with!
 

I can drink any drink but red wine is lethal with me. It turns me into a absolute loon! Plus it's just not a taste I enjoy. oh and for some strange reason if makes my lips and teeth go a funny dark colour. Not a good look on a night out!
 
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