low sugars and drinking

[oski]

What are the effects of drinking if you're a diabetic and your sugars are low before you start to drink?

[JDRF-Team-RL]

First of all, I'd like to say that I'm not a medical professional, I'm just the father of a diabetic child.  Since she's not of legal drinking age, I asked a friend of mine who is also Type 1.  He's also not a medical professional, but is of legal drinking age.  According to him, alcoholic beverages are no different than any other type of drink or food, you have to count the carbs.  The alcohol doesn't affect a person with diabetes any different than anyone else.  He says that the next day after drinking he has a hard time regulating blood sugars (he's on a pump).  According to him, after consuming alcohol you have a harder time being able to tell if you are high or low.  Being low when you start drinking is no different than being low when you start eating a meal.  

If you think you must drink, drinking in moderation is always a wise choice, diabetic or not.  There are a few low carb beers, for example, that would make good beverage choices, and monitor your blood sugars more often.  If you have more questions about this topic, your endocrinologist/diabetes specialist can provide more medical knowledge on the effects.

[JDRF-Team-cb]

I am also not a medical professional, but a Type I diabetic for many years.  If you drink too much-realizing you are having a low is much more complicated and can be scarey.
I agree with RL's comments. It is a little harder the next day to control your blood sugars-if you have over done it.  So, try not to overdo it.
I like to have a drink or two myself, but I have learned there are certain alcoholic beverages that react differently.  If I drink red wine my blood sugar tends to go lower. This may not happen to you since everybody is differetn.  I would not recommend drinking anything mixed with a sugary beverage.  No daquiries or anything like that.  Try something with diet pop.  
Again most alcohol is made from sugar--so again be careful.
Use your common sense.  I think the low carb beers are a good suggestion as well.  

Being diabetic doesn't mean you can't do the things you enjoy, it just means using your head and doing things in moderation.

[InsulinPumper]

I have just a bit different take on drinking and low blood sugars.  In my experience I am a type 1 diabetic, 25 years in age and use an insulin pump.  What I have found is that alcohol and the carbs count eachother out.  When drinking, your liver cannot continue with its current function, it stops to process alcohol thus leaving you in a dangerous situation because the liver can also send out stored sugar.  If your low and your body is processing alcohol, you have no back up mechanism for sugar.  If your tipsy or not in the correct state of mind, you can easily confuse the effects of alcohol and low blood sugar.  The best bet is to drink with caution in small amounts and check check check.

[JDRF-Team-LRS]

Another volunteer here, insulinPumper raises the most dangerous issue we Type 1s have when it comes to alcohol.  That our livers will "focus" on cleaning out the alcohol and not release glycogen to raise a low blood sugar, it is extremely dangerous to drink alcohol without food ...particularly if the starting blood sugar is LOW.

Checking a lot is important.  If the person in question is underage or drinking "to get drunk," my urging would be to counsel on deeper levels because that behavior has disastrous consequences.  An adult Type 1 who chooses to have a cocktail or a beer or wine with food in a social setting is less of a concern if that person is checks & responds appropriately to the BG numbers.

Tread carefully.

[lflisp586]

i'm a type I diabetic in college, so i've seen my fair share of drinking accidents/complications with diabetes.  you should make sure you're above a certain level before you start, especially if you're drinking hard liquor.  i find usually that hard liquor will drop my sugar quickly, whereas beer raises it at first and then it drops later on for the same reasons mentioned earlier.  my suggestion is that you go easy at first to understand how your body reacts.  you may wake up a few hours after finishing drinking and be low, so you should keep something with you.  i know it's annoying, but it's frightening (at least in my experience) how quickly your sugars can drop when you're drinking alcohol.  finally, i think protein helps to keep it a bit more level, so maybe have something along those lines available.
take care!!

[lflisp586]

i'm a type I diabetic in college, so i've seen my fair share of drinking accidents/complications with diabetes.  you should make sure you're above a certain level before you start, especially if you're drinking hard liquor.  i find usually that hard liquor will drop my sugar quickly, whereas beer raises it at first and then it drops later on for the same reasons mentioned earlier.  my suggestion is that you go easy at first to understand how your body reacts.  you may wake up a few hours after finishing drinking and be low, so you should keep something with you.  i know it's annoying, but it's frightening (at least in my experience) how quickly your sugars can drop when you're drinking alcohol.  finally, i think protein helps to keep it a bit more level, so maybe have something along those lines available.
take care!!

[joe29]

Nothing wrong with drinking and being diabetic, you just need to take a couple extra precautions. Alcohol will raise your sugar levels to start BUT later on it will cause your sugar levels to drop again. The most important thing to do is eat before and at the end of the night, and also while your drinking although this is not always possible.

When Im out for a night with friends I usually start of with sugar levels between 170 and 200, I know they will rise  more when I drink, but later on in the night when they fall again they should just end up in a normal range. Another thing I do is try and eat a couple slices of pizza before drinking. Because of the high fat in the pepperoni etc it will take longer for my body to digest the food,I find that later on when my sugar levels are starting to drop the pizza is starting to kick in so i dont go to low.

I cant stress enough how important it is to eat either before you start drinking and at the end of the night, like someone already said if your sugar levels go low your liver WILL NOT dump out that extra sugar it has stored up because processing the alcohol out of your system takes priority over everything else. Its better to eat and wake up with sugar levels of 500 than not to wake up at all.

Hope this helped  a little........

[Metcalf]

Hi Oski,

Joe29 couldn't be more correct!! I absolutely agree with him.
If youre going out drinking, eat something. Joe suggested Pizza and that is the best because it takes a while to break down and will be in your system for the long run...
The alcohol will raise your blood sugar at first, and then drop it, especially hard alcohol, just be careful.

Everyone likes to have fun, diabetic or not. You could try to carb count but realistically are you going to do that?  
Just make sure that the people you go out with know you are a diabetic and carry sugar packets at all times, just in case.  
  
Please don't think I am saying that you should go out drinking but if you plan to, just be careful and take Joe29's advice, he is correct, alcohol will bring your blood sugar up and then drop it toward the end of the night. So eat something, take sugar packets with you and make sure all of your friends know you are a diabetic. At the end of the night, go to an all night diner and get a bagel which will breakdown while you sleep.

Have fun and be careful!!

[AzTony]

HI all and thank you for allowing to post on this site.  I am a newly diagnosed (2 months) type II diabetic.  I very-very scared.  My biggest shock was my eyesight.  Has anyone experienced blurred vision at the on-set of this disease?  I woul love to hear anyones experience on the blurred vision issue.  Also, I would like to have a cocktail now, I haven't for months.  Is a low car beer okay?  Like, Michelob Ultra?

thanks