Diabetes and alcohol / sexual disfunction

[sadler12]

This is a two part question.

My boyfriend has diabetes, and I am quite concerned with his alcohol consumption.  He drinks in the vacinity of two cases of beer a week!!  I would like to find out some information on what dangers if any there is.  I am not sure what type of diabetes he has, although I do know that he takes tablets before his meals.

My other concern is sexual disfunction.  He indicates that the reason for this is his diabetes causing sensitivity to extremes of some of his body parts..toes...fingers...penis, although I believe it is, but think that if he was not consuming so much alcohol that this can be remedied.  Is this true?

Thank you for your help

[JDRF-Team-jhg]

thank you for coming to this forum in search of answers for the problems your boyfriend is currently facing.  I have to assume, as did dm, that your boyfriend is type 2 given he takes pills.  As dm suggested, it is critical that he sees an endocrinologist ~ someone who specializes in diabetes management and complications.   He should be closely monitoring his blood sugar levels to try to diminish the possibilty of neuropathy and other possible complications from erratic blood sugar levels.

Alcohol and diabetes are not a good combination and he should have an open and honest discussion with his health care team about his use of it.  I can't say if the sensitivity he's experiencing would be reversed or lessened if he drank less, but his doctors should be able to answer that for him.  It could be time for him to have a complete check up not only of his health, but also of his diabetes management.  You didn't say how old he is or how long since he'd been diagnosed, but new perspectives on management may have come about since his diagnosis and might bear looking at.

I wish you well ~ let us know how he's doing!

[jdrf team dm]

Dear sadler,

Thank you for reaching out to JDRF. If your boyfriend is taking pills for diabetes he probably has type 2 diabetes. I would be interested in knowing his age and when he was diagnosed. Is he seeing a diabetes specialist?

Alcohol is never a good thing with diabetes and in my opinion, as a volunteer only, it can affect his ability to detect low blood sugars. Also if he has problems with sensitivity with any parts of his body, it could be neuropathy. This is a complication of both type 1 and 2 diabetes. It is damage to the nerves. It also can result in sexual disfunction for the same reason.

I would highly encourage him to speak to his physician about your concerns. I hope he is monitoring his blood sugars and taking his pills on a regular basis. Control is so very important with diabetes.

There are ways to help sexual disfunction that he can take to his doctor about, certain rx's, but I would probably be more concerned with his alcohol intake.

Please keep in touch as there will probably be a few posts on this question with more answers.

Best of Luck,

dm