I've known I'm T1 diabetic for, oh, two months? While I understand I need to proceed with caution, there are a few things I'm ready to work back into my daily life... One of those things being alcohol.
One of my diabetic educators said to start with just one drink at a time (and that, officially, that's all I really should drink!), to eat something first, and to cover the carbs in the drink.
I'll follow her "official" advice, but I'm curious what your habits are. Like, I've read that some people don't cover the carbs in their drink. And eventually, I'm going to want to drink enough to get tipsy! How do you handly party-style drinking as opposed to one-glass-of-wine-with-dinner dinking?
(And I'm thinking of starting with one light beer, like Corona Light, incase that helps with any specific advice. My other most common drinks are red wine or spiced rum with diet coke.)
The only thing I really do is take my sugar every 2 hours and if I go over a certain number I will take a correction. I've never dealt with bottoming out before but I do know of people who have. I don't like beer so I stick with wine, shots and mixed drinks. I think it's the beer that causes your sugar to spike and then all of a sudden bottom out.
I find beer to be the most troublesome and try to avoid it, because it spikes my sugar and then I get low later. I stick to red wine and sugarless drinks like rum and diet coke or gin and clubsoda. I still need to eat something small so I don't bottom out later. A lot of it is trial and error. Good luck!
My experience is a little different from the 2 ladies above me.
I generally don't worry too much about taking insulin when I'm drinking beer until I've had a few. It's the mixed drinks with juices that I have to be anal about taking insulin for. And you're almost always going to be snacking on something when drinking so that's what usually convinces me to bolus when drinking. Because otherwise I'm pretty hands off about taking insulin when drinking because I'd just rather be higher for a few hours if it means not getting in trouble with a low while not sober.
The only thing I'm really adamant about is checking when I get home, before I go to bed, and if I wake in the middle of the night just to avoid the delayed low that alcohol can cause.
I don't have it down to a science by any means, but I've never lived by the rule that diabetes means you shouldn't drink a lot. I don't think you should live by that just yet since you're so new to diabetes, but in time I wholeheartedly believe that you'll be able to drink just as you used to without any worry as long as you're smart.
My best advice? Test, test, test. As often as you can. Every hour (even half hour, if you're drinking more than a few) isn't a bad idea - and make sure to write everything down as you go. BG levels AND what you're drinking, and when. Also, it tends to be a good idea to eat a small snack (no bolus) before you go to sleep. For me, I'd much rather run higher while sleeping, then bottom out, and not wake up.
Having a CGM helped me understand what different drinks to me - so I've got some advantage there - but before that, I just tested a whole bunch to try to figure it out.
I couldn't agree with Kim any more. Test every 2 hours. Its easy and you can see how your BG are affected. I stay away from high carb drinks (diet and whiskey/vodka are good for my BGs), drink lite beer only. If I have 1-2 drinks, I don't correct or take insulin but some nights it varies (I'll be honest, I like to drink on the weekends but I never drink as much as my other friends because I'm just paranoid..but getting a little tipsy is fine). Sometimes I go high and take bolus if I'm having something like a mojito, I try to pump in some numbers for that (I did that last weekend and just assumed it was about 25grams and never went high afterwards) to prevent going super high. Always eat before. High protein will help. In general, just be cautious. For me, I can't mix wine and hard alcohol. That wrecks havock on my BG levels. Just avoid sugary drinks. Your body will thank you later (plus, who needs the extra calories anyway?). Oh and always tell a friend that you're diabetic. Have a friend who knows how to test your blood if you pass out. In general, know whats in your drink. Certain liqours have LOADS of sugar. Remember how alcohol is processed. It takes about an hour to process one drink (well for most females) so just remember not to shoot drinks right and left. Have fun!
I generally don't worry too much about taking insulin when I'm drinking beer until I've had a few. It's the mixed drinks with juices that I have to be anal about taking insulin for. And you're almost always going to be snacking on something when drinking so that's what usually convinces me to bolus when drinking. Because otherwise I'm pretty hands off about taking insulin when drinking because I'd just rather be higher for a few hours if it means not getting in trouble with a low while not sober.
The only thing I'm really adamant about is checking when I get home, before I go to bed, and if I wake in the middle of the night just to avoid the delayed low that alcohol can cause.
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I have to "ditto" that (insulin for beer vs mixed drinks) -- it's the same for me.
I find I'm fine with 1-2 two drinks, but rarely go beyond that, mostly b/c I worry about my ability to deal w/ a low when drunk. Also, if you're drunk, your liver might not kick in for low, making it more likely to go unconscious. It just scares me, and I'm not that tall, so 2 drinks is fine for me!
Give us an update after the July 4th weekend! (: (:
First and foremost, moderation is by far the best approach. That's something I know NOW after college (didn't heed that advice then though).
I agree with the above. I have had episodes where my blood sugar was low but people thought I was too drunk and took me home to let me sleep it off.
Be careful and test test test. The CGM has made a huge difference in being able to monitor status throughout a party. Just be careful not to lose it!
Always go out with someone who knows you have diabetes. Go home with friends. Hypoglycemia after a few drinks is almost like being "roofied."
The most important thing is be careful. The number one killer of young diabetics are hypoglycemic- related events. When drinking, high is better than low.
I like to occasionally get tipsy myself, but I tend to avoid it more often than not nowadays.
In a general sense, I just can't handle my alcohol as well as I did in college. From a glucose level standpoint, I find it can be a hassle if I drink too much and I decide it's not worth it most of the time.
It seems like 4-5 drinks are the most I can handle without paying too much for it later. I found I do much better with beer than hard liquor. With beer I just drink and don't worry about taking any insulin for the carbs. I've never waken up low that way. Hard alcohol makes me dip pretty low for a long time. While drinking mixed drinks I've eaten as much as 30g of carbs without taking any insulin and will still wake up at 70 or below. Not fun.
Bottom line, I think you'll just need to do some trial and error and see what works for you.
I don't drink before bed. If I drink in the bar, I still monitor how I feel. If you feel dreamy and all is wonderful in the world, 9 out of 10 times it probably is not the drink (check your sugar).
I would say just to bring your glucometer with you when you go out.
I don't think I'll ever pass out from diabetes since I've been lower than 20mg/dl and nothing has happened...I have passed out from drinking numerous times though...woken up and been in the 200's...so definitely not the worst thing you can do. I worry more about what I eat than what I drink.
"alcohol, the cause of and solution to all life's problems." :)
I'd start with what your diabetes educator recommended. Personally, beer and vodka/diet drink cocktails have never affected my glucose readings much, but everyone is different, so it's best to start out with just the one and see how you respond to that.
As for handling party-style drinking, that in and of itself seems to warrant further elaboration because I'm not sure how much that is for you. As a fairly small woman (5'2" and 115 pounds), two drinks is enough to get me tipsy, unless we're talking weak stuff like Amstel Light (especially following a meal - I don't like to drink on an empty stomach). Obviously, the more you drink, the more your glucose could be affected, among other more important things - so I wouldn't recommend more than three a night (that's considered the max for moderation in men; moderation in women is normally termed one, but I think two is perfectly within the realm of moderation for most women, especially when food has already been eaten as food decreases the effects of intoxication).
Have you ever noticed that on the side of an insulin box it has a sticker that says don't drink alcohol while using?
I did it for years and finally came to the point where it just is no longer worth it. You WILL experience severe lows if you go on a binge sooner or later. And I mean lows where you don't know who you are or where you are, if not a trip to the hospital in an ambulance. It can strike anywhere up to 48 hours after your last gulp.
If you just drink a couple and eat food blah blah blah, you should be OK. But what's the point to that? It tastes good? Come on, no one believes that.
From all my experience I'd say be very careful. Before you go to bed eat about 60 carbs and don't dose to give your self a cushion. You control will suck, but you'll still be alive and not hypoglycemic.
If you want to catch a buzz, try weed instead. Doesn't have all the blood sugar consequences of alcohol.
If you go ahead and do it, which you probably will, I wish you the best of luck.
Thanks everyone, hearing your personal experiences helps! It gives me a lot more context for when I start drinking.
Khendra: I'm a little heavier than you, but I'm not that far off on how much I need to get tipsy. Two or three. My party-style drinking used to be a lot heavier, but I just don't recover from it like I could in my early 20s!!!
DDrumminMan: It's also very good to hear "the other side," since we are taking more risks than the average person when we drink. I'm not exactly sure what you personally define as "a binge," but I'm quite sure I'll never try and get falling-down-drunk again (unless they invent The Cure and we don't have to take insulin anymore, because that would call for a party!). I've certanly had my wild evenings in the past, but usually try for "tipsy" as opposed to "drunk" these days. Oh, and, even though a lot of people flat out refuse to believe that alcoholic beverages can be enjoyed for taste, I absolutely love medium bodied red wines and would totally have a glass with food! I'm not pretending to be a refined wine drinker--I couldn't tell you much about a wine beyond the color and whether or not I like it--but I'll still enjoy drinking it even if I only get to have small amounts. :) (But here's hoping that I can have enough to feel a little giddy once in a while!)
Just want to mention that not everyone goes low from drinking. I have a friend that does the total opposite, and alcohol makes his blood sugars soar! So deffinetly see how it affects you before eating carbs with out bolusing before you go to sleep like some people have mentioned.
Personally for me, i go low from alcohol. What i find helps me is sticking to "diet drinks" like diet coke and vodka, or diet coke with malibu. But mix it up every so often with a sugary one.. because i normally work off the sugar from dancing and want to avoid going low. I constantly keep checking my blood sugars and eat 15 grams of carbs before going to bed and setting up a temporary basal of 60% of my usual amount on my pump which keeps me relatively stable :) Drink til your tipsy, or more if you want.. just never drink so much that you're not aware of how you're feeling or so that you dont remember to test
If I'm just having a drink with dinner, it usually doesn't have a huge impact on my bg. If I plan on drinking more than that however, I definitely test my bg regularly. Beer tends to make my bg go up, while wine tends to make it go down. As for cocktails, many mixers have a lot of sugar in them, so I'm always careful about how many I drink.