Hi,I was just wondering what everybody did if they had a drink of alcohol? every time i do i seem to get a low blood sugar even if i eat and lower my insulin dose.... i don't know what to do anymore :( please help!
I don't drink. I don't like the taste of alcohol, and all the drinks that "mask" that taste have a ton of sugar. Trying to figure out how much a drink might raise my blood sugar and how much the alcohol might lower it is too much work and not worth it for me.
Sheesh, Sorry to see that you are getting some not so helpful replies from the get go.
I enjoy a cold beer now and then, and I eat peanuts when I drink one. What is your choice of drink, and when does your low happen Meghan?
I keep a favourite chocolate bar around for when I have an occasional glass or two of wine. I found out the hard way that alcohol with grains is not agreeable with my blood sugar.
I stick with light beers. The easiest for me to deal with. I stay away from the higher carb beers because personally I don’t like chasing the carbs with insulin. Too much work when I’m having a good time.
Wine and I do fine never have to compensate for a glass if I have it with dinner. Just insulin for the dinner then it’s usually ( I say usually but it depends on other factors of the day some times not always). As for beer if I’m having a beer at a tasting I’ll take a unit and have some nuts or hummus and celery with it then check my number in about an hour . It’s a pain at times but I think worth the trouble or checking and double checking. I don’t have the gin and tonic I used to love before I was diabetic because the hard alcohol is too much or a stab in the dark plus I don’t like the diet tonic. You do know how before they had insulin they would treat us type 1’s with alcohol to lower their sugars but most would die from liver issues. Go figure. Don’t give up it’s a nice treat
When I drink, I drink 1-2 glasses (5-10 oz.) of red wine. The biggest effect comes about 3-5 hours later with a sticky low. It usually requires about 4 glucose tabs or I can avoid it by cutting the dinner bolus by about a 1/4. I learned that the liver is not much good at multi-tasking so when it processes the alcohol, it stops releasing glycogen. I've tried a minus 20% basal for 2 hours with limited success. I'd rather limit the dinner bolus.
Just had 5 ounces of red wine with dinner tonight so I'll be watching the overnight line.
Sheesh, karen. Jen is allowed to have an opinion about how to deal with alcohol and her solution is to not drink it. That’s a valid answer, and one I concur with.
I usually do OK with a glass of wine with dinner (5-8 oz). I don't dose for it and don't cut back my bolus and don't have big problems with lows. I drink Guinness (12 grams of carb per 12 oz bottle) with some meals and dose for it. A single beer has never left me low.
Maurie
hi meghan, i have had t1 for 3 years and dont know if maybe i have lots of pancreatic function left but whenever i drink a couple of glasses of wine, i know im going to be low. i dont bolus for my carbs at all and the white wine is like the alcoholic version of insulin with my dinner.
even the extra carbs dont keep the lows away though, i have to eat loads again before i go to bed and then i wake up in the 80s.
Hi Meghan
For light drinking you have already gotten some advice.
As always with diabetes, this is also trial and error. i would try to start on the higher side, at first i had BGs of over 20 (360) when i'd had alcohol, however, i sunk during the night, so i would wake up with a normal number.
alcohol lowers blood sugars for sure, especially after the carbs have stopped working.
I always lower my basal now before bed, usually i put it down on 0% for about 3h, and this works for me.
this can also help you, please read it:
http://www.diabetesmine.com/2012/11/d-teens-and-alcohol-no-bull-from-uncle-wil.html
please, just make sure, that with all the alcohol, you can still handle your diabetes, and have some friends there who know how to help you.
SC
Not trying to be funny but you might need to practice (drinking) enough to develop a routine compensation strategy. Mine is to avoid distilled spirits and I stick to dry wines usually reds and I only drink at dinner or afterwards. I don't do beer any more because I agree that chasing the carbs is not worth it.
I do test several times after drinking to monitor the trajectory (not just the level) of my BG.
HTH
Everyones entitled to their opinion :)
it can occur from when i finish my first drink to the next morning...iv tried everything to stop it :(
Hi Meghan One possible solution is to keep a log listing what you drank, how much, time of day, what foods with it. Maybe some patterns will appear. Good luck.
Yeah, that helps, i usually log what i drink throughout the evening, helps to find out how you react to different drinks etc.
It is really trial and error:
drink this, BG does that
drink that, BG does this
try to find the patterns out, that makes it so much easier