Fighting the Unseen: Life With Diabetes
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Drinking with the D
| Posted on August 7, 2009 at 11:35 AM |
Alcohol is fun, yes? It's a chance to let loose, have reckless abandon and the ability to "shut off" your mind for just a few hours.
But alcohol use and the Big D are... not so good together. We need to have the ability to have fun with reckless abandon, but to also have caution in the backs of our minds and meters in our pockets.
Sounds impossible? It's really not too bad.
I err on the side of low carb beers. I actually really like the taste of Michelob Ultra!
(per 12 oz serving) ha 3g of carbs, 1g protein (yay!) and no concentrated sugars.
I tend to run in the high 100s before I start to drink because once the alcohol is in your blood it slows absorption of food. If insulin starts to work, but your body can't absorb the carbs, then you're going to dip into insulin shock land.
Stay away from sugary drinks (After Shock, Gold Schlager, Snake Bite, etc.)
example: Gold Schlager (per 1 oz serving) has 11g of carbs- 10.9g of which are pure sugar.
It's hard to recover from that, after two or three shots. Especially with the alcohol that's in it (80 proof).
Make sure at least ONE person knows that you're diabetic and will "watch" you for signs of passing out. Drunk feels and LOOKS low- so be careful that you no longer go over the edge of drunk-dom.
A little tipsy is okay.
Hangover drunk? ...Not so much.
I'd suggest you run bit high the first few times that you decide to binge- then you can fine tune it as you become more aware of how your body and the D reacts with alcholic consumption.
You're free to party, just with a bit of caution.
(I'm not a doctor, just a fellow diabetic trying to figure out how to live a better diabetes life)
Categories: I'll Teach You
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5 Comments
Absolutely it's unfair to ask someone to "watch" you.
But, due to the fact that many Type 1s are young and experimental, it's important that they have information here that will give them tips on what they will probably do anyway.
I don't drink (one beer per six months). That's my personal choice. However, there are many who do. I'm hoping other T1Ds will take atleast a few of my suggestions.
I have a friend who is T1D and 23. He is a mess. He blind injects and drinks to the point that I can smell the alcohol pouring out of his pores. It's gross and embarrassing and NOT my responsiblity.
I try not to preach to him.
Hopefully, if we're going to do it, then it will be once in a while and with caution and supervision.
http://www.diabetes.ca/for-professionals/resources/nutrition/alc
ohol/
My husband has hypoglycemic unawareness so he is unaware that he is going low and so am I even after 29 years of marriage until he is well under 2 or 36 on the blood glucose meter. Lows caused by alcohol consumption do not correct with a shot of glucagon. Gee! I didn't know that! I only learned to give a glucagon shot in 1997 and could have used the kit long before that, but if the low was caused by alcohol consumption, it wouldn't have mattered whether I had the kit or not, right?
