Alcohol and diabetes

[Ikey the tinker]

Everything I read says alcohol lowers blood sugar levels but whenever I test myself after a drink it's between 8 and 11 (usually it's below 7). I find the lack of information about the sugar content of alcoholic drinks scandalous - when I first got diagnosed I was still drinking cider, but it had a really terrible effect on me so I stopped and have stuck to beer and am ok - but how can the breweries get away with not sticking the nutritional info on the cans? Does anyone have a link to any websites which show they typical sugar content of alcoholic drinks?

 

[sofaraway]

I find that when drinking alcohol my blood sugars go up high first then drop right down overnight. I get them up into 20's before bed have a snack and wake up within range 5-7.
It's not good but it's what happens to me and I drink so infrequently that it's not a significant problem.
I don't know if there is nutritional info online maybe someone else knows.

 

[jenks]

i've been told to avoid beers as they are hi in carbs and to stick to spirits, The mixer will raise ur blood but dont correct cause later when ur liver proccesses the alcohol it will lower it back down again possibly to a hypo. So its a nite on the spirits n make sure u have hi carb snack, i.e. chips, pizza, baked potato before goin to bed. hope that helps

 

[Lizzie]

Like sofaraway says, it is complicated, alcohol often makes your blood sugar go up and then down, so if you injected insulin to cover the sugar content then you might have a really bad hypo several hours later. The only solution I have found is to be really boring, drink a little but always stay alert and check blood sugars every hour or so. It is all part of the fun of diabetes, we can never relax, always have to be alert for highs and lows and everything we do or put into our bodies, food or drink, needs to be counted and monitored.

I would advise going on a DAFNE or similar education course, they tell you all that stuff. I can't remember off hand the details but the course book goes into the different types of alcohol and their effects. I also think there is some sort of copyright so I couldnt just scan in the pages from the course book, they like you to attend the course and absorb the information fully rather than just getting bits off other people who have been on the course.

 

[Ikey the tinker]

It's odd really - someone, somewhere try to find out the sugar content of, say, Strongbow cider. It must be classified information as it's impossible to find. I had 4 pints soon after being diagnosed and was all over the place!

 

[kojack]

I found an excellent book in a quaint bookshop in the highlands. 'The Calorie Carb fat bible 2008' ISBN 978 1 904512066 It lists most food and drinks and IMHO worth every penny of its ?12.99 cost.
e.g. Strongbow cider - dry bottle375ml - 161 Kcal or 43 per 100ml
It covers nearly every food including fastfood take aways.

 

[Ikey the tinker]

I found an excellent book in a quaint bookshop in the highlands. 'The Calorie Carb fat bible 2008' ISBN 978 1 904512066 It lists most food and drinks and IMHO worth every penny of its ?12.99 cost.
e.g. Strongbow cider - dry bottle375ml - 161 Kcal or 43 per 100ml
It covers nearly every food including fastfood take aways.

That's really useful to know - Amazon are selling them for just over a fiver, so thanks for the tip. 43% sugar in Strongbow - no wonder it was sending me wobbly, it's terrible that this information isn't stated on the can, or that you aren't warned about things like this when first diagnosed.

 

[kojack]

I spent a lot of time looking for the carb cnt of Beck's alcohol free lager ( I'm an alcoholic but haven't downed any since Feb 24 1991)
The only source I could find was in that book

 

[Lizzie]

I just googled 'carbs in alcohol' and a lot of results came up, some seemed quite reliable lists. Obviously as always you need to be careful when searching online and try to find trustworthy sources.

Also I will repeat my earlier warning that you need to be careful with alcohol, it usually causes a low after a few hours. I don't know what effect injecting extra insulin would have, whether it would just deal with the immediate high, or would cause a low, or would make the hypo worse a few hours later. I guess that would differ from person to person. But my advice is stay alert, don't get so drunk you will forget to take your blood sugar or could mistake a hypo for drunkenness, and keep testing until you know your limits and the effects of different alcohols etc.

 

[xbethanyx]

i love to drink wine, but it must be full of sugar!! i'm usually ill for the next day when i go out drinking. no matter how much i drink, i always have a kebab or chips etc. if i'm drinking vodka i'll usually eat a bit more. i've discussed how high my sugars go when drinking with my diabetes nurse, who just said that as i only get drunk like once every 6 months that it wont have that bad an effect on my overall diabetes.

 

[border reiver]

i like a drink or several!! been very ill since sunday after big session on saturday. Type 2 on metformin and simovastin and aspirin. Had bloods took today. hope all is well. i like a cider or a john smiths. I think its looking like not anymore tho. Doc seems to think ive got a bug as well. Only been on pills for 2 weeks.

 

[litto-miss-loz]

hi,

im the same as sofaraway.

i drink and eat before bed then wen i chek mah sugars im over 20.
then in the mornin im down at 6-9.

i tend to stik to vodka, i like shots too.
wine makes my sugars go sky high.

 

[sofaraway]

But my advice is stay alert, don't get so drunk you will forget to take your blood sugar or could mistake a hypo for drunkenness, and keep testing until you know your limits and the effects of different alcohols etc.

good advice, did not follow it on Saturday (at a wedding), got so drunk I didn't know if I'd given insulin for the meal, hadn't tested before eating. Had to ask my other half if I'd given insulin. definatly not the sensible way to go.

 

[pingu36dd]

I find that I can go high during the evening when I'm out so I do corrections. I usually drink vodka. Its the following morning I start to drop low and have a hypo. I suppose its the alcohol still in my system.

 

[morri0123]

Oh dear

Hi, I am new to this site but am quite worried that i seem to drink way too much after reading your posts!!!
I would say i get drunk most weekends at the moment, last sat was 8 vodka's and cranberry and a few shots....
My levels normally go very high after and then drop through the night, waking up with about 11-12....think i should stop drinking then!
Also just found out i have background retinopathy so think i need to improve my control.....any one else get severely fed up with this?
morri

 

[sofaraway]

I find that I can go high during the evening when I'm out so I do corrections. I usually drink vodka. Its the following morning I start to drop low and have a hypo. I suppose its the alcohol still in my system.

I don't ever correct the alcohol highs as I know that the alcohol will do that for me later. if you do really need to correct the highs maybe you could use a different correction factor so that you don't end up hypo the next morning.

 

[Daisy]

Personally I love getting drunk! If drinking and bs rises above 15 then I will give a small adjustment dose - but only half of what I normally would - otherwise I leave it and it levels out overnight. Like a lot of things to do with diabetes - it is trial and error and individual to each person! There is no rule that can be applied to everyone.

 

[Miss Champers]

I don't have diabetes but when i've been on a bender the night before and woken up the next day I felt terrible, cold sweats, shaking and unable to walk. When I checked my sugars with my sons blood tester i've been as low as 3 and craved something sweet. This has only happened if i've hardly eaten anything the day before but now I have an idea what you guys go through.