Beer! (And other alcohol)

[Jennyninja]

I don't drink very much alcohol but like to join in for a sociable drink or 2 sometimes. As a T1 I'm aware that alcohol on its own ie spirit with no sugar mixer brings BG down. Wine also has a similar effect with both of them potentially making you go high much later, assuming you've avoided the hypo. I find beer is a different beast. Approx a half pint is 10-15g of carbs. (Some more). If it's weak beer I find I can count all the carbs and take insulin accordingly. It's when the beer is 5.5 % upwards I find myself juggling with the BG lowering effects of the alcohol as well as the BG raising effects of the carbs. I usually see which way my BG is going before I decide on the insulin dose and closely monitor my BGs afterwards. What are your experiences? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Inka]

I rarely drink beer so that makes it easier - stick to wine and spirits However, when I do have a beer, I err on the side of caution and don’t bolus. I then watch my blood sugar and correct if necessary. Alcohol can cause some nasty hypos so I don’t want to risk going low. I find cider the worst for carbs and so that’s the only one I might bolus for while drinking if I’m having a big glass, but even then I go for less bolus than I think it needs and monitor over the next few hours.

 

[SimonP]

Sounds about right re effect of wine (very little unless a sweet one, vs beer), though I'm not sure I've ever noticed a delayed high.

I drink very rarely these days, but like @Inka I would err on the side of caution and let myself run upwards until I know where things are headed if I'm likely to have more than one or two pints of beer (or if I might be persuaded to stay out). Going out would often make me run lower anyway because of all the rushing around.

For heavy nights in my student-youth-past I might take 1/3 of the dose for food (say 4 units of mixtard 50), ignore all carbs from beer, and still end up running low towards the end of the night - which would often work quite well if we then moved onto cocktails which tend to have more sugar in them! A kebab or chips & pitta was pretty much mandatory to have sufficient carbs on board to make it up the hill from town (Bath) and then once I made it home I'd always eat at the very least a decent bowl of cereal before collapsing into bed.

 

[Jennyninja]

Thank you Inka and Simon. Caution and monitoring (and maybe + a kebab and chips!) it is then. I went tee total in the 1st year after diagnosis because of fear of hypos but now I want to enjoy life a little, albeit cautiously!

 

[SB2015]

I don't drink very much alcohol but like to join in for a sociable drink or 2 sometimes. As a T1 I'm aware that alcohol on its own ie spirit with no sugar mixer brings BG down. Wine also has a similar effect with both of them potentially making you go high much later, assuming you've avoided the hypo. I find beer is a different beast. Approx a half pint is 10-15g of carbs. (Some more). If it's weak beer I find I can count all the carbs and take insulin accordingly. It's when the beer is 5.5 % upwards I find myself juggling with the BG lowering effects of the alcohol as well as the BG raising effects of the carbs. I usually see which way my BG is going before I decide on the insulin dose and closely monitor my BGs afterwards. What are your experiences? Any advice would be appreciated.

It sounds like you have done some very effective practice and have a good plan.

I usually drink wine, and if it is with a meal I do nothing about it, as there are carbs around. For spirits I stick to Light tonics and count those carbs. Beer I don’t drink that often and as you mention it is high carb so generally I add in the carbs, then just take a bit off to account for the alcohol. On a hot day a glass of cider is delightful and again I need to account for the carbs. It is usually with a meal so I just add in the carbs to that and take a bit off f9r the alcohol again.

Like you I was very cautious at the start but have found ways that work For what I want to drink.

 

[Jennyninja]

It sounds like you have done some very effective practice and have a good plan.

I usually drink wine, and if it is with a meal I do nothing about it, as there are carbs around. For spirits I stick to Light tonics and count those carbs. Beer I don’t drink that often and as you mention it is high carb so generally I add in the carbs, then just take a bit off to account for the alcohol. On a hot day a glass of cider is delightful and again I need to account for the carbs. It is usually with a meal so I just add in the carbs to that and take a bit off f9r the alcohol again.

Like you I was very cautious at the start but have found ways that work For what I want to drink.

Thanks @SB2015 . Good to know I'm in line with other people's thinking.

 

[Robert459]

Just some science... While on our zero carb diet we discovered that alcohol is easily converted to ATP in the absence of glucose. So it can be considered another source of brain fuel (although with perhaps obvious problems)

 

[SimonP]

Seeing the mention of cider, on cider nights out in the past (my head is hurting just thinking about it!), I would always need to take insulin and would never go low even if I was still regretting the night-out two days later. I would be careful to not have too much insulin on-board at any one time (so dosing say a few units every couple of hours) and accept that drifting upwards and actually waking up in the morning was better than trying to make it perfect and potentially not. YMMV of course and I would imagine it depends very much on how sweet the cider is.

 

[Jennyninja]

Thanks Simon. I stay away from cider these days. I used to enjoy a strong one from Suffolk beginning with an A (I'm assuming it's best not to mention names) but when I remembered that I once saw my (now deceased) 80 year old Dad stagger around after 2 pints I thought it was best to stay away from it!

 

[nonethewiser]

Red wine does nothing to my bg, not while drinking or afterwards, find whisky & brandy same but only drink those two neat.

 

[SB2015]

Thanks Simon. I stay away from cider these days. I used to enjoy a strong one from Suffolk beginning with an A (I'm assuming it's best not to mention names) but when I remembered that I once saw my (now deceased) 80 year old Dad stagger around after 2 pints I thought it was best to stay away from it!

Now that is an excellent cider