I am needing information on alcohol consumption and long term type 1 diabetes. I know a small amount of alcohol is supposed to be good for your heart, but what about 4 or 5 6 0z. glasses of whiskey, each and every night. I've also read that alcohol aggravates diabetic neuropathy. Can anyone provide any more information? Thanks in advance. N

[This message has been edited by julio (edited 05-08-2002).]

Alcohol is the worse thing to take when you are diabetic...all you have to do is go to a kidney dialysis ward and look for the people with no legs and on dialysis...been there saw it.

Alcohol is not good for a diabetic since it raises the blood sugar. Also if you fail to eat a good snack before going to bed after drinking you could feel pretty lousy in the morning since your blood sugar will fall sharply in the night causing hypoglycemia. Also daily alcohol consumption except for the red wine for antioxidant purposes is not recommended for any one. You can get the benefits of drinking red wine simply by taking a good antioxidant supplement that contains grape seed extract.

I appreciate this information. I'm also concerned about him mixing the alcohol with the numerous prescription drugs he is taking for blood pressure, neuropathy and pain, to mention a few. I always accompany him to the doctor, however I have not mentioned his drinking. Should I?

All I can tell you is that I know a diabetic who liked to party pretty hard. Party he did. At age 31 he is now blind. Think the drinking might have had a hand in this? Diabetics and drinking DO NOT mix. Alchoholism itself is a disease. Put that together with diabetes and you've got a volatile combination. He's got to help himself, but there are steps you can take to show him where he is headed. One of the best things I did was to videotape my friend when he was going into his insulin shock because he was drunk, took his needle and went to sleep. I taped the entire thing up until he was revived by the paramedics. It changed his life.

My husband is also a newly diagnosed diabetic and is also mixing a large volume of alcohol with his blood pressure medicine, Lipitor and Glucotrol. I know it is dangerous because it says right on the medicine do not mix with alcohol. Not sure what affect the alcohol has on all of the medicine, but am sure it is not good, does anyone know what dangerous signs to watch for???

Julio:
Anyone who is drining "4 or 5 6 0z. glasses of whiskey, each and every night", or what another poster called "a large volume of alcohol" has worse problems than diabetes, namely alcoholism. Yeah, that's right, say it--these guys are alcoholics. You can call it other things, and try to get out of naming it, but a rose by any other name... Alcoholism does not mix really well with diabetes. In fact it makes otherwise healthy people pretty sick pretty fast. Double trouble for a diabetic alcoholic. Your men need serious mental health intervention really quickly--they need to dry out and stay off it for good--once you're an alcoholic, you can't just "cut back" to a reasonable level. ANY drinking is no good, now and forever after--that's the definition of an alcoholic--a person who cannot drink AT ALL without becoming habituated immediately. If you are NOT an alcoholic, a moderate amout of drinking for a diabetic is fine--I have a couple of drinks a week, and have beed diabetic for 37 years. NO diabetic should be drinking more than a couple of drinks a week though. Any more frequent drinking, or the inability to cut back, is an immediately serious problem. Get help immediately.
Michael, T-1 since 1965

Michael,
Thank you for your response. I guess what I've failed to realize, and what you verbalized so articulately, is "if you are not an alcoholic". God, I've really hated to say it out loud, but it's true. It's nice to hear from someone who has battled this disease for so long. How are you? What have you endured? Other than my boyfriend, I don't know anyone else who has had the disease for so long. I'd be interested in hearing your story. Thanks, Michael.

Julio...you posted on an other board as texas didnt you...well go back there and read outr posts...remember people said that as an enabler you have to alos be educated....and you took the highway and we have not seen you since...but there was good advice...your husband is an alcoholic and you have been abused by him...now we told you to do something about it...get out and let him be if he doesnt want to listen...

Here i am ranting...I have already lost one leg..have had a kidney transplant..these are real things that happened...not made up...and your husband is heading there.

saskia

Saskia, yes I did post on another board, asking about diabetes and insomnia. I was called ignorant, an enabler, queen of denial, told I had my head in the sand and in need of mental help. That is not the kind of support I was looking for. This man I've been with a year also never misses a little league game, sits in the floor and teaches my son how to play gin rummy and makes a 6 hour drive fairly regularly to check on his elderly parents.I know he has problems. I don't consider myself an enabler when I am trying to help someone I love. He sees his doctor regularly. He is 52 years old and his last HbA1c was 6.3. Once again, I know he has problems, serious problems, however, I am not yet ready to give up on him.

I am worried about my boyfriend for a reason very similar. He goes out with his friends, at the weekends mainly. He gets so drunk that he cannot recall the night. Although these nights are infrequent, he still enjoys a drink. He's 22 and I am worried about his health. When he has one of those "drunk" nights, for the next day or so he is in a quiet mood. When he does go out and I'm not there he often forgets to take his insulin alltogether.

I know that it can lead to kidney problems, and that is another reason wy I am so worried. He had cancer in his kidney when he was oly 8, and had one taken away.

How could I subtly, without upseting him, get him to take better care of himself?

Texas aka Julio,
On the other board you made your boyfriend sound like an alcoholic druggie. Obviously, if he is doing alot of driving to visit parents, going to little league games and other family activities, he isn't going around like a drugged out user constantly on neurotonin (anticonvulsant), elavil (antidepresant), vicodin (oxicodone narcotic), and a pint of whiskey all the time. In fact if he is maintaining his HbA1c at 6.3 regularly, then he probably isn't missing very many insulin shots, with a 6.3, which is considered darn good blood sugar control. He may be in alot of pain from peripheral neuropathy. I have it in my feet and take elavil for it. One thing that I find is that when I wake up at 6:40 to go to work during the week, I may not make it to the 11:00 news, and be sound asleep in the recliner after taking the 50 mg of elavil, but on the weekends it doesn't even faze me. If your boyfriend doesn't have to wake up early to leave for work he may be in a rut where his nights and days are confused. One thing to try is to set a reasonably early time as a target to get up in the morning and maybe he can get on a more regular day night schedule. I hope things work out for you.
Jackson