I heard drinking to much alcohol is not good for diabetes what will happen if the person keepnig drinking all the time

I heard drinking to much alcohol is not good for diabetes what will happen if the person keepnig drinking all the time

Too much alcohol is bad for anyone. It will destroy your liver. Alcohol in moderation is all right. You need to know, however, what it does to your blood sugar. Alcohol on an empty stomach can make you go low, so it is always good to eat something. Hard liquor has very few carbs, while things like beer have more. So you have to take into consideration the carb count as well.

Cora

Please may i ask this -

i used to have 3 glasses of wine on a Monday night and maybe one glass on a Thursday but when i was diagnosed with type 2 i was told to avoid all alcohol.

This week at my checkup i was told i could now have one glass with a meal each day (because i'm doing well with diet, exercise, BP and bg).

But i dont want one glass daily, i want 3 glasses on Mondays. Is it ok to do that?

And if i'm type 2 and luckily dont know what a hypo is, would it really matter if my bg went low because it never has before?

Cora, you seem so knowledgeable and calm, i wonder will i ever be half that?!

coffeefetcher

Please may i ask this -

i used to have 3 glasses of wine on a Monday night and maybe one glass on a Thursday but when i was diagnosed with type 2 i was told to avoid all alcohol.

This week at my checkup i was told i could now have one glass with a meal each day (because i'm doing well with diet, exercise, BP and bg).

But i dont want one glass daily, i want 3 glasses on Mondays. Is it ok to do that?

And if i'm type 2 and luckily dont know what a hypo is, would it really matter if my bg went low because it never has before?

Cora, you seem so knowledgeable and calm, i wonder will i ever be half that?!

coffeefetcher

Of course you will. Keep in mind that I have a lot of experience. Actually, over 40 years worth of T1. And I made it through my teens and early 20s with all the fun of alcohol and university, if you know what I mean.

You have become your very own little science experiment. Obviously, I'm not encouraging you to drink, but if you are going to want to have a total of 4 drinks per week (you sound fairly regimented) then you will have to try it and see what happens.

You need to keep in mind how alcohol may affect your medications (are you on oral diabetes meds and bp meds?) as well as how those 3 drinks will affect your blood sugar. Obviously you will need to test while doing your little "experiments". I suspect that if you have been taking good care of yourself and keeping normal blood sugar levels going high with the 3 drinks may make you feel very poorly. If, on the other hand, you are able to maintain good glucose control and normal blood pressures, aside from what the alcohol may do to you, you can probably get away with it.

Best of luck to you, and please keep us posted.

I just wanted to add that when I was very young, my parents were taught that they needed to adjust what was done with the diabetes to suit my life, not the other way around. That's why I participated in high school band, a variety of athletics, and travelled a lot. It is always important to try to keep your normal life. I always just adjusted meals and or dosages so that I could do what I wanted in addition to taking care of myself.

Cora

It's mad how one's life can change - until 2 years ago i just about never drank at all other than perhaps a couple of beers once a month at an internet gathering (a 'munch'). Then a friend moved in as my lodger and he drinks wine every day. I became a social drinker right here in my house and as he is only here regularly on Mondays, that's the night i began to regularly drink alcohol. He would, with my help, work his way through 3 bottles of wine on Monday nights and i would have one glass from each! That's how come i became regimented!

I'm not on any meds at all but after the blood tests in 2 weeks i may have to be on a statin to control cholesterol, as my Mum has high cholesterol controled by drugs and i was told this is an hereditary condition. At diabetes diagnoses my cholesterol levels were slightly raised.

Meanwhile i have got the bg levels down a bit. Well, to 6.2 after 2 and a half hours of eating, yesterday afternoon. My bp is now normal and i exercise most days and have lost the first stone of many to come!

The thing that confuses me is that as a type 2, i have no experience of a low bg hypo and if everything averages out, that's what makes me wonder about alcohol.

But you know? I'm going to try hard to be sensible. I'll have one glass of wine with fizzy water next Monday and be grateful of it! I cant test myself in any case for 3 weeks because that's when i'm being given the testing machine and testing strip things, at the next clinic appointment.

I have read every single post on this board so far and a constant calming voice is yours, Cora!

Oh and as an aside...my lodger friend is now down to one bottle on a Monday night - sometimes only half! Maybe my diabetes will help his liver!

coffeefetcher

I also had concerns about alcohol when I was diagnosed earlier this year. I did just as Cora has recommended (and you're right, she is very wise) and experimented. I would have a drink and then test my Bg. I have found that if I eat a good meal and don't over do it, I still can enjoy a few beers now and then. I was told to avoid some wines, not just because of the alcohol, but because of the sugar. If you drink a dry wine that isn't too sweet, you should be able to get away with having it now and then.

With everything you consume, you just have to experiment and see how your body reacts.

Lucky for Cora - she can eat potatoes!! Not me, no potatoes or pasta, but I drink my lite beer and have a little white bread and my BG stays in the normal range.