Going Out to Restaraunts & Bars - Diabetes Message Board

falling · 06-09-2002, 03:01 PM

I have to complain somewhere so I hope the members of this board will listen and maybe share their similar stories. Doesn't it just make you so angry when wait staff or bartenders make dumb comments when you don't order alcohol with the rest of the crowd or ask for specifics on the preparation or ingredients of food? It is really starting to anger me. I just recently decided to start hanging out with my friends again at bars or restaraunts. I was always afraid of having to explain myself to wait staff and having all these people listening and thinking I was a hypochondriac. It took a lot for me to take this big step and realize I shouldn't have to feel awkward because I order seltzer water or coffee instead of a martini. Why should diabetes keep me away from my friends? I often become the butt of a joke for a friendly bartender who can't IMAGINE why I would order seltzer on a Friday night. Then comes the uncomfortable silence from all my friends, because they feel bad for me. What about when I go to a restaraunt and they tell me something has no added sugar or that it is diet and then 2 hours later I am dealing with high sugar? I get the feeling that alot of wait staff think I am trying to diet and they don't realize how destructive a mistake can be. Why don't the staff of restaraunts and bars use their brains? I don't want to have to explain that I am diabetic all the time. I shouldn't have to.

gracieathome · 06-09-2002, 03:05 PM

I am a waitress and I can tell you they are out of line. I dont care what you order. Its none of my business. If you ever come into my bar you will get what you want. Rude comments and not giving you what you want would cost me a tip.
BTW my friend is diabetic and she was told at the diabetes clinic that she could have hard alcohol as it does not afect blood sugar levels, but that she could NOT have wine or beer. So if you want you can have an alcohol with diet soda, or a martini.

Gracie

deedee2074 · 06-09-2002, 06:05 PM

Gracie-Is that true? I didn't know that diabetics could drink alcohol. I get low blood sugar frequently and was told to stay away from all alcohol because I get bad drops in my blood sugar.

Falling-I know what you mean. When I changed my diet everybody at work really laid into me. People were constantly laughing behind my back because they thought that it wasn't going to do anything to help me. Once they got past the diet thing they started questioning me about everything I put in my mouth. I finally told everybody to stay out of my business.

SamQKitty · 06-09-2002, 07:18 PM

First of all, it is absolutely not true that hard alcohol doesn't affect your blood sugar. It affects it differently and can actually cause your blood sugar to go up and then drop quite low. For this reason, diabetics are advised never to have even one drink unless it's with a meal.

However, I agree with all of you that what you eat or don't eat is nobody else's business! Actually, the best way to handle people who are teasing you about alcohol is to quietly, and with great dignity, say "I'm diabetic, therefore I don't drink"...it usually embarrasses the hell out of the rude person who was making comments, and that's exactly what they deserve!

Also, for those of you who get constant advice from people who "know someone who is diabetic and their doctor said they_____" (fill in the blank here), my response to those people is that I work very closely with my endocrinologist, I've had excellent care and trust him, and I follow his directions, not anyone else's! I try to be polite and dignified about it and educate people at the same time. I think that sometimes the comments just come from ignorance, not meanness.

Ruth

deedee2074 · 06-11-2002, 07:44 AM

falling-don't drink any alcohol, not just wine or beer. Just got word of my cousins friend, who is not diabetic, almost dieing after a drinking binge. He was drinking alcohol-not wine or beer. He was throwing up and passed out at the bar. His sugar went up to 800 when he was taken to the hospital. He almost died! Alcohol is serious poison. Ruth (above post) has really good advice.