Boozin’ with the ‘Beetus

I drink. Not to the point of getting drunk, but I do enjoy a beer or two every now and then.

My fiance Chris does not drink. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, Chris has never had a drink. He says it’s because when he was diagnosed with type 1 (at age 18), his doctor told him it would be a bad idea. Of course it was a bad idea. He was only 18! But seriously, that is his choice and we manage just fine.

Yet, when I was diagnosed with type 1 (at age 19), I don’t remember my doctor saying anything. In fact, I don’t remember any doctor saying anything besides “If you drink, drink in moderation and monitor your blood sugar closely as it can have an impact. If you drink in the evening, you may want to have a snack before you go to bed.” This is all sound advice and it’s something I still follow to this day.

But, based on my informal research, here’s what I’ve found about drinking with diabetes:

1. The harder the alcohol, the more it will affect my blood glucose levels. A glass of wine in the evening might cause my blood glucose to drop a little over night, but not by much (maybe 20 mg/dL-ish). Sipping on some bourbon in the evening, however, will cause a more significant drop in blood glucose – maybe 60 to 80 mg/dL. How do I compensate? Well – yes, it is smart to have a snack along with your drink, and I think that chocolate chip cookies go quite well with most good bourbon/whiskey/ryes that I’ve been known to enjoy. (Of course, this complicates matters even more, as then you need to be super careful about how much insulin you take for the cookies. Diabetes has never been called simple.)
2. Froo-froo drinks are always a bad idea. I don’t care if it’s fruity. I don’t care if it’s got fancy umbrellas. And I don’t care it it tastes like bubblicious. It’s not for me. (Honestly, diabetes is probably an excuse here. I’ll take something a little more respectable any day.)
3. Good beer has carbs. Sure, I could drink light beer and avoid some of the carbs, but I don’t like that stuff. So bring on the stouts and porters and I’ll bring my insulin (although, as noted above, it takes some careful dosing – and sometimes a snack later on).
4. That said, beer is not a smart choice when blood glucose is getting low. Yes, it will raise it (if you drink the good stuff), but there is a slight amount of time where the confused and loopy feeling of low blood glucose combines with the buzz of alcohol, and that’s not a good feeling. It’s like being double-drunk.
5. As is often the case, diet coke works better than coke. Even as a mixer.

Of course, this is just my experience. I’m sure other people have different ways of handling or avoiding alcohol with diabetes and their bodies probably respond differently. What am I missing? Cheers!