What alcohol can a diabetic drink? contents of carbs / sugar?!
What alcohol can a diabetic drink? contents of carbs / sugar?
Answers:
Type one diabetic here. I might drink perhaps once a week, so I probably don't know everything, but I should know enough. First, DON'T drink so much you can't test anymore! This is the biggest thing to remember. Second, DO make sure you take care of anything important first. If you take a long acting insulin (NPH or Lantis for example) make sure you take it BEFORE you start drinking. This way you won't try to shoot it while bombed, and/or shoot it twice because you can't remember if you did. Third, figure out what you will be drinking, and how much. Are you doing just straight shots of something, or are you doing mixed drinks? Mixed drinks are the worst because of the effects from the OJ/regular sodas/mixers that you probably aren't used to drinking.
After that, its a matter of trying to keep control. If you start at say 9pm at 120, and you plan on drinking 3 screwdrivers, then you will be consuming ~24oz of OJ. (8oz cups X 3 screwdrivers.) 4oz of OJ is one carb, so you'll need (24 / 4) 6 units of short acting insulin. If you use R, then I'd shoot as soon as you start, as it takes longer to kick in. If you use something like Humalog, then do it around the second drink. If you do one screwdriver per hour, then check where you are around 12pm. If you didn't shoot until 10PM, your probably going to be a little high seeing as Humalog needs 3 hours to be almost finished working, but you shouldn't be way up there. (if you are, you shouldn't be drinking, stop now.)
As a diabetic, it's safe to drink alcohol, you just have to try to make sure you don't harm yourself in the process. Don't shoot to often. Wait for the insulin you shoot to finish working before adding more insulin/alcohol into the equation.