Can i still drink if i have diabetes?

It would be a really bad idea to continue to drink. I am not sure what type of diabetes you have been diagnosed with, but continuing to drink can contribute to the symptoms from any type of diabetes. ALL alcohol is converted to sugar at some point in it's metabolism, and your body already has too much sugar. The goal in treating diabetes is to maintain blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible. This includes avoiding any unnecessary fluctuations. The biggest concern with diabetic patients are the long term complications involved. If your diabetes is not controlled, it will undoubtedly lead to heart disease, blindness, kidney disease, and/or many other severe and often deadly illnesses. Another common complication is diabetic ulcers from neuropathy. Uncontrolled diabetes causes the patient to lose feeling in the extremities, especially the feet, and because of that the patient cannot tell when an injury has occurred. The injury becomes an ulcer (which is basically dead tissue), which then turns to gangrene and the foot or leg has to be amputated. That was the short version. I am not trying to scare you, but it is a serious condition, and all of those horrible complications can be avoided if you take your diagnosis seriously and follow your treatment plan. Trust me, drinking on the weekends is not worth the years you risk losing to sickness and possible death. I am a member of a growing diabetes awareness program that was developed because of the huge number of people who are diagnosed with diabetes and suffer from the complications, either because they don't take their treatment seriously or their healthcare providers did not spend enough time with them explaining the disease. I have seen so many patients in pain or bedridden or limbless because they didn't take care of their diabetes, and it makes me sad because it is preventable. Hopefully you have mild diabetes, and if so, it doesn't have to get any worse at all. If you take care of yourself and realize that your health is worth more to you than a night or two of drinking, then you don't have to experience it any worse than it is. I understand that you are young and want to be able to drink socially, I'm just asking you to think about what could happen before you do. I wish you the best of luck and I hope that you have a long and healthy life.

WHY LEARN ABOUT ALCOHOL? Alcohol can make blood glucose too high or too low. You need to know when and how to drink to keep your diabetes under control. Alcohol has calories. You should fit these calories into your food plan, especially if you want to lose weight. You need to know if and when it is safe for you to drink alcohol. ALCOHOL AND YOUR BODY Alcohol goes from your stomach straight into your blood. The alcohol in your bloodstream is highest 30 to 90 minutes after drinking. Your liver slowly breaks down alcohol. If you weigh 150 pounds, it takes about 2 hours to break down one drink. Two drinks take twice as long, or 4 hours. If you drink alcohol faster than your body breaks it down, the alcohol stays in your blood and affects other body parts. When alcohol affects your brain, you feel or act drunk. Some signs of too much alcohol, such as slurred speech and confusion, are similar to low blood glucose signs and symptoms. If you drink a lot of alcohol (three or more drinks a day), you may develop liver disease and other health problems.

A lot depends on how severe your diabetes is. You are supposed to control your carbohydrate and sugar intake. Booze contains a lot of both. Drinking a bottle of wine every weekend isn't going to help your prognosis.

I lived with an insulin dependent diabetic for 6 years. He liked to drink and did not really take care of himself. I know that his drinking contributed to his diabetic eye disease. He became blind in one eye, and suffered from other side affects associated with diabetes. I do know that drinking can bring on the negative side affects of the disease much faster. Living with him and trying to help him with his diabetes was always trial and error. You have to see what works best in your situation. You are taking a risk when you drink.

CJ, Your surmise is not accurate. You may drink alcohol, but at the same time you must be cautious. Alcohol consumption will depend to some extent on the type of treatment you use to manage your diabetes and any other medication being prescribed. When we take in alcohol it goes straight into our stomach and then directly to our liver, and it happens very quickly. Once it gets to our liver where it's going to be processed – metabolized - the enzymes in the liver that are going to do that are called preferential enzymes. That means they will deal with the alcohol before anything else, regardless of what else is going on. At this moment the liver is dealing with the alcohol, so either the sugar in the alcohol, or perhaps in the food that you've eaten with it, is not being dealt with, which means you may get rapid fluctuations in your blood sugar, up or down. There is much to explain with this subject, and rather than discuss this here, I would draw your attention to the two links that I add below. ALL ANSWERS SHOULD BE THOROUGHLY RESEARCHED, IN ANY FORUM AND ESPECIALLY IN THIS ONE. - MANY ANSWERS ARE FLAWED. It is extremely important to obtain an accurate diagnosis before trying to find a cure. Many diseases and conditions share common symptoms. The information provided here should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. I add links with some details of this subject http://diabetes.webmd.com/ drinking-alcohol http://www.essortment.com/family/ diabeticsdrink_swoh.htm Hope this helps matador 89

Salman get lost and take your crazy theories with you. Water does not cure diseases, most of all diabetes. Yes you can still drink, but moderately. You will have to make some modifications to your normal drinking habits and limit yourself to a moderate amount. Is more about how you take care of yourself when you drink and not going overboard. No one will advise you to go out and party, but if you have the occasional drink with friends, it will be fine as long as you handle your diabetes like you should. When you do drink, treat it like any other intake of food in that you check your blood sugar, and dose yourself accordingly for the amount of carbs and sugar you are about to drink in alcohol. Generally a glass of wine is low in carbs and sugars, being around 5g a glass. Some light beers are about 5-7g a bottle while darker beers can be upto 11g. Its liquor and mixed drinks that have the most impact on your blood sugar. But this all adds up after 1, 2 or 3. The point is to handle it like any other carb you are putting in your body. Although alcohol has affects on the body that we are all aware of, and can hinder your ability to monitor yourself while intoxicated. Thats the dangerous part. When your drinking heavily, the chances of you paying attention to your body, or checking yourself decrease therefore your blood sugars could get out of control by going too high or too low. If you are going to drink, don't over do it. Be sure to monitor yourself and you will be fine. The greatest risk is passing out and your body going into insulin shock while you are unconscious and unable to respond. Also if your body gets sick and you begin to vomit, that is bad as well. Another factor to consider is that your body may act differently when you drink. Get to know your body and its trends. I tend to run a lil low when I drink beer, so I take that into consideration so I don't take too much insulin. I drink wine and beer moderately. I check myself before I have a glass of wine, or a few beers. Then I count my carbs, and take insulin if I need to and check again in 45 minutes. I make sure my levels are under control, and I never get drunk. I recommend something like the Calorie King website and book. It lists every food, brand or restaurant you could imagine, and it makes looking up the carb values extremely easy and takes away the guessing.

yes just go ahead lol

Its ok in moderation, Dont forget to take out your insulin just in case but check this website: http://alcoholism.about.com/od/diabetes/a/diabetes_risk.htm diabetes should be taken seriously, Just be care full mate.

I was diagnosed as type 1 at 15, so I went through my teenage years very rebellious, I went out every weekend and got bladdered !! I woke up on most Sunday mornings in a hospital bed. You can drink, but there are a few things you need to remember. check your blood before you go out take appropriate insulin to cover the booze (Spirits = 0 units) (Alcopops = 2 units) Lager etc 1pt = 1 unit this is on a 1-1 ratio. Make sure you eat - A couple of packets of crisps through the night is fine. When you are going home get a kebab or pizza lol. Your blood sugar will drop overnight if you don't eat anything, and you could wake up in hospital or worse !! Take some glucose tablets out with you just in case and make sure your mates know about your diabetes and that you need to eat especially on your way home. Apart from that, live your life and enjoy !!