I've always been able to have a reasonable amount of wine with dinner and not have my bsg shoot up into the stratosphere. A glass of good (not an American lager) beer will make it spike a little, but it's quickly gone. I tried having a frothy drink once, but couldn't drink the whole thing. It tasted like a cup of plain sugar to me after being off the stuff for so long. It hasn't been more than a little temptation in the back of my mind since then.

But that's me. I always make sure I go heavy on the medium-to-high-fat proteins when I'm my Diabeetus Vacations during a celebration. I don't go way overboard and end up drowning in the insulin sea, but I make sure that I'm primed for whatever may come.

Even though we're diabetic, we still have to live with some fun in our social lives; drink and food are a very big part of our cultural celebrations as people. It's important that we partake in those rituals and remain a part of society.

I don't think I ever read the Metformin and drinking admonishment before. DId it say *why* you shouldn't?

Happy Birthday! :drinker:

Like much of diabetes management, it really depends on the individual.



The real danger of alcohol consumption to diabetics is the risk of hypoglycemia. Alcohol is filtered out of the blood by the liver, whose other job is to release glucose into your blood when you start to go low. The liver is poor at multi-tasking, and prioritizes alcohol filtering over sugar release. So alcohol can stop your blood sugar from rebounding when it drifts low. You also do not want to skip a meal to make room for the alcohol calories.

There's an advisory about metformin because it targets the liver and alcohol is processed by the liver. According to my doctor, "social" drinking (which he defined as 1-2 beers on a weekend) is fine with Metformin. I have no idea about insulin use and alcohol, but do want to point out that skipping a dose (and also taking an extra dose) is ineffective as the Met builds up over time.

I have a couple of beers per month- low carb light beers like Michelob Ultra. I'm having 2 tonight. I'm not a wine drinker, but if I were, I'd gravitate towards a dry red. I do avoid sugary mixed drinks like cranberry+vodka, screwdrivers, daquiris, margaritas etc.

Bottom line: experiment with your own reaction to alcohol and test after you have a drink, to see what happens. For most, moderation is the key.

The dry reds are very low in calories too. That's what my husband and I drink with dinner. It's an awesome way to lower stress.

Thanks for the info! The more you know!

From my understanding the main problem with alcohol is not necessarily the spike when you drink it, its the bottoming out of BG overnight as your liver processes it. Alcohol is a foriegn substance you your liver works to get rid of that first. Ive read that to avoid loe BG in AM after a night out, its best to make sure you eat something before bed.