Drinking

The Law

No one under the age of 18 is allowed to purchase alcohol from an off-licence or pub. You can go into a pub at the age of 16 accompanied by an adult but you cannot drink alcohol.

Don't drink and drive.

Your Health

DO: -

Tell your friends that you have diabetes and explain what they should do if something happens to you

Eat with alcohol

Wear ID (Medic alert bracelet) as being drunk can be confused as being hypo

DONT: -

Mix alcohol with drugs as it is NOT a very good combination

It is recommended not to have more than 2 drinks per night, but it's best not to drink every day

Diabetes should not stop you going out for a drink with your friends, it is however important that you take some sensible precautions in relation to your diabetes. In particular, you must not forget to take your insulin at the normal times, eat regularly and if you have too much to drink, it is very important that somebody takes you home and monitors your blood sugar.

If you are concerned, do not hesitate to contact your Diabetes Team. {Contact Details}

What is a unit of alcohol?

Half a pint of beer, cider, lager = One measure of spirit is (pub size) = One standard glass of wine = one measure of liqueur (pub size) = 1

What alcohol does to your blood sugar levels

Alcohol has a different effect of different people. It might make blood sugar go up while you are drinking but generally blood sugar will drop later. Drinks such as spirits, which have a high alcohol concentration and little carbohydrate can drive blood sugar levels down quickly and profoundly, especially when taken on an empty stomach. You should not drink low sugar drinks as they sometimes have a high alcohol content, so you get drunk quicker and could go hypo.

Hypos whilst drinking

When you have been drinking the feeling of alcohol can be the same as going hypo so it's easy to get confused. Another thing is that when you go hypo, your liver helps out by making sugar. However, when it's busy dealing with the alcohol, it doesn't work as well so hypos can be more sudden and severe.

If you have had too much to drink and are not sure what to do click here to find out how to control the situation.

Carbohydrate and alcohol

If there is carbohydrate in alcohol it should not be counted as an evening snack even though your blood sugar may go up a bit at first. The overall effect will be for it to go down so you need to eat before you drink, while you are drinking and afterwards.

Disclaimer

This website is designed for use by the Leeds Paediatric Diabetes Team and children and parents referred to their service. Every effort has been made to make sure there are no errors on the website. If you think there are any inaccuracies could you please e-mail us so that we can check. kate.barker@leedsth.nhs.uk