Hypoglycemia (*Not Diabetic*) and Drinking Alcohol?
Question by ApplesApplesApples: Hypoglycemia (*not diabetic*) and Drinking Alcohol?
Hello All,
I am hypoglycemic and I would like to know how I can still drink alcohol. I’m not talking about getting drunk, but I would like to enjoy a couple drinks at dinner or out with my friends without getting a headache and tremors!!! I am 25 years old and 130 lbs. Also, please note that I am hypoglycemic and NOT diabetic!
I have been hypoglycemic since I was 14 and I manage it with diet and blood-sugar testing. My body can tolerate 2 drinks on a full stomach, and even then I often get a headache and become ill.
Many times I will have 2 drinks, I won’t even be near drunk, I will feel fine, I will drink water before I go to bed, and then the next morning I will have a headche and puke. I usually puke yellow bile for about 3 hours until I feel normal again. (I’m sorry, I know it’s gross!) Many times I will puke before I go to sleep, and I will still feel the same amount sick in the morning and still vomit up bile. And this with only 2 drinks in me! For these reasons I rarely drink.
Not drinking has never really bothered me until last week when I was at my friends’ engagement party. I had 1 glass of champagne, tons of hor d’ouvres, and a huge 5-course italian meal with a glass of wine. All of this was consumed in about 3-4 hours, so it’s not like I ate or drank quickly, and I still had a terrible headache with tremors by the time I got home. I just felt terrible that I can’t enjoy meals and celebrations the way other people do. I really envy people who can drink. I don’t understand why I can’t even have a couple of drinks when I eat so much.
I have tried many remedies such as eating alot while I drink, which helps some, but most of the time I still get headaches. There has only been 1 time in my LIFE when I drank alot of alcohol and had no other symptoms. I will tell you the story. It was about 4 years ago and I was going to a concert with some friends. For dinner I ate a sub, then at a bar I had 2 shots of vokda-red-bull and 1 beer. (My friends know about my condition, and I myself was expecting that I would get sick at some point.) Then at the concert I had about 4 more beers. This totaled about 7 drinks over 5 hours, and I was somewhat drunk. Then we ate at Waffle House and I had a fried-egg sandwich and hash-browns with extra cheese. We were still expecting me to be sick, but it never happened. Even the next morning, I felt 100% normal with no hangover. This was the most surprising part, since my hangovers usually consist of killer headaches and puking bile for at least 3 hours in the morning. I don’t know why I never got sick. I have since tried to replicate this scenario by eating a full meal after a night of drinking, but it has not worked since.
I’m sorry this post is so long! Like I said in the beginning, I am not trying to get “drunk,” I would just like to figure out how to enjoy a couple drinks with dinner or something without getting a headache. My main questions are:
1- Are some alcoholic beverages better tolerated than others for hypoglycemics?
2- What exactly do you eat before and after you drink alcohol?
3- I have heard that taking an activated charcoal supplement will help with the symptoms, but I haven’t tried them. Has anyone heard of this or tried this?
4- Are there any other supplements or medications you can take before you drink?
5- I don’t know if I drink too much or too little water when I drink alcohol. I drink alot of water, so I think I drink too much water when I drink alcohol. How much water do you drink when you drink alcohol?
6- When you do get symptoms such as headache immediately after drinking alcohol, how do you resolve it?
7- I don’t know if diabetics experience the same things when drinking alcohol or not. If so, how do you resolve it?
I would greatly appreciate personal experiences from other people who have this condition. Please be specific! Thank you to all!
Best answer:
Answer by karen
this is a hard one. i am diabetic and it is a very well known fact (they even teach you when your a diabetic) that alcohol will cause a low sugar. when reading your post i was going to suggest eating of course then i see that you did that. then i was going to tell you that alcohol causes your sugar to drop LATER. its not a right away thing so i was going to say eat in the middle of the night if you can to catch it before it drops. i noticed that your breakfast consisted of protiens, carbs and fat. the carbs are good for the moment and then the protiens and fats are good to keep your sugar up for a while.
so, i dont really know what to tell you since you have really tried it all.
when you drink water that keeps you hydrated and the food should catch the sugar.. what i would recommend is that you eat just a bit all night!
i know youre not trying to get drunk and its nice to have a drink to celebrate etc but, since your friends seem to be supportive of your condition, it hardly seems worth drinking! but thats easier said than done though so good luck!
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