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You should also talk with your health care provider to see if it is safe for you to drink. In this article, we’re going to look at how alcohol affects blood sugar levels, when it can become especially dangerous, and how to drink alcohol safely as a person with diabetes. People who routinely binge drink have the highest likelihood of experiencing blackouts, but blackouts can occur anytime the body’s blood alcohol content (BAC) is extremely high.
These imaging techniques help the doctor examine brain activity and rule out other neurological conditions. Since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved them in 2019, doctors have been able to prescribe cenobamate tablets for adults who experience blackouts during seizures. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke estimate that 70% of people with epilepsy can control their symptoms by taking medication or undergoing surgery. A disturbance of neuronal activity in the brain can cause an epileptic episode. Other possible causes of blackouts include syncope, epilepsy, and stress.
Drinking Alcohol And Diabetes: Effects On The Body
Those observations suggest that the reduced levels of vitamin E in alcoholics actually may have harmful long-term effects. Glycogen is a large molecule that consists of numerous glucose molecules and serves as a storage form of glucose in the tissues, particularly the liver. Generally, the glycogen supply is depleted after 1 or 2 days of fasting. Thus, a person who has been drinking alcohol and not eating for 1 or more days has exhausted his or her glycogen supply. Diabetic eye disease (i.e., retinopathy) is another troublesome tissue complication of diabetes and one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States today.
Alcohol reduces blood levels of testosterone and may thereby further exacerbate the existing hormonal deficit. Clinical experience indicates, however, that a testosterone deficit rarely is the sole reason for impotence in diabetic men, because treatment with testosterone rarely restores potency in those men. Thus, both neuropathy diabetes and alcohol blackouts and vascular disease likely play significant roles in impotence in diabetic men. In addition to abstaining from alcohol, moderation and pace are important to preventing blackouts. Avoid binge drinking, which is defined as consuming five or more drinks in about two hours for men, or four or more drinks for women.
Treating Diabetics Who Have Alcoholism
For many people, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) is a blood sugar level below 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), or 3.9 millimoles per liter (mmol/L). Ask your health care provider about the appropriate range to keep your blood sugar (target range). If your pattern of drinking results in repeated significant distress and problems functioning in your daily life, you likely have alcohol use disorder. However, even a mild disorder can escalate and lead to serious problems, so early treatment is important. The best way to overcome diabetes and alcoholism is to seek professional treatment. On a side note, if you’re struggling to control your drinking despite the damage it’s causing, you may have an alcohol use disorder.
You can receive 24/7 text support right away and at your convenience. There is no obligation to enter treatment and you can opt out at any time. Drinking can cause a person to become less aware of how they’re feeling in their body as well as their surroundings. If you or someone you know has diabetes and is abusing alcohol, it is important to seek professional help as soon as possible.