Getting Drunk as a Diabetic – Difficulty With a Pushy Stranger

I grew up in Ohio, and went to college in California and I would usually come back to Ohio for long breaks and summers. On one of these breaks, I came back and went out with one of my high school friends to a bar near her college. (Don’t worry we were all of legal drinking age. I know these parentheses phrases tend to be sarcastic and/or sassy, but this one is sincere). I got to experience bar life in a different town, and it wasn’t that much different.

Alcohol and Diabetes

Maybe we were drinking a bit too much. Now that I am older and wiser, I know that getting drunk is not the best of ideas. But, at the time I thought it was fun and super cool. Getting drunk isn’t usually a smart or good time for anyone, but type 1 diabetics need to be more careful. According to break through t1d, “Moderate amounts of alcohol may cause blood sugar to rise, excess alcohol can actually decrease your blood glucose level.” And this can depend on the type of alcohol you are drinking too.

For me personally, I have learned that beer and other alcohols high in carbohydrates makes my blood sugar number go high and stay high. Hard alcohols such as vodka and tequila will make my blood sugar go high and then drop low. If you are eating anything while drinking, that will have an affect on your blood sugar numbers too. There’s a lot to take into account and keep track of when a type 1 diabetic is drinking alcohol.

Checking my Sugar Level

Thinking back on this time, I cannot remember what alcohol I was drinking. In general, I prefer beer, so I would guess that I was drinking mostly, if not all beer. There came a point in the night where my friend and I went to the ladies room. The ladies room had 4-5 stalls and a long counter with a couple of sinks. Inside one of the stalls I was checking my blood sugar number.

At the time I was writing this, I can’t remember what my number was, but I would guess it was over 200. I wouldn’t be surprised if my blood sugar number was close to 300 at this time (not good!). I screamed at my friend that I was high and was slowly working on getting my insulin out so I could inject myself. The screaming wasn’t because I was mad, it was because I was drunk and (like most people) talk much louder than usual.

Drunk Stranger’s Interference

There were some other ladies in the bathroom at the same time. One of them heard what I had screamed and started freaking out that I didn’t need to inject myself, I needed glucose. She was wrong, very, very wrong. No matter how many times my friend and I tried to explain that I was high, I needed insulin, and any glucose would make my situation worse, She was not listening. This is what happens when you try to argue with drunk strangers in the ladies room of a bar.

This lady continued to make the situation worse. To give her the benefit of the doubt…. Even though she was in fact not helping, I hope that her drunk mind actually thought she was helping. At one point she had said that her mother has diabetes and she knows what to do. If my blood sugar was low, I would need glucose and orange juice would be a perfect option for that. And a drunk person with a diabetic mother didn’t realize that me, someone with diabetes, knows what to do. And in this particular circumstance, knows a lot more than she did.

It escalated to her physically trying to prevent me from injecting myself. It got to the point where my friend and I had to barricade myself in a locked stall so she could not physically get to me. I was getting extremely overwhelmed. I was drunk, my blood sugar was high, and I was being prevented from injecting myself. I was done. Done with all of it.

Finally Injecting Myself

Luckily my friend continued the fight after locking me into the bathroom stall. She kept talking (I mean everyone was probably yelling) to this stranger and getting her out of the bathroom. Eventually the lady had left the restroom and my friend and I were alone. But soon after leaving she came back with a glass of orange juice which she had procured from the bar. My friend wouldn’t let her in the bathroom. We had had enough of her. She kept making it so much worse. This stranger wouldn’t leave until my friend took the juice and promised to give it to me. My friend took the juice and slammed the door in her face. She threw the juice and the cup into the sink and then came to make sure I was okay and that I was in fact injecting myself (I was).

In my memories of being drunk in the past, I remember that I took care of myself and my diabetes (as best as I could). I have memories of making sure I injected myself and taking glucose when necessary. I don’t plan on getting drunk in the future, but thinking back I’m glad that I was taking care of myself the best I could.

Read my disclaimer, this story is a personal one, and I can only talk about my own experiences. Please talk to your doctor about the effects of drinking alcohol and how that will affect you as a diabetic.