Featured Article: Drug and Alcohol Use and Diabetes

Diabetes alone is a disease that needs to be carefully managed and slowly dammages your body. If you add to it other substances that are harmful to your body, yhen you are obviously making the situation worse for yourself. Sadly if the stressors odf diabetes leads to substance abuse, it is only a path to slow suicide. There is most likely very little chance of full recovery for your body.

It is not good to take alcohol while under medication. Even doctors suggest that. One must complete his full medicine doses before starting again to drink.

I am an example of how much alcohol can effect someone's life, and at a young age. I'm 25, and I was just diagnosed with diabetes in february due to acute pancreatitis. The pancreatitis was caused by alcohol abuse. It's been a rough year for me.

I think the biggest struggle to people with co-morbid substance abuse and diabetes condition is their poorer adherence to diabetic care since they are very uncooperative in medical regimen. Another complication that can contribute to this is the comparatively high rates of medical conditions including cardiovascular diseases and renal diseases that may exacerbate the problem. They should be monitored and managed clinically over a long period of time to reduce the risk of relapse and promote full recovery.

I never really thought about how drugs and alcohol could effect one with diabetes. I have some family members that also suffer from diabetes and they are careful as to what foods they eat and controlling their sugar intake.

My SO is a diabetic and he is well aware of the dangers of excessive drinking but it doesn't stop him. When he goes to the doctor he will tell the doctor what he thinks he wants to hear. The doctor has no idea how much alcohol he actually consumes on a weekly bases. He is slowly killing himself but he doesn't seem to care or he thinks it won't happen to him.

One issue with alcohol and diabetics is that it often causes a very large blood sugar drop after a night of drinking. I don't remember the exact specifics of why this happens, but generally speaking consuming a ton of sugar (and alcohol which converts to sugar) leads to an increase in blood sugar. However, an unexpected drop occurs afterward which can be very dangerous for a diabetic and even deadly.

yea very fatal defect may result

Yes indeed, the abuse of drugs and alcohol, does cause alot of complications for people who do have diabetes and hypertension, it definitely makes their cases worse and life threatening, since both substances have a tendency to raise ones blood pressure.

Of course it has a huge impact on a diabetic. Diabetics have a hard time getting used to the new life style, which means totally different diet. Then if there is an addiction present, that makes things very hard for diabetics, and the problems that come with the diabetes and addiction together are too much to handle for some people and they just let themselves fall..

Considering that individuals who have diabetes need to control everything that goes in and out of their bodies, it is unsurprising that drugs and alcohol can be a lethal mix. Not only this, but the medication that is taken to cope with the condition can often mix in a bad way with the prescription drugs for diabetes, leading to even more of a problem. So it is certainly something that needs to be thought about when considering drugs, as it can affect people in ways that they don't even understand properly.

I'm pretty sure someone with any type of health issue shouldn't abuse drugs or alcohol. Drug and alcohol abuse can already cause deficiencies. With diabetes you have to be careful what you eat and how much sugar you digest. All alcohol is mostly made of yeast and sugar, so too much of this could kill a diabetic. This is a article that diabetic addicts should read.

Oh my goodness. That is horrible that he had to lose a foot because he wasn't educated. I have a friend that has diabetes and they drink. I actually had no idea how serious it was that she stops. How do I convey to her this information without her becoming defensive? Her drinking can lead to some serious repercussions but I think by me telling her she isn't going to be receptive and she may stop talking to me for a while.

It was also due to his own added ignorance. He did not want what he had heard to be true. It was partially him not wanting to face the music. I suggest showing her cases that are similar to this one.

Alcohol is so high in sugar content that the effects on a diabetic would seem fatal if they consumed a large daily amount and then if they were also addicted to other drugs I can't even begin to imagine. Addiction is such an insidious sneaky disease and doesn't care about who you are or what else is wrong with you and can take over an already unhealthy person and be quickly a fatal situation much faster than a healthier person.

Yes, it doesn' surprise me. Diabetes is a very serious disease. I do think there are plenty of diabetics that also suffer from substance abuse however. It is one of the issues that some individuals who are diabetic struggle with. It is one of the things that they look at and content with. SA is something that is a concern for all, especially those with serious illnesses like diabetes.

People with illnesses such as diabetes are better of not taking alcohol. Not good to juggle combining the two as they can give a negative reaction. Better to be cautious about one's life.

Well, thankyou for highlighting this issue. yes in fact drugs do have very bad impact on people with diabetics. They have more chances of being attached to severe diseases, which can range from heart attack to liver problems.

Very good information. That's a scary thing to think about. When someone already has health issues, and on top of that abuses drugs. Not only that, but it will case health problems to abuse drugs.

Unfortunately, diabetes, as well as other chronic illnesses can bring on a certain kind of depression over the years that when not handled properly, may lead to drug and alcohol abuse. It's a sad, sad road to mope on. I have had juvenile diabetes for nearly 18 years and in my early 20's began drinking heavily pretty regularly. As mentioned in prior comments, when the alcohol begins to hit and one begins losing inhibition, forgetting to check blood levels, not paying attention to feelings associated with high and low blood sugars, blacking out becomes a common thing and it can get scary for the person and those around. Luckily, I haven't had to make any emergency room visits because I've managed to get myself on some autopilot behavior whenever reaching a hypoglycemic episode but it's a dark place to be especially when sleeping. However, anyone struggling from such issues should know that they're not alone and had I reached out to people that aren't so ready to lecture and point out how terrible and dangerous behaving like this is and rather discuss why this may happen, things would probably be different. Sometimes it feels very, very lonely to take care of this illness every day. Checking out seems pretty appealing at times to be honest, although it isn't healthy, and I know, it's pretty immature but it is a thing that should be pulled out of the dark for people that are struggling with diabetes. For those who have friends that are diabetic drinkers, stating these scary facts doesn't always help. Try asking questions and try listening because there may be some underlying issues that are being coped with poorly, as with anyone that drinks or uses drugs often and lets it affect their life.