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The Question

11/09/08 08:33 PM

"I am 28 and have had type 1 diabetes for 15 years. I have been an alcoholic for about 9 years. What is the life expectancy for someone like me?"
Asked By: powow36  
Category: Type 1

Background Info Hide
I have blood sugars that go up to 500-700 when it go do below 30 i have seizures and sometimes my a1c test is 10 or 11. i have had around 30 seizures.

Expert Answers (1)

11/16/08 10:12 PM

Hello, Alcohol can interfere with the positive effects of insulin. Alcohol is a toxin. Your body reacts to alcohol like a poison. The liver wants to clear it from the blood quickly. In fact, the liver won't put out glucose again until it has taken care of the alcohol. If your blood glucose level is falling, you can quickly wind up with very low blood sugar. This is why drinking as little as 2 ounces of alcohol (about 2 drinks) on an empty stomach can lead to very low blood sugar. Heavy drinking over time can hurt your liver. It won't be able to make glucose as well. When this happens, your diabetes is harder to control. If you have nerve damage from diabetes in your arms or legs, drinking can make it worse. Alcohol is toxic to nerves. Drinking can increase the pain, burning, tingling, numbness, and other symptoms found with nerve damage. Heavy drinking (3 or more drinks per day) may make diabetic eye disease and high blood pressure worse. Alcohol abuse and uncontrolled diabetes would dramatically reduce your life expectancy. You might wish to use this online calculator to make that estimation: http://www.fastfa.com/life.jsp Take care.
Answered By: Liz Quintana
Accreditations: EdD, RD, LD, CDE,CPT
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Community Answers (1)

11/17/08 03:41 PM

I would be concerned with what is happening here and now if I were you. Life expectancy can cause you to look at yourself with a deadline in mind. If someone answers your question about how long you will live while you drink you'll do nothing but work to get to that point. The point I am trying to make is, don't worry about how long you will live. Think like everyone else has to. Most folks worry about it but day to day they aren't faced with this chronic problem of insulin balancing with meals etc... Drinking alcohol is an easy fix thing that can change who you are very quickly. If you quit drinking right now, you will see many positive things happen to you. More money in your pocket, you'll look and feel better. You will start to care about yourself and care about others. At 28 you have had some things happen to you but your body can fix itself if you give it a chance. You have lots of time to live, just quit now. Ease off. Change who you are and who you hang around with a little. Break your routine a little. You may never totally quit drinking, but surely you can find something else. Besides, it's a long slow death to drink a diabetic into the grave. You do not want to end your life that way. I quit drinking Several times. It gets easier the more you do it. It is a constant battle, but soon you'll find yourself asking how much longer you would LIKE to live. Not how much longer will I live.
Answered By: insulin joe
FLAG
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