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Alcoholic Hypoglycemia – Effects, Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

by | Stop Drinking Alcohol | 4 comments

What is Hypoglycemia?

This is the opposite of Hyperglycemia; it is when you have chronic low levels of blood glucose.
Causes include:

  • Drinking too much alcohol
  • Skipping meals or not eating enough at mealtime
  • Overdosing on diabetes medication
  • Overexertion

What are the Symptoms of Hypoglycemia?

Symptoms include:

  • Hunger
  • Nervousness and shakiness
  • Perspiration
  • Dizziness or light-headedness
  • Sleepiness
  • Confusion
  • Difficulty speaking
  • Feeling anxious or weakness

Treatment for Hypoglycemia

Some of the treatments for hypoglycemia include raising your blood sugar levels by eating glucose or simple carbohydrates. That means eating something like some raisins, regular soda (the sugary kind), some hard sweets or jellies, or even eating pure table sugar, honey, molasses, or maple/corn/golden syrup.
You can then recheck your levels after a quarter hour, if they haven’t risen sufficiently, eat more.
In more advanced cases, the patient will need an injection of glucagon, a hormone which will stimulate glucose release from the liver.

Outlook

The best way of dealing with the problem is early detection. You can better control the condition by eating a good diet, getting plenty of exercise, and reducing/eliminating alcohol.

Sources

www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/blood-glucose-control/hypoglycemia-low-blood.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000310.htm

Thanks for visiting the site.
Until next time…
Onwards and Upwards!
Kev

Alcohol & Hypoglycemia

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4 Comments

  1. JoDev59

    Hi Kevin, DAY 3 ALCOHOL FREE

    Thanks for your fantastic support. Its nice to know that I can get up out of bed in the morning ALCOHOL FREE & get on my PC at whatever time suits me for a msg of encouragement that will keep me going at my goal for today.
    My smiling sock money box is hanging on my fridge door so that it reminds me of my goal & also all the money I am saving too. The fact that it is there is also a reminder for my husband of my goal & he keeps saying hows that sock going?-Its getting heavier!. I wish I could send a pic of it as its a classic. Bright pink sock with white stripes & a clay smiley face with the mouth for the money slot. I Found it at an Opportunity Shop here in Australia for $1,I think.

    I had 4 hours sleep last night but feel OK,nevertheless. I have always been able to get by with less sleep than others & as a teenager,when I left home I got into the habit of drinking with my Boyfriend & friends,so never realized that I was self-medicating just to go to sleep at closer to the same time everyone else did-mind you I was still up past midnight most nights.
    I Trained as a Nurse when I was 20yo & lived in the Nursing Home itself,as I did not have a car as yet. Suddenly I could not sleep & sometimes would still be awake at 5am in the morning & had to be down on the ward at 7pm. It had not even occurred to me, until I am now in my early 50s, that my insomnia then had only shown when I did not drink-no Pub at the Hospital,LOL.

    I had been subconsciously using it for years to sedate myself enough to sleep like everyone else. So I had to come to the realization that I am Hyperactive & my son was also diagnosed with Hyperactivity Disorder at 12yo(ADHD). It was not caused by sugar,additives,etc- it was innate. When he was inside me,it was like having a soccer team in my stomach. And I am also the same but the Alcohol was masking it in me to a lesser degree as an adult.

    The Psychiatrist that diagnosed my son said that he was sure it was Genetic in our case & that it was like everyone else was just walking on a footpath & me & my son were Rollerblading past everyone very fast. We think quickly,move quickly, and because we had no Learning Disorders-in fact were advanced for our ages, no one realized we actually had a “DISORDER”. Now I do not like this word for what my son & I experience—How many people would like to be quicker,stay up later,have more energy-all without Caffeine? I feel its an ADVANTAGE-I just live more hours than other & have an action-packed life. I read more,learn more & live more!

    In fact I only have Caffeine now after Decades of not having it,when I am at a meeting,Lecture type of thing & have to sit without moving or talking during an AFTERNOON. If I do not have some then I will literally fall forward & asleep. My Daily Lull is between 2-4pm & I must keep my mind stimulated then or I have to sleep at this time. Its a contradiction,I know-But that is how my body works.

    Anyhow,I binged on sweet biscuits last night but feel that at the moment-AS LONG AS I DO NOT HAVE ANY ALCOHOL- I can excuse myself for now. I am eating fruit for Breakfast-pineapple pieces & grapes together-Yummy! I must tell you that my husband was drinking red wine out of a teacup next to me,(for my sake just now, he is drinking out of containers that I do not associate with alcohol to help me) last night & it was the most disgusting smell!

    I am grateful to him for that, as it really does help to prevent my cravings. If I do not even see the type of Alcohol that I used to drink at all, in any shape or form-bottles,glasses,cask,etc I do not even think about it. Obviously my drinking was very visual,so this is how I help myself to avoid the temptation. I didn’t even think about drinking last night because I never saw it or any paraphernalia connected with it,at all-only smelt it & felt that it was the most awful smell!! This is what is working for me-Highest regards Jo:) Still filling that money sock!!!

    Reply
    • Kevin O'Hara

      Hey Jo, I love the money sock, it’s such a visual reminder of what you’re doing. That’s so important in any change, a way of seeing your progress. When a person is trying to lose weight they have the scales to show them their weekly loss, if it’s trying to exercise more, people have run trackers and the like. Stopping doing anything is difficult to track because you don’t have a physical and visual representation of how far you’ve come. Love hearing about your progress…
      Cheers
      Kev

      Reply
      • JoDev59

        Hi Kevin, ALCOHOL FREE DAY 9 for me today. I have noticed that my shoes are looser on my feet,like if I ran they might even fall off. I think that alcohol was making me retain fluid in my legs & probably elsewhere but its the most noticeable in my feet. The shoes were purchased when I was NOT Alcohol Free,so now I think I can buy myself a new pair of shoes with that money from the smiley sock money collector. I am not a fancy-Nancy so it will be a practical pair of leather loafers/pumps,etc.-something I can wear daily as a visual reminder of my achievement.

        It is getting easier now as I have kept myself busy during the last 8 days. I do a lot of sewing for my business,so my hands are then occupied. I work from home at a PC so I play music I love while I am packaging,posting,invoicing,etc. which makes me feel relaxed & happier. I remember that my anger is a trigger for my drinking,so its best for me to stay aloof from anyone that really irritates me at the moment.

        At the moment I am rewarding myself with any (reasonable)craving in food or drink that comes up,EXCEPT alcohol. Last night it was some choc-chip biscuits late at night. I figure its better to give in to some craving like that, than to drink Alcohol. I need to go out to buy some apples & whenever this craving for sweet comes up-cut up an apple & eat that instead of garbage food. The house is now clear of any sweet biscuits,lollies,chocolate,etc so that I will not be tempted to eat that type of muck.

        I bought a new journal on Day 4- I really needed it the 1st few days when I became ALCOHOL FREE. I found that day 3 was the Hardest of all. Then Day 4 was the Hump to get over & then it started to get easier for me.I ended up writing in an old writing pad which I will transcribe into my journal now. I honestly believe it would have been easier for me if I had been writing in a journal from day 1. I recommend that anyone who is about to give up alcohol-buy a journal BEFORE Day 1 & then write how you feel inside it,one day at a time. This may alleviate some of the stress & tension building as you are making a gigantic change in your life that needs an outlet. Writing also keeps your hands occupied,so it is good to write at times when you would have been pouring poison into yourself instead.

        I counted up the coins in my smiley sock & there was $90– so I took it out,wrote down an $90 IOU & put that inside the sock. I am drinking a lot of water at home & Bitter lemon if I am at a restaurants for a meal. I feel cleaner now that I do not drink. My conscience is clearer,I feel proud of my achievement & I really do not need the stuff. In the past when I had given up,people even thought I had been drinking when I had not as I am a very happy outgoing person generally,especially in social situations. Coming from a large extended family,I was the oldest out of all the children/grandchildren,etc so I certainly am not afraid of crowds-I was the beginning of one- LOL:)

        Anyhow,enough rabbiting on- Thank you Kevin for your encouragement- kind regards Jo:)

        Reply
        • Kevin O'Hara

          Hey Jo, great idea about the diary, it’s something I can’t recommend highly enough. If you don’t want to write, get a little voice recorder, dictaphone back in the day. They’re really cheap on ebay, less that $10. Keep it up and well done!
          Kev

          Reply

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