Risk Factors

Diabetes and Party

People with diabetes enjoy parties as much as anyone else. Partying, like travel, alters your daily diet and exercise routines. This can affect your blood sugar. To ensure a good time at a party, decide how you will balance the various effects of food and activities on your diabetes.

Parties should be fun and relaxing. By taking a few extra precautions, you can enjoy yourself and manage your diabetes effectively.

Before the party

Test your blood sugar before you go to the party. If it is normal or low, it may be wise to have a snack, especially if you expect food to be served later than your usual mealtime. If you use short-acting insulin at mealtimes, leave your injection until just before dinner unless your blood sugar is very high.

If you use rapid-acting insulin analogue, your doctor will tell you if you can inject it between courses or at the end of your meal, instead of at the beginning. You may not know exactly when dinner will be served. If dinner is unexpectedly delayed after you have taken your insulin, you may develop hypoglycaemia. This is especially true if you have been drinking alcoholic beverages without taking any other snacks.

You can take slightly more insulin if you expect a large dinner or a sweet dessert. On the other hand, if you are going to drink and dance, you may need a little less insulin.

Whatever you do, you will need to check your blood sugar before going to bed that night and set your alarm for the next morning. Your blood sugar tests will tell you if you made the correct decisions about your insulin and give you a chance to make corrections if your blood sugars are way off target.

Talk with your diabetes care team about how to balance a dinner party and your insulin needs.

Food

You are more likely to eat a larger meal than usual at a party. This may be true even if you are only eating party snacks throughout the evening. You may also be seated and physically inactive for hours while you eat a large dinner. All of these factors will cause your blood sugar to rise.

Drinking alcohol

You must be careful about how much you drink. Larger quantities of alcohol can lower your blood sugar by blocking the release of sugar from the liver. It is important to drink alcohol in moderation only. It is also good advice to eat or snack while drinking to further reduce the risk of hypoglycaemia. Remember, too, that alcohol blurs the signs of hypoglycaemia.

The greatest risk of hypoglycaemia may be the next morning when the full effect of a night of dancing and alcoholic beverages is felt. Hypoglycaemia can become severe if oversleeping replaces a regular meal. Set your alarm so you can check your blood sugar and have a snack if necessary. You can always go back to sleep.

How can drinking at a party lead to hypoglycaemia?

Dancing

Dancing can lower your blood sugar like any other type of good exercise. This is especially true if you have been drinking alcohol. Sometimes the effects of prolonged and vigorous exercise like dancing are not felt until many hours later.

You should reduce both your short and longer acting insulins depending on the duration and type of dancing you expect. Test your blood sugar before driving home after a night of dancing to avoid having a hypoglycaemic episode in traffic.

After the party

Activities during the party may affect your blood sugar during the night and the following day.

Before going to bed

Test your blood sugar before you go to bed. Take your normal dose of bedtime insulin, unless your blood sugar is a little low or you have depleted the stores of sugar in your muscles by prolonged and vigorous dancing. An extra large snack for a low blood sugar test can help to avoid more serious hypoglycaemia during the night. This is especially important if you have been drinking and dancing.

The following day

Your blood sugar may be outside of your goals on the day following a party. You should test the blood sugar more often than usual, and adjust your insulin dose and diet until you are back in balance.

Remember that sleeping all morning may lead to hypoglycaemia. After a “hard day’s night” it is important to set the alarm clock and to eat an extra snack after 7 or 8 hours.