Bolus for heavy beer or not?

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Permalink Reply by Garrett on March 19, 2009 at 11:41pm

Only bolus for the food that you eat, don't think about the beer. The beer will take care of itself. That's my opinion if you want it. Cheers!

Garrett

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Permalink Reply by Dan W. on March 20, 2009 at 6:44am

Everyone's bodies seem to react differently - I usually bolus for most of the beer if only drinking one, esp. if it is on the heavier carb side (like a guinness). But if I ever have two drinks, that seems to have a much greater effect on my sugars dropping later on, so I tend not to bolus past the first beer. I am not really drinking anything at the moment as I straighten out my basals on the pump, but looking forward to this temporary basal business in the future... A recent guinness sure was good!

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Permalink Reply by Sam Ebert on March 24, 2009 at 4:34pm

I am going to get in the middle of Garrett and Dan W. I bolus for beer because A) I drink ales and they tends to have a few carbs in them and B) I usually eat when I drink, if not a good dinner,then some munchies. I have a CGMS, so I don't have to look at BG from the meter, but keeping an eye on BS is the way to go. Most arguments about alcohol and diabetes is not so much the carbs but drinking and FOrGetting..;-)

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Permalink Reply by BarbraW on March 24, 2009 at 4:48pm

Thanks for all the answers.

I've been trying out bolusing for the beer, and so far, so good. I agree with Sam, the trick is watching the BS. I'm pretty new to this, so everything is an experiment to me. Yesterday I sort of went all-out and had 3 microbrew ales over about 4 hours, bolusing for each. By the time I went to bed I was at around 146 (down from a high of 189) and had no problems overnight, woke up after an uneventful night to 112.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Ebert on March 25, 2009 at 2:24pm

This is a great example of when not to do a correction. Beer is "empty" carbs that do not seem to last too long.

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Permalink Reply by BarbraW on March 25, 2009 at 2:38pm

Heh, I'm not allowed to do correction before bed (yet). We're new to this, hubby is terrified of rapid-acting insulin in my system while we sleep. It's all gotta be gone by the time we go to bed.

This'll change as we get more used to the routine and more adept at figuring out just how everything affects me.

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Permalink Reply by Greg on April 3, 2009 at 4:53pm

I figure with a little time you'll have the rapd-acting insulin figured out pretty well. Like everything else diabetes-related, I find myself getting into a routine with something that works. Same with beer. So I don't regularly go out and try a bunch of new microbrews in one evening because I don't know how they will affect my bg at all. I know what pales and IPAs and whatnot work best for me, and how the pumpkin ales, hefeweizens and the like demand a bolus! With those exceptions, I usually do not bolus for a beer.

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Permalink Reply by KarenS on March 27, 2009 at 3:17pm

I try to plan ahead and bolus about 20 minutes before I have a beer with food, after my 1st beer and meal I don't continue to bolus for each additional beer, seems to work for my 1-2 dark beer (porters) consumptions. As for light beer...say a Carona on the beach...no bolus, just drink!
I'm new to this too, 6 months into it....I hate the experimenting!
Good Luck!

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Permalink Reply by Rick Phillips on April 10, 2009 at 6:32pm

I usually do not bolus at the moment of the drink. Since i suffer dorm Gateoparsis (sp) i tend ot digest carbs later than one would think. So I hold the bolus until I see a move in BS. Many times I never bolus, but every once in a while, it goes ballistic and requires a bolus.

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