100 Days Without a Drink: Alcohol and Type 1, Honestly

Before my 100-day challenge, I drank too much. I'll be straight with you about that.

I used to reach for a beer out of boredom. While cooking. Watching TV. Going out with mates. When I finally looked back at how much I'd actually been drinking, it was obvious where the weight came from. And looking back further, it was obvious where a lot of the damage came from too. Most of my DKA admissions had drink involved.

So one of my rules for the 100 days was simple: no alcohol. None.

What alcohol actually does to us

At first, drinks with carbs in them, like lager, ale, stout and cider, can push your sugar up.

Later, and for longer, it goes the other way. While your liver is busy breaking down alcohol, it can't release glucose from its stores. So your sugar can fall. Hypos can happen for 12 to 24 hours after drinking, and the risk is highest overnight and into the next morning.

Then there are the dangers nobody tells you about when you're 19:

• You may not feel the hypo coming. Alcohol can hide the first signs.
• People may think you're just drunk. "He's fine, he's had a few" can be fatal.
• The emergency glucagon injection works less well after drinking.

If you choose to drink

• Eat when you drink. Never on an empty stomach.
• Check your blood sugar while drinking and for the next 24 hours.
• Be very wary of correction doses afterwards, because of the delayed hypo risk.
• Have a starchy snack before bed and keep something sugary by the bed.
• Go out with someone who knows you have diabetes and where your hypo kit is.
• Choose sugar-free mixers. Sweet wines, ciders and liqueurs are higher in sugar.
• Stick to the UK low-risk guideline: no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days.

Talk to your diabetes team before changing your insulin around drinking.

How the 100 days actually went

Day 19. First alcohol-free beer in a while, on a hot day. It tasted good. But I was honest with myself: swapping the drink doesn't remove the trigger. One cold one on a hot day is a treat. One every night is a habit.

Day 53. A dip day. No energy, bad mood, not arsed. I could have killed a beer. I had a zero-alcohol one, the craving faded, and I sat down and wrote my diary instead of sitting in front of the telly.

I'd done it before. I was sober for two years once, through my stag do and my wedding. So I knew it was possible. It wasn't easy. But it was possible.

By Day 100 I could tell you this for certain: taking alcohol out was one of the biggest changes I made. Better blood sugar. Better mood. Better decisions. More time, more energy, more focus. I woke up without dread.

Your turn: know your triggers

Write down every time you used to reach for a drink on autopilot. Next to each one, write what you'll do instead. Not a substitute drink. Something different. A walk, a kettlebell session, a call to a mate.

Next time a trigger fires, wait five minutes. Notice what you actually want: to relax, to connect, to switch off.

Every drink is a decision with consequences people without diabetes don't have to think about. Make it consciously.