Blackouts: Causes, Side Effects, and Prevention

This seemingly aware state can make it difficult for other people to recognize if a person is in a blackout. It’s important to remember that a blackout isn’t the same as passing out. Someone who passes out has either fallen asleep or become unconscious because they consumed too much alcohol. Although this part of the brain can build up long-term tolerance to alcohol, this isn’t true of the hippocampus.

This poses a serious risk for people who rely on their medications to control their diabetes. The effects of alcohol can be unpredictable and cause a person’s blood sugar levels to fluctuate dangerously, which can last for several hours after the person stops drinking. Accordingly, more studies are needed to determine whether the beneficial effects of daily moderate alcohol consumption outweigh the deleterious effects. Diabetics clearly should avoid heavy drinking (i.e., more than 10 to 12 drinks per day), because it can cause ketoacidosis and hypertriglyceridemia.

The Brain On Alcohol: Why Some Drinkers Black Out

For people with diabetes, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) can result from drinking. This is especially likely when alcohol is combined with medications used to treat diabetes, such as insulin. Despite the high prevalence of impotence in male diabetics and the fact that many of these men consume alcohol, few studies have evaluated the relationship between alcohol intake and impotence in diabetics. In one study of 275 originally potent diabetic men, heavy drinkers were significantly more likely to develop impotence during the 5-year study period than were moderate drinkers (McCulloch et al. 1984). These effects range in severity from momentary “slips” in memory to permanent, debilitating conditions. It’s thought that chronic alcohol consumption can harm the frontal lobe.

Detailed analyses demonstrated that although the glucagon and epinephrine responses to hypoglycemia were unaffected, the growth hormone and cortisol responses were reduced after alcohol consumption. Numerous studies have investigated alcohol’s effects on the control of blood sugar levels in diabetics. Diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. Most of the food you eat is broken down into sugar (glucose) and released into your bloodstream. When your blood sugar levels rise, your pancreas releases insulin, allowing the blood sugar to be used by cells as energy.

Signs and Symptoms of Alcohol Blackout

The frontal lobe also plays a role in short-term and long-term memory formation and recall. Binge-drinking, which involves drinking five or more drinks in one sitting, can increase a person’s risk for overdose, blackouts, and other harmful side effects. diabetes and alcohol blackouts In diabetics, it can also cause a dangerous decrease in blood sugar. Large amounts of alcohol, however, can cause low blood sugar – or, hypoglycemia. Diabetics in a fasting state (i.e. don’t eat before drinking) are at an especially high risk for this.

Complete amnesia, often spanning hours, is known as an “en bloc” blackout. With this severe form of blackout, memories of events do not form and typically cannot be recovered. Drinking heavy amounts of alcohol on a regular or daily basis is a primary sign of alcohol use.

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At this point, you’re not going to wake-up to the symptoms of a low blood sugar or be able to consume carbohydrates. Due to the unpredictable effects of alcohol on your blood sugar and insulin needs, there are two worst-case scenarios for a person with diabetes when consuming alcohol. There are two types of blackouts; they are defined by the severity of the memory impairment. The most common type is called a “fragmentary blackout” and is characterized by spotty memories for events, with “islands” of memories separated by missing periods of time in between. The pancreas is the site of insulin production in the body, and the liver is the primary organ responsible for processing substances like drugs and alcohol.

However, while some people find it easy to moderate their alcohol consumption, others face a near-constant, overwhelming urge to drink. If you have symptoms of hypoglycemia several times a week or more, see your health care provider. You may need to change your medication dosage or timing, or otherwise adjust your diabetes treatment regimen. If you feel that you sometimes drink too much alcohol, or your drinking is causing problems, or if your family is concerned about your drinking, talk with your health care provider. Other ways to get help include talking with a mental health professional or seeking help from a support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or a similar type of self-help group.