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Drugs, alcohol and type 1 diabetes
What alcohol, nicotine, cannabis and other drugs actually do to a body with type 1 — and the handful of things that keep a big night safer.
This section is for anyone living with type 1 diabetes, and for the family, friends and coworkers around them. It covers what actually happens inside your body when alcohol, nicotine, cannabis or other drugs are involved — and the handful of things that keep a big night from turning into a hospital night.
It is not a lecture. Nothing here is permission, and nothing here is judgement. It is information you will actually need, written on the basis that people make their own decisions and deserve to make them with the full picture. This is harm reduction: meeting you where you are.
The pages start with why drugs land differently on a body with type 1, then the two emergencies to know cold — a hypo and DKA. Most of the space goes to the three substances most people really meet: nicotine, cannabis and alcohol. After that come stimulants, MDMA and psychedelics, then a short safety checklist, a page to show your friends, and what to look up before travelling.
- Why drugs land differently with type 1Your body has no automatic backup for blood sugar. Here are the three ways nearly every drug gets in the way — and the three substances you're most likely to meet.
- The two emergencies: a hypo and DKAA hypo comes on in minutes and needs sugar now. DKA builds over hours and needs a hospital. How to tell them apart and what to do.
- Nicotine: cigarettes and vapesWhy smoking and vaping weigh more heavily with type 1, why nicotine is so hard to put down, and why quitting helps at every age.
- Cannabis: weed, edibles and cartsCannabis doesn't attack blood sugar directly — it takes away your memory, your appetite and your sense of time. What to watch for, and why daily use matters.
- Alcohol: the one that gets people at 3 a.m.Why the hypo from drinking arrives hours later, in bed, and the five things to do if you drink with type 1.
- Stimulants, MDMA and psychedelicsLess common, still serious: how speed, cocaine, MDMA, acid, mushrooms and ketamine affect someone with type 1, and what keeps it safer.
- Staying safer: seven things to do anywayWhy mixing drugs multiplies the risk, and a seven-point harm-reduction checklist for anyone with type 1 who is going to use anyway.
- What your friends should knowFor friends, partners and roommates of someone with type 1: how to spot a hypo, how to fix it, and when to call 911.
- Travelling: what to look up before you landEmergency numbers, diabetes associations and help lines to find before a trip abroad with type 1 — plus what to pack and insure.