Right on Dembelle!I agree 150%!
I've wondered about the relationship between alcohol and cold-like symptoms since I started getting a "rough" throat in 2010 (yeast infection?). This year (2015) I have suffered a string of colds and wonder if my depressed immune system could be due to exceeding government guidelines for alcohol consumption (in my case white wine and beer). I'm now on my third day of abstaining from alcohol and already notice some improvement in my symptoms, so I intend to continue abstaining. Since all of this can be thought of as self-inflicted injuries, I haven't sought medical advice. It stands to reason, anyway, that life-style is probably the biggest contributor to health and happiness and it's my own fault if I don't feel well.
Cola contains acid, it's phisically hurting the throat, same as strong alcohol. Drinking it daily explains getting cold infections, especially when immune system is weak because of other health problems.
Also a glicoprotein similar to latex had been found in wine http://www.drvino.com/2010/11/26/allergies-wine-glycoproteins-palmisano/, and I do have latex allergy. There is also something like Oral Allergy Syndrom, it's normally associated with pollen, but it may be the same with molds and latex. So my sympthoms may be so severe cause they come from a couple of reasons (?), but I believe it's allergy that's messing up with immune system.
I have the same - but worse. I suspect it's all because of yeast/mold allergy. My full on-cold symptoms were the worst when I drank wine (and I drank it daily, one small glass to dinner) or a glass of good quality beer. I hardly ever drank strong alkohol, if any it was vodka and I experienced mild to non at all problems depending on what I drank the vodka with (juice, coke). It took me years to figure it out. In meantime I have had treatments meant for cancer survivers cause my colds just never eneded - with no result. When I stopped drinking wine and favourite beers for years the symptoms after even a taste of wine were much worse - more like anaphylaxis (but I didn't have even one cold in 3 years). Recently I've read about yeast allergy and decided to avoid eating yeast (also natural saurces like juices, some fruits, fermented goods) for 2 weeks. I never knew I was so bloated and puffed all the time. My wedding ring just fell of my finger cause it was 2 sizes to big, so were all my belts. I was quite slim to begin with, but I beacame skinny. When I ate bread afterwards - I "gained" it all back in matter of hours (!) So I'm going for IgE and IgG allergy test tomorrow (yeast), don't know if it's going to show anything, I've read that glycoproteins can be responsible for cold-like of symptoms. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/09/wine-intolerance-adults-7-percent-allergy-symptoms_n_1651677.html Anyway, from my experience - small amounts of alcohol, the theory of some hidden infection just doesn't add up. I have an idea that maybe alcohol/yeast can cause quick overgrowth of natural yeast in our bowel flora, so I've added candida allergy test just in case yeast allergy will not be the explanation.
My husband has been having this problem for several years now and this is the first time I've searched for cold symptoms after drinking. He had to notice the pattern himself, but he's finally been to the doc enough times--sometimes receiving medicine and other times being told there's nothing wrong after a blood test. It doesn't happen 100 percent of the time. Probably affected by the amount he's had and whatever other conditions, but usually congestion and extreme fatigue. He plans to switch to cola when he goes out to meet his friends and see if that helps. He has had a non-alcoholic fatty liver diagnosis and gets a checkup every year. That healed and tests became normal when he switched from daily colas to water.