sudden onset alcohol intolerance

[sseaweed]

I don't know if I am submitting this in the correct forum, but I didn't see another one to try just yet. I am 47 and have been a social drinker since I became of age. Within the last year I suddenly cannot drink any alcohol. I get as sick as if I had been on a binge - trembling sick with nausea when I go to bed. I have to throw up everything in my stomach and then take phenergan. I am violently ill. Two years ago I lost 20+ lbs by cutting carbs. Could this have caused any chemical changes? I don't drink a drop any more. I can live without alcohol but am very puzzled about this sudden change. What could cause it? Thank you.

[TheMidwife]

I would like to know more about the water points you make here.  I have been a birth worker for many years and I am noticing varying symptoms in women and children that were not as common 25 years ago; autism being of of them.  I am on this thread because I had two glasses of wine at a winery in Temecula, CA (where the twinning rates are abnormally high, possibly because of pesticides) and I am very sick today.  Weird.

[StuRat]

I am 58, thin, basically fit and healthy but have long had some oversensitivity to sweet foods, which I mostly avoid.  More recently my blood sugar has gone up so I am just under the "prediabetic" level.

Now I seem to have developed a significant intolerance to any alcohol.  Symptoms - feel like I have a terrible hangover for a whole day after even a small glass of wine or beer.I also can feel weak and/or have heart arrhythmia only after alcohol.

First theory was that I was dehydrated so I tried drinking water while I had a beer.  I think that is a good idea but it didn't resolve the issue.  Then I thought that possible tannins in red wine or dark beer were affecting me so I stopped those drinks.  Now even one small drink of "clean" beer or white wine sets it off.  

At this point I have resolved not to even have any small amount of alcohol which is really annoying.  Interesting ideas from some posters here about bacterial infections or candida (yeast).  They may be a factor but it would surprise me if they are the only factors involved.  I wonder if there are actual allergies to the alcohol itself. I don't believe the problem is the bacteria/candida in itself but maybe an inhibition of digestive/ eliminatory capacity so that the alcohol in the bloodstream is creating some kind of immune response.  If it were only candida for example we would be seeing equally devastating responses to sugar ingestion as to alcohol and we don't seem to be seeing that.

[UnoGeo]

Amazing, how so many have similar symptoms.  I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but the number of people experiencing sudden onset of adverse reactions to small amounts of alcohol posted here is striking.  

I have a few thoughts, one common thread regardless of  the type of alcohol (beer, wine, spirits), alcohol is produced through a fermentation process which employs yeast and some form of sugar.  There are only a few companies that manufacture yeast used in the production of alcohol in the world, only about 16 in the United States.  I can only wonder if genetically modified organisms are at work here.  You may already know this, but most of the food we eat today has been modified in some way in the laboratory.  One example is Corn, which is virtually impossible to obtain without being genetically modified in some way.  Could it be that mans tinkering with "Mother Nature" is causing these adverse effects described here?  I don't have an answer, but I believe that it is worthy of further investigation.  

Another possibility that comes to mind is that the chemicals we consume in our water are interacting with alcohol, chemicals which were not present just a few years ago.  Analysis of water today shows a soup of chemicals many of which are man made including a full spectrum of pharmaceuticals that were not even invented a few years ago.  Every time you drink water your body is being bombarded with a multitude of chemicals that change the way your body works, including your brain.

Yet one more potential suspect I believe having effects on human health is the over use of antibiotics and steroids which have resulted in "super bugs", and flesh eating bacteria.  Young children are now experiencing puberty earlier then ever before.  Could there also be subtle effects of antibiotics/steroids activated when alcohol is introduced into the body?

We live in "Brave New World".

I believe in time we will come to learn more and more how we have dramatically changed the overall functioning of the human body, and it is not to late to reverse our folly.

[Chrystalheart]

I haven't seen a description that closely matches my experience.  I'd be interested to know if anyone else is like this or know what causes it... I am not a big drinker.  I learned early on that I can randomly be affected by even a mouthful of any kind of alcohol.  First I feel hot, which gets worse and makes me sweaty and flushed.  Then my stomach starts to burn, like it had battery acid poured in it.  (I have GERD, this is not what I experience with GERD).  And my spine .. Mid back like just behind and extending lower than where the sternum is on the chest... It hurts bad.  It feels really inflamed.  And sometimes there is nausea.  Usually I lay on my back or apply pressure to my back or try to cool off while I wait for it to pass.  Small amounts of alcohol pass in around 20 minutes.  Larger amounts take ... Longer.....

[yoshi299]

Hi there as well,
it could be really possible that you are histamine intolerance and you did'nt know it yet. It has not be from the beginning of your life so it can happen everytime. Pls check it up with an allergist

[masterblogger]

hi there,
I guess you got a histamine intolerance. Basicly all the food or drinks which ripens has histamine and if people with a intolerance start to eat histamine rich food the body reacts with an allergic reaction. The allergic reaction can be different from person to person. I got it as well and I can't eat cheese. But a couple weeks ago I found this dietary supplement called Daosin. It makes it possible for histamine intolerance people to eat whatever they want. Everything I have to do is taking one cap right before I eat and thats it.

To make sure you are intolerance or not, you should go and see an allergist who can make a test with you.

best wishes