Allergic to beer

During my later college years, I started to notice this rash that broke out around my face, neck, and chest.  It is mainly on my face--which is wonderful!  I finally noticed these breakouts were caused by drinking beer.  They are little bumps that itch extremely bad.  And it takes probably a month beer free for them to go away.  Does anybody know why or what I could be allergic to?  I don't have the same reaction to bread products.  Also, when I was pregnant (only first trimester) I would break out in this rash as well.  And I obviously wasn't drinking during that time:)  Any help with this problem would be greatly appreciated.  

[Dr Rajput]

Hi, welcome to the forum, your symptoms are suggestive of allergic dermatitis. One thing is certain that alcohol is an allergen to you (contaminants or malt barley) and subsequent exposure to it can cause complications.

Hence, you need to quit the alcohol completely. You need to keep always antihistaminic with you. You also need to rule out other allergens which you are sensitive to, that would have been possible cause of allergic manifestations during pregnancy esp. the barley containing foods .

You need to keep track of things (maintain a diary) you were exposed to such as food, cloths, drugs etc. and you should avoid further exposure.

The possible allergens in alcohol can be contaminants with alcohol, hapten carrier responses, alcohol or metabolite conjugates. One more important thing is agents like alcohol are believed to increase the rate of allergen absorption.

Take care and regards.