Red wine

[JanCosgrove]

For over three years I've had what I thought were anxiety attacks - adrenalin rush, shaking, raised pulse, sweats, feeling difficulty breathing etc etc.  But I began to suspect it might be red wine related, so left off drinking that for over a year - no recurrence.   Recently staying at friends in France, I had a meal which had red wine in it, put in at the end so not cooked - symptoms returned.   Any ideas?   I felt violently ill.   Can drink white and rose OK.   No other allergies etc.

[FurballsMom]

I knew I was allergic to the sulpher compounds in wine, because if cooking with it evaporates the alcohol, which I have reason to believe I am sensitve to as well, since drinking any kind of alcholic beverage will make me very sick, then I knew the most likely culprit was the sulfites.

My skin didn't react to many things with the skin scratch tests that I know very well that I'm sensitive to.  The allergist said that this wasn't all that uncommon.

It is easy for me to surmise that it is the sulfites, because it was the inexpensive wines I had been cooking with.  I have no doubt, since white wine and red wine affected me exactly the same way.  Kindd explained that they have more sulfites than other wines, which I actually knew, so I knew what was making me feel like I had the flu.  Avoiding anything with wine in it definitely does the trick.  I never did care for beer, but it would be the same thing, plus the gluten for me, so beer never entered into the picture.  Never did like that stuff.

So, now, naturally, you'll need to be sure to inquire at restaurants if the foods you're interested in are cooked with any spirits in them.

When you look into the allergy tests, you may want to consider having the doctor test anything that might have a cross reaction to similar compounds that would be in wines.  The grapes themselves actually already have natural sulfites in them, even when they're fresh and not fermented.  And, there are other foods that are sulpher foods that you'll want to check.  But, clearly, you are reacting the wine itself, which leads me to believe that kindd is right on target about sulfites.

[JanCosgrove]

Thanks.  Very helpful.  Saw my GP yesterday who said he couldn't organise a test - so I will have a look at where I can get it done privately in the UK, near here.   If you know of anyone who can do this in Sussex, please let me know.   He also said avoid red wine and seemed reasonably convinced that it is somehow the cause.  But hew did seem non-plussed by the whole thing.

Over the last few days the diminishing "aftershocks" have continued. That is, starting with the big attack as described reducing to today, this afternoon, to merely feeling hyper-tense.  It would be helpful to have some idea of what to do if somehow I accidently ingested red wine again - is there anything I could carry and take?   Thanks.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

It is usually not the alcohol that produces the allergic reaction to the wine or beer. The other ingredients in the alcohol, such as yeast, sulfur dioxide, and additives are often the culprits. All wines contain sulfites, because yeast naturally produces sulfite compounds during the fermentation process, and without sulfites, wine would spoil and oxidize. Inexpensive wines generally have higher sulfur content than expensive wines. There are no wines that are entirely sulfite-free, even those labeled "organic".

You may be allergic to the constituents of red wine like sulfites.In my opinion,you should consult an allergist and get allergy testing done for the different constituents of red wine.
Diagnosis of allergy can be done by skin ***** tests and patch tests. In this a little amount of allergen is injected into the skin of the forearm by a doctor. The skin is closely watched for signs of a reaction, which include swelling and redness. Confirmatory diagnosis is by blood tests (RAST).Then avoidance of that allergen is the best treatment.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing or if you have any additional queries.