Aa
sudden onset alcohol intolerance
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.
Thanks masterblogger
In my case I'm almost certain it's not a histamine intolerance. I don't suffer from any such symptoms when I drink alcohol.
It seems strange, but the best way to describe my reaction is as though I've taken amphetamines and subsequently I feel 'wired' all night - I simply can't sleep, my mind races at a million miles an hour, my heart rate goes up, etc.
I understand this could be partly stress related, however alcohol is the trigger or catalyst if you like. Even if I'm a bit stressed (usually from work), I'll sleep fine unless I've had even a small amount of alcohol.
This reaction may not be common but I have heard of others with the same condition.
Cheers
In my case I'm almost certain it's not a histamine intolerance. I don't suffer from any such symptoms when I drink alcohol.
It seems strange, but the best way to describe my reaction is as though I've taken amphetamines and subsequently I feel 'wired' all night - I simply can't sleep, my mind races at a million miles an hour, my heart rate goes up, etc.
I understand this could be partly stress related, however alcohol is the trigger or catalyst if you like. Even if I'm a bit stressed (usually from work), I'll sleep fine unless I've had even a small amount of alcohol.
This reaction may not be common but I have heard of others with the same condition.
Cheers
In my opinion it could be a histamine intolerance.
Alcohol contains a lot of histamine and your body can react with sneezing watered eyes, burning throat etc.
That's what I noticed. But it's possible to make a diagnosis via blood test.
I got my expierence having a histamine intolerance but since 4 month I'm using a dietary supplement (Daosin). It controls my histamine level in my body and avoids basicly the allergic reaction.
take care
Alcohol contains a lot of histamine and your body can react with sneezing watered eyes, burning throat etc.
That's what I noticed. But it's possible to make a diagnosis via blood test.
I got my expierence having a histamine intolerance but since 4 month I'm using a dietary supplement (Daosin). It controls my histamine level in my body and avoids basicly the allergic reaction.
take care
Interesting to read all these posts and to know we are not alone.
I’m a 49 year old male and have grown very intolerant to alcohol over the last 10 to 15 years. I drank a lot when I was in my 20s and 30s, just for fun, but my friends and I used to push the limits a lot. I was a champion binge and party drinker, as well as being an average social drinker.
In my thirties my hangovers just stared getting worse and worse. I mostly put it down to the fact that I was getting older. I lived in denial that there was a real problem for years and kept drinking, albeit gradually less and less.
My sensitivity to alcohol has developed nowadays that I rarely drink at all – it’s just not worth it. Even having one beer can give me a headache, but the worst symptoms for me are when I try to go to sleep. Basically I feel ‘wired’ all night and cannot sleep at all, so of course I end up feeling like crap in the morning.
My intuition has always told me that I simply drank too much when I was younger, and it’s as though I have reached saturation point for the rest of my life – which means every drop of alcohol now is like poison to my system. That’s the best way to describe my situation. It sounds like there are all sorts of reasons why people have an intolerance to alcohol, however for me I may have found the cause (but not necessarily the solution) ...
By chance I discovered that a friend of a friend had a similar issue with alcohol to me, which she had been “nursing” for at least 20 years. She was diagnosed by a doctor with “General Adaptation Syndrome”, which basically is your body’s way of reacting to years of prolonged stress, which in our case is from drinking alcohol.
Maybe we had a slight genetic intolerance to alcohol right from the beginning, but it was so mild as to be unrecognisable, and it was easy to just ignore it and push on. But after years of pushing and stressing your bodies various systems, your body eventually and finally reacts as though it is being poisoned.
There appears to be very little on the internet about this syndrome, and most of what you read will seem way ‘off the mark’ – the closest matches I have found which relates this syndrome (actually Stage 5) to a slowly progressive adverse reaction to alcohol are here:
http://www.ion.ac.uk/information/onarchives/wonderfulworld
and
http://monstersupplements.com/resource/2012/05/general-adaptation-syndrome-getting-to-know-your-body/
So where to from here? That’s about as much as I know at this stage but I will keep researching. There are definitely good and bad sides to this whole affair. I am super healthy and keep fit, and not drinking only adds to my daily wellbeing. And I will no doubt save thousands of dollars over the coming years that I would have otherwise pissed down the drain.
The down side is that it is still a challenge socially. It’s amazing how ubiquitous drinking is in our society, so it’s not uncommon having to face the same old challenge of avoiding drinking and avoiding trying to explain why (most of the time I just couldn’t be bothered).
I would be interested to hear if anyone else has come across a similar diagnosis, particularly by a medical professional. I suspect most doctors are completely unfamiliar with General Adaptation Syndrome as it applies to the slow development of alcohol hypersensitivity.
Good luck, and enjoy life. Being a non-drinker (or at least a very restricted social drinker) is not such a bad thing ...!
I’m a 49 year old male and have grown very intolerant to alcohol over the last 10 to 15 years. I drank a lot when I was in my 20s and 30s, just for fun, but my friends and I used to push the limits a lot. I was a champion binge and party drinker, as well as being an average social drinker.
In my thirties my hangovers just stared getting worse and worse. I mostly put it down to the fact that I was getting older. I lived in denial that there was a real problem for years and kept drinking, albeit gradually less and less.
My sensitivity to alcohol has developed nowadays that I rarely drink at all – it’s just not worth it. Even having one beer can give me a headache, but the worst symptoms for me are when I try to go to sleep. Basically I feel ‘wired’ all night and cannot sleep at all, so of course I end up feeling like crap in the morning.
My intuition has always told me that I simply drank too much when I was younger, and it’s as though I have reached saturation point for the rest of my life – which means every drop of alcohol now is like poison to my system. That’s the best way to describe my situation. It sounds like there are all sorts of reasons why people have an intolerance to alcohol, however for me I may have found the cause (but not necessarily the solution) ...
By chance I discovered that a friend of a friend had a similar issue with alcohol to me, which she had been “nursing” for at least 20 years. She was diagnosed by a doctor with “General Adaptation Syndrome”, which basically is your body’s way of reacting to years of prolonged stress, which in our case is from drinking alcohol.
Maybe we had a slight genetic intolerance to alcohol right from the beginning, but it was so mild as to be unrecognisable, and it was easy to just ignore it and push on. But after years of pushing and stressing your bodies various systems, your body eventually and finally reacts as though it is being poisoned.
There appears to be very little on the internet about this syndrome, and most of what you read will seem way ‘off the mark’ – the closest matches I have found which relates this syndrome (actually Stage 5) to a slowly progressive adverse reaction to alcohol are here:
http://www.ion.ac.uk/information/onarchives/wonderfulworld
and
http://monstersupplements.com/resource/2012/05/general-adaptation-syndrome-getting-to-know-your-body/
So where to from here? That’s about as much as I know at this stage but I will keep researching. There are definitely good and bad sides to this whole affair. I am super healthy and keep fit, and not drinking only adds to my daily wellbeing. And I will no doubt save thousands of dollars over the coming years that I would have otherwise pissed down the drain.
The down side is that it is still a challenge socially. It’s amazing how ubiquitous drinking is in our society, so it’s not uncommon having to face the same old challenge of avoiding drinking and avoiding trying to explain why (most of the time I just couldn’t be bothered).
I would be interested to hear if anyone else has come across a similar diagnosis, particularly by a medical professional. I suspect most doctors are completely unfamiliar with General Adaptation Syndrome as it applies to the slow development of alcohol hypersensitivity.
Good luck, and enjoy life. Being a non-drinker (or at least a very restricted social drinker) is not such a bad thing ...!
I'm a 21yo Male, thin- about 140lbs. I have always been able to drink substantially. About a year ago there was one party where I drank a ton of Kalua. My stomach has never been the same since. I threw up that night violently about an hour after drinking the Kalua. I can't drink anything heavy like that anymore (ex. Bailey's) without having to throw up 30min to 2 hours later. I stopped drinking mostly for several months and my stomach improved a lot. Now I can drink more, but every once in a while after drinking I wake up in the middle of the night feeling terrible. I throw up and immediately feel all better. Last night I threw up at 4:30am and there was my completely undigested dinner from 7pm the night before. I had been drunk for a whole night and it wasn't until almost 10 hours later that my stomach realized it needed to eject? I really wish anyone had definitive answers to this kind of thing, but it looks like no one does :(.
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.
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