(no subject)
Apr. 9th, 2010 09:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
askygoneonfireSo something weird has happened to me. I've developed a violent and extremely unpleasant intolerance for alcohol. A week ago on Monday I had 4 glasses of wine at the pub. Then I threw up. Then I went home and threw up twice more. The next morning I was still ill, called in sick to work feeling guilty about taking a day off for a hangover for the first time ever. Then I threw up some more. The next day I still felt terrible, agonising stomach cramps and constant feeling of nausea. I concluded it hadn't been a hangover but I just had a virus. On Sunday I was feeling better so had a rum and coke and immediately felt really ill. Concluding I just wasn't as well as I thought I shrugged it off. A pint of beer on Tuesday after lunch made me feel queasy. 2 glasses of wine in a restaurant with dinner last night left me dry heaving and clutching my stomach. Today I've felt sick all day
So I googled 'sudden intolerance to alcohol' and there are pages and pages of people all telling the same story; they were heavy drinkers and after a moderate night's drinking they were violently ill for several days, feeling as though they'd been poisoned and then every time they tried to drink after even a tiny bit of alcohol made them ill.
And everyone who asks their doctor about it gets the same response: "no idea what has caused the sudden intolerance but stop drinking". The common factor seems to be everyone was a heavy drinker, I wonder if it's a form of liver damage?
The thing that worries me most is how I'll manage to socialise if I can't drink, it's been my crutch for years. That, and cold beer on the beach on a hot day. Or glass of red in front of a movie at home. Or champagne on Christmas morning.
So I googled 'sudden intolerance to alcohol' and there are pages and pages of people all telling the same story; they were heavy drinkers and after a moderate night's drinking they were violently ill for several days, feeling as though they'd been poisoned and then every time they tried to drink after even a tiny bit of alcohol made them ill.
And everyone who asks their doctor about it gets the same response: "no idea what has caused the sudden intolerance but stop drinking". The common factor seems to be everyone was a heavy drinker, I wonder if it's a form of liver damage?
The thing that worries me most is how I'll manage to socialise if I can't drink, it's been my crutch for years. That, and cold beer on the beach on a hot day. Or glass of red in front of a movie at home. Or champagne on Christmas morning.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-09 09:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 04:15 am (UTC)Two groups of people have systems which break down alcohol less efficiently than that of "normal" people: alcoholics and people completely intolerant of alcohol. In both groups, drinking alcohol results in more acetaldehyde in the system longer. In alcoholics, the body produces a masking chemical which reduces the agony of the acetaldehyde. In those totally intolerant of alcohol, the body doesn't, so even a small quantity of alcohol makes them extremely ill.
So what's happened is your body is either no longer producing the masking chemical (which is very similar to endorphins, and is why drinking is fun for alcoholics) or your body is failing to break down the acetaldehyde.
The drug antabuse "works" by preventing the body from breaking down acetaldehyde, so that any alcohol consumption causes almost instant barfing.
This is a serious change in your body and it should not be dismissed as "oh hey just don't drink any more." You could have an infection, such as a liver infection, that requires treatment. At the very least, an ultrasound should be done to see if your liver is enlarged. If it is enlarged, you will need a liver biopsy, which is less horrific than it sounds, thanks to modern medicine.
P.S. I learned all this the hard way.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 06:19 pm (UTC)