Alcohol- Even 1 Drink Wipes Me Out 8 Hours Later

[spinner]

Obviously, alcohol is a depressant and a powerful interactant with any meds so should be used with extreme caution. But I occasionally have a drink (not beer) not to socialize, but to relax from stress or

to actually (strangely) motivate myself when im feeling listless. Maybe twice a month.

I guess im going to completely give it up because its like clockwork now. 8 hours later i crash,

start having some shortness of breath. It seems its depressing my various nervous systems.

ANyone else? Or anyone who's found a small amount helps in any way? I know wine has

medicinal properties but I despise the taste of it, and it's sucking the energy right out of me.

[Hope]

I've always been a light weight when it comes to alcohol, but I can't even tolerate a little wine anymore.

[Katybug]

One of the first things that alerted me that something was wrong and it wasn't anxiety was my sudden intolerance to alcohol. I went to happy hour each Friday and would have maybe 3-4 drinks between 5:30 - 12 pm. We would order food while there. Then, all of a sudden half to one drink was making me violently I'll within minutes of drinking it (wine, beer, mixed drinks....it didn't matter.). I would not be drunk but would have sudden onset projectile vomiting, joint pain, flu like symptoms, sweats, chills, weakness, dizziness. The final straw was when my friends found me on the floor of the ladies room (eeewwww, gross) after I drank one drink over the course of an hour. I couldn't stand on my own because my knees kept buckling. They thought someone tried to drug me but I never put my drink down so I knew that wasn't a possibility. One of the guys carried me to my friends car and they drove me home, walked my dog for me, and put me in bed. I was sick with the flu like symptoms for a week. That was the last time I drank alcohol (6 1/2 yrs ago.). It was too scary to keep experimenting with whether I could get away with a little at dinner. It just isn't worth feeling that bad plus whatever it was doing to my body had to harmful. I am now diagnosed with mcas, so I am thinking that it may have been triggering significant mast cell degranulations.

[sue1234]

To tell you the truth, whenever I drank a few beers in college(maybe 4 at most), I would have the worst hangover. That was 30 years ago. Just in the last few years did I begin noticing other people can handle that amount and still act normalish and when I asked them how they felt the next day, they said fine. I just assumed everyone was sick as a dog like me. When I say hangover, I mean feeling weak, lightheaded and hanging my head over the toilet vomiting.

Anyway, I adjusted in my 20s and 30s and only drank maybe one beer at a time. I never could tolerate mixed drinks--a guaranteed worse hangover. I quit drinking all together about 15 years ago because I was beginning to have some kind of unknown health issues that led me to just not feel up to par(all prePOTS).

I have since learned I have had low blood sugar for about 20-25 years without realizing it until 5 years ago. I know that alcohol is really bad for people who get low blood sugar, as it does something in the liver that makes hypoglycemia easier to happen. I must have been having really low blood sugar episodes the following mornings during my "hangovers". So, that probably explains my whole life alcohol intolerance in a nutshell.

[Agreeky]

I used to be social drinker in highschool and in college. Never bothered me. When I got sick though it all changed. If I drink now I cannot breathe!! It is like suffocation. I only drink like once a month now. Probably better off?

[Terrier]

I haven't been diagnosed with POTS or anything beyond anxiety thus far but this has been something I've struggled with over the years so I thought I'd chime in.

I used to be able to drink a lot (I'm in the UK and we have a strong tendency towards doing this!) I had a pretty high tolerance while drinking and didn't really suffer much the next day either. I'm not sure I ever really had a proper hangover the way other people describe them, no headaches or extreme fuzziness or anything like that.

Then a couple of years into having health problems I suddenly found that while the actual drinking part wasn't much different I seemed to be having trouble afterwards, still not what I would understand as a hangover but if I drunk a fair bit it would really flatten me for a couple of days. It actually felt more like a drug 'comedown' than anything else. Over time it got to the point where if I drunk a decent amount I could still feel the effects of it even a week later, almost as if I just couldn't get it out of my system properly or something. I'd really feel like the living dead (moreso than usual!) and could easily spend hours sunk into the sofa just staring at the wall or whatever. Pure, horrible flatness.

Needless to say I don't drink anymore!

[bebe127]

I must be one of the few that can tolerate alcohol. Honestly, have 1, 2, and sometimes 3 beers and I have no idea why, but I actually feel relatively normal. This is really the only time I feel like my old self. I can only tolerate beer though, weird. I used to drink wine and mixed drinks (rarely beer), but now if I do, I don't feel well at all. Sooo, beer is my newish self-medication. Disclaimer: I would never suggest that drinking alcoholic bevs is the way to go. Everyone is different and reacts differently. My husband and I have questioned why the beer seems to make me fell half-way normal, even asked the dr. and never have found out why. We've tried to justify it by saying that maybe it's the carbs or something. All I know is...it makes me feel better, more like my old, fun loving self.

[Zap]

I must be one of the few that can tolerate alcohol. Honestly, have 1, 2, and sometimes 3 beers and I have no idea why, but I actually feel relatively normal.

-=-=-=-

All I know is...it makes me feel better, more like my old, fun loving self.

Okay - well you're not the only one - I noticed this phenomenon with myself as well. For some reason, it generally improves rather than degrades my symptoms as a whole.

My theories on this would be immunosuppression, reduction in inflammation (even if only temporary), nutritional content (beers can be high in B vitamins due to the yeast), SNS depressant effects, and/or donation of methyl groups for neurotransmitter production. I've never been able to pinpoint exactly why alcohol helps.

[brethor9]

I have the same issues as Katybug.... cannot even tolerate a little without feeling horribly ill....I was never much of a drinker but once I started getting sicker the reactions just got worse in my case I also believe it is because of my mast cell illness and the fact it dehydrates me even further......

Bren

[sue1234]

"My theories on this would be immunosuppression, reduction in inflammation (even if only temporary), nutritional content (beers can be high in B vitamins due to the yeast), SNS depressant effects, and/or donation of methyl groups for neurotransmitter production. "

Beautiful reason!! I can see those who benefit..."it's time for me to donate a methyl group or two"!

[Anoj]

Can't do it. In fact, my POTS came on after a night of drinking. 3 beers, then I couldn't walk anymore.

[Psalm 23]

I have zero tolerance for alcohol. Even a small amount makes me deathly ill. Up until about 8 years ago I would enjoy an occasional beer or glass of wine without any ill effect then almost overnight everything changed but then life as I knew it also changed.

Janet

[pink1975]

I also feel better after a few drinks. I can actually do stuff like clean my house, lol. My thought was that it works that way for me because it is a nervous system depressant. I can tolerate only about 3-4 drinks however and then I get wicked crazy facial flushing that almost looks like welts that have very defined edges, not just red cheeks. No matter how many drinks I have, I am much more POTSy the next day, weak, shaky and lightheaded, regardless of whether I actually have a hangover (which I almost never get, even before POTS).

[spinner]

yep, sudden onset here too. Carted off in an ambulance while out walking the dog. PVC's.

Most likely made worse by extreme food allergies and a drink. Severe milk allergy. Have never

been the same since that night. Cannot exert and cannot function in temperatures above 75 fr

I have zero tolerance for alcohol. Even a small amount makes me deathly ill. Up until about 8 years ago I would enjoy an occasional beer or glass of wine without any ill effect then almost overnight everything changed but then life as I knew it also changed.

Janet

[spinner]

For those it helps temporarily, wonder if its an excitotoxin inhibitor on a short term.

In other words, slows the neuron firing for a bit--as dr. cheney described with FM

research.

[Kooky]

When I was younger, like most people in their teens and early twenties, I'd go out and drink copious amounts of alcohol (particularly for my build) at the weekends with my friends/family and suffer no more than a mild headache the next day.

One night after an evening out drinking with friends as I'd always done before everything was fine until the early hours of the morning. I woke up feeling scared, really really unwell and my heart was racing. I thought it was just one of those things, but nope. It continued to happen so I began drinking less and less and now just have one, maybe two once in a blue moon.

I seem to be able to tolerate one or two drinks tops with no ill effect but more than that and I am asking for trouble. I also find that I have to stick with cider, lager or bitter. I've never liked wine so I've no idea the effect that has on me, but I do know spirits are a definite no go. An hour after drinking spirits I feel awful and my heart races. I really miss an occasional rum and coke but I'd rather miss it than put myself through a period of feeling like death warmed up.

[bellgirl]

One glass of wine with spaghetti, cheese or mushroom ravioli is all I can tolerate You'd think I was Italian, but I'm Scot/Irish...lol. I'm on too many meds to drink anymore anyway. Can you tell I'm getting my appetite back!! My nausea and dizziness are almost gone. I've never been much on the hard stuff, anyway...although my brother makes the best margaritas in the world and he's a wonderful cook, too!!

[Psalm 23]

Hi Spinner,

I'm sorry but I realized I did not express myself very clearly. What I actually meant to say was that 2005 did mark the end of life as I knew it but many years of illnesses and accumulating symptoms preceded that final life changing crash.

Janet

[Darlene]

just a little makes me feel horribly ill too, and makes me heart be really fast.