I think I might have developed an allergy to alcohol

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Serve_the_servants
Serve_the_servants Posts: 10 Member
edited May 2015 in Food and Nutrition
I gave up drinking almost 4 months because I was feeling very run down a lot of the time. Basically I'm intermittently feeling quite ill (tense, regular hungover feeling, run down), running makes me feel better. In the last couple of months I have felt particularly ill after going out eating. I think it may be from alcohol cooked in the food. I also drank a lot of coke and that has trace amounts of alcohol. This morning I was feeling ok, then I had a sandwich and bottle of coke and started feeling extremely ill. Really tense and had to leave work early. I had a dominos pizza and another bottle of coke for dinner and ended up feeling worse, I went to bed and slept for a bit and feel a bit better now. I'm thinking the common denominator is the coke. Some of my symptoms also seem similar to hypoglycemia. I guess I really need to go see a doctor. I can't go until next week (unless I go to hospital and I don't think that's required). So what food and drink can I have that is completely free of alcohol? I'm going to stop eating fruit too as that has alcohol sugar. The other thing I am wondering is if I have sodium issues, I do normally put a lot of salt on my food. I have been reading up on monosodium glutamate as well and that seems to cause similar symptoms to what I am experiencing. As you can see I am a bit all over the place at the moment!

PS - Friday + Saturday I go off diet and eat and drink whatever I want. During the week I just drink water and eat healthily (apart from adding a lot of salt, which I have now completely stopped).

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  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,535 Member
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    Is it Caffeine + sugar in the coke? Some people are sensitive to that combination. But then, do you consume that on the weekends? Cut out all your cola & see if you feel better, that's what I'd do.
  • Serve_the_servants
    Serve_the_servants Posts: 10 Member
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    allaboutthecake wrote: »
    Is it Caffeine + sugar in the coke? Some people are sensitive to that combination. But then, do you consume that on the weekends? Cut out all your cola & see if you feel better, that's what I'd do.
    Yes it is, and yeah I'm going to do that.

    I'm left thinking what can I eat tomorrow though? I can just drink water, presumably the odd cup of tea with a small amount of sugar will be ok.

    I would normally eat a takeaway tomorrow but I'm scared to eat anything that I don't know the contents of. I'm scared to eat fruit, I also like having ben and jerry's ice cream at the weekend for a treat but it seems that has traces of alcohol in it too.

  • ManiacalLaugh
    ManiacalLaugh Posts: 1,048 Member
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    You need to see someone who specializes in food allergies. Food allergies can be dangerous and if you're misdiagnosing yourself, you could end up in pain if you eat the wrong thing. Honestly, pop shouldn't have enough alcohol to set you off like that. If it does, then just about everything processed is going to give you problem.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
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    You might take a look at a histamine intolerance. Alcohol causes the body to release histamines (it's why people get the flushed cheeks from it). Some people don't seem to be able to break down the normal histamine amounts in their body, though, so when it builds up, it can leave you feeling generally terrible.

    Histamine also can affect mood (irritation and anxiety are typical reactions), it causes allergy symptoms (including those that just go with hay fever, so feeling fatigues, run down, achy, all sorts of fun stuff).

    This condition is more recognized in the UK than in the USA. It gives allergy -like symptoms even if it's not an allergy itself, but again, most allergist in the USA don't study it much.

    this gal has the condition, a very serious case of it (she was REALLY not breaking down histamine, so it was heading toward anaphylaxis, as opposed to just a milder case of not breaking it down somewhat), and is also has a lot of research (with citations) on the condition and related issues. Might be worth reading, at least. Her blog posts would be of most use.

    http://lowhistaminechef.com

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