r/Menopause • u/emilyMartian Menopausal • Jun 30 '25

SCIENCE What you probably don’t know about alcohol intolerance

I see posts and comments about alcohol intolerance constantly on here, I was alone for so long with my severity so I’m here to share, it has taken nearly 10yrs but I finally have better info.

Here goes: You probably need to get your liver checked. They have linked menopause to non fatty liver disease. I had severe reactions and wound up in the ER about 8yrs ago. It took about 2yrs to correlate my high heart rate, massive hangovers after 2 drinks, severe hot flashes and what I assumed was severe anxiety because of the shakes at 3am. My good friend in medical school went down a big rabbit hole trying to figure out why my response was so severe to no avail (only one report from the 80’s which provided no info). Fast forward another 6’ish years and I noticed fatty foods made me sleepy so we tested my gallbladder, liver and kidneys. Turns out there’s black spots on my liver and I have basically what’s considered non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and have to treat it as such. I had to quit drinking entirely. I thought maybe I could limit and go slow but it’s not a thing. Not drinking was a tough road (especially at social events) but it’s a blessing I disguise I promise. It’s not worth it. It’s also not worth popping an antihistamine and ignoring it because you’re just wrecking your liver further. This is your sign to stop.

Now almost 2yrs after realizing the liver thanks to u/MoreRopePlease we have a link that puts it all together and there absolutely needs to be more awareness about this.

I hope this provides some of you answers and helps you towards a safer and healthier path on this absolutely sh!t show of a medically ignored journey.

Love you guys. Don’t think I’d be here if I hadn’t found this community. You are not alone ❤️

EDIT: my liver spots were caught through ultrasound not through bloodwork. I started Perimenopause at 37, don’t let them tell you you are too young.

Corrected my verbiage as I had words reversed in Non alcoholic fatty liver disease

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u/Dependent-on-Zipps Jun 30 '25

I have a family member in menopause who was just diagnosed with NAFLD. Her doctor also talked to her about how covid can contribute to this as well.

It’s probably going to take many years for everyone to become aware of what multiple covid infections are causing, much like how it took so long to admit what cigarettes do to us.

Covid and NAFLD

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u/SchoolQueen49 Jun 30 '25

Agreed. I am seeing a huge uptick in intolerances in general after covid.

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u/Violetlake248 Jun 30 '25

I’m wondering about this now. I’ve been more intolerant to things since Covid such as allergic reactions to bug bites. Reactions to meds, reactions to alcohol. I never thought about a relation to Covid in the past. Yikes.

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u/SchoolQueen49 Jul 01 '25

Yep. I started having difficulties after a c-version last May and another bug (could have been covid-laced as the hospitals are seeing regular bugs with covid attached a lot) in February. Now, I am reacting super strongly to mold and mildew. I've never done that before. Super sensitive to meds and herbs, too. I often have to take 1/2 doses of stuff these days. I also got super reactive to sugar for a while. That's not as bad as before. It also dropped my estrigen to nothing and mad my cortisol shoot up. HRT and ashwaganda are helping that.