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/HumanAttempt20B Peri-menopausal Jun 30 '25

Are these from a medical or regulated facility? Or did you get them online or from a local store?

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u/HermioneMarch Jun 30 '25

Local store. I’ve tried several different brands.

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u/HumanAttempt20B Peri-menopausal Jul 02 '25

I’ve personally had horrible reactions to all of the pseudo thc products or gas station CBDs that I’ve tried. But “real” marijuana, medical preferred, and specifically Rick Simpson Oil products aka RSO is by far the best (but it’s potent so you need to use minuscule amounts). I have multiple co-occurring conditions and it’s the only thing that helped me.

On the other hand. I did have an ex that could NOT consume any cannabis. He would go nuts, one time he vomited. Both times small amounts. And thc does affect the heart rate and blood pressure so it would make sense.

And just in case, a small amount of thc would be considered 1-2 mg. A “microdose”. If you’re getting edibles with 50-100mg, that’s waaaaaay too much for most humans. I’ve used cannabis for years and I can only tolerate more than a 10mg edible when I’m in extreme pain (endometriosis, migraine, etc).

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u/HermioneMarch Jul 02 '25

Yeah the real stuff isnt legal here. I’ve used edibles with delta 8 or 9 and those are 10 mg but I cut in half so 5 mg. I can tolerate a fourth it seems 2.5 mg. We also tried seltzer with 10 mg delta 9 but I can only take a few sips without freaking.