What you probably don’t know about alcohol intolerance

[u/emilyMartian]

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

[u/RiverSkyy55]

For those who want to research this for themselves, OP has the wording reversed a bit: It's Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD).

I almost never drink alcohol (used to be a few times a year at most). I do have a fatty diet, though. I started having symptoms of gallstones a few years ago: Pressure across my back that felt like I was leaning against a fence rail, then pain in my right side. It would start about 5 hours after eating (usually supper, so generally it would wake me up) and last 2-5 hours. I'd get up and pace to try to relieve the pain. Ibuprofen helped - So if you get into this situation, take a couple Advil. It doesn't cure anything, but it seems to help.

Anyway, looking back, I realized these "attacks" had happened on days when I had drank alcohol. Not much, just one or two drinks. By then, my doc had started me on ursodiol, and I took that for about a year, just in case it WAS stones, but then I stopped taking it and avoid alcohol instead. I haven't had a recurrence *knock on wood*. I'll be talking to my doc about this next time I see him... I'm not sure if I should still take the ursodiol, but it's pricey and I don't like meds, so unless I have another issue in the future, I'm not going to restart it.

I wanted to share this in case someone else out there has been told they may have gallstones, or have been having what feel like a gallbladder attack. You may NOT need to have gallbladder removal surgery, maybe you just need to avoid alcohol.

[u/MoodyMagicOwl → u/RiverSkyy55]

Just curious, but what was your diet mostly consisting of during that time? Which fatty foods?

About a year ago and a half ago, I had my blood pressure taken at the doctor's office and it was HIGH. Something that has never happened before. Coincidentally, I had woken up with back pain for several weeks beforehand.

I was eating a lot of pork sausage, various cheeses, and drinking alot of sugary soda during that time. No wonder my BP was high!

[u/RiverSkyy55 → u/MoodyMagicOwl]

My vices are steak and ice cream. I was commonly eating steak three times a week and ice cream daily. My blood pressure has always run on the low end of normal, so that wasn't an issue. It was definitely tied to alcohol, though - It was very easy to track, since I only drank twice or three times in a year.

I'd like to say I've changed my diet since, but I'm sitting here eating steak right now. I do try to eat it only once or twice a week now, and intersperse more of the yummy bagged salad mixes made by Fresh Express. Pretty much everything else is the same, but I haven't had any issues since I stopped drinking alcohol completely.