Alcohol Allergy Symptoms
Information On Alcohol Allergy Symptoms
Alcohol Allergy Symptoms can refer to more than one type of allergy. Did you know that some people are actually allergic to alcohol? They aren’t allergic in the sense that they get hungover or drink too much – not how AA uses this term. Some people are allergic to some of the ingredients in alcohol and get sick just from having a few sips.
Being allergic to alcohol doesn’t necessarily mean you have an allergy to alcohol itself, but some of the key ingredients in alcohol. One of the most common alcohol allergies occurs when people are allergic to gluten and wheat. Gluten and wheat are both found in beer, and someone who is allergic to gluten or wheat will be unable to drink beer without having alcohol allergy symptoms.
Some of these symptoms might include the following:
- nausea
- stomach pains
- head pains
- rashes, irritated or itchy skin
- the inability to breathe clearly through the nose (stuffy nose)
Most of these symptoms are very similar to food allergies. If you’re allergic to wheat or gluten and you have a beer made from one of these ingredients, you will experience many of these symptoms very soon after drinking the beer. The person does not have to consume large amounts of alcohol to feel these symptoms. Again, having an alcohol allergy doesn’t mean drinking too much and then feeling sick and hungover in the morning.
Avoiding Alcohol Allergy Symptoms: Gluten-Free Beer?
Many beer companies are now making wheat and gluten-free beer so they can expand their audience. People who couldn’t have had beer 10 years ago because of an alcohol allergy can now buy and consume some beers safely without worrying about alcohol allergies. Wine, wine coolers, and some liqueurs are gluten-free. If you have an allergy to alcohol, be sure to check the ingredients of anything you are about to drink to make sure you aren’t allergic to one of the ingredients in it.
Some people have an allergy to histamines, which are found in large amounts in red wine and found in most other alcoholic beverages. The only way to make sure you don’t have an allergic reaction is to abstain from alcoholic beverages. Some people will take anti-histamines to counteract this so they can safely drink alcohol, but this is not advisable. It may help a little bit, but if you have an allergy to histamine, the only way to truly avoid these alcohol allergy symptoms is to avoid alcoholic beverages.
Additionally, some people simply lack the enzymes to break down alcohol properly, causing allergy-like symptoms. They basically can’t metabolize it properly. If this is the case, your best bet to avoid any of these alcohol allergy symptoms is to not drink alcoholic beverages.
In Alcoholics Anonymous and The Recovery World, Being Allergic to Alcohol Can Mean Something Different
When using this term in AA or in terms of recovery, people often say that alcoholics have an allergy to alcohol in the sense that they have a different reaction when drinking than do most people. They may not get hives or break out into a rash when they drink, but an alcoholic is allergic in the sense that once even one drop of alcohol enters their system, they have an adverse reaction.
It may not happen right away, but most alcoholics believe that once that first sip of alcohol is in their body, they then cannot control their drinking. Once they are finished drinking, they experience cravings, whereas non-alcoholics typically do not. This is the alcohol allergy that people talk about in Alcoholics Anonymous.