Adverse reaction to seafood and alcohol

I can eat seafood such as shrimp or tuna and have no reaction. I can drink alcohol such as beer or white wine and have no reaction. However, whenever I consume seafood and alcohol together, I become very ill within an hour or two. Symptoms include intense diarrhoea, vomiting and severe nausea and headache which lasts for about 8-12 hours.

Hi,

I as well have no luck when combining shellfish and alcohol at the same time. Within 6-8 hours I show signs of food poisoning but I can consume either item separate from the other and have no reaction. I get sick and vomet, and have an intense migrane untill the food is gone. Hope this helps let you know you aren't alone, I felt better after reading your post.

Gordon


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I have blacked out on two separate occasions after consumption of seafood with a very very small amount of alcohol, not even the equivalent of 1/4 of a beer. In the first occasion, I suspected it was just food poisoning. However, after the same exact symptoms occurred the second time, it was confirmed that is what it was. Today, I just had wine sauce with oyster and alligator... now... I started to feel weird but fortunately it was a tiny amount of alcohol used in the sauce.

I had the same reactions when consuming seafood and alcohol. I figured out it was the combo not just food poisoning on the 4th time round of vomiting, spun out, dizzy, sick. At the time I had to take a antihistamine to stop the vomiting and reaction. However, taking an antihistamine with alcohol is very dangerous as well. You pass out which is better than vomiting for hours and not sleeping but could cause other complications Now I never mix the two.

Thank You for showing me that I am not alone. I thought I was going nuts as there does not seem to be any scientific evidence available to support alcohol/seafood interactions. Whenever I combine the two I get very sick within 1 - 2 hours. The seafood seems to radically intensify the effects of the alcohol. 2-3 drinks feels more like 10. I vomit all night and feel sick for 24 hours with a major headache and fatigue. No more combining seafood and acohol for me.

I also have experienced the same, to the point of waking up in my bathtub with vomit all over my favorite dress. I found out later that seafood such as shrimp and other shellfish mixed with hard liquors will create a poison in your body, causing adverse reactions. I found that it only happens when eating shellfish type seafoods. Eating other types of fish doesn't seem to have the same reaction, nor does eating fish and waiting four or more hours before drinking. Then again, I have to point out that I drank everything from cheap whiskey to vodka and tequila, only one hour after eating a huge plate of fried shrimp, flounder and hushpuppies. So you could say I was really asking for it!

My experience has been similar, but only in one particular, excellent restaurant when I eat shellfish and drink white wine. This happens at my favorite restaurant and has happened 2 or 3 times. I cannot go back, because I am so afraid of getting sick. I have never experience such persistent and intense nausea in my life !

I just don't understand why it only happens at this restaurant.

This has happened to me twice. The first time I thought it was food poisoning. I was vomiting the entire night, I couldn't even sleep because I would vomit on myself. It was horrible!! I had mixed shrimp and only one margarita. The second time I was on vacations and I had lobster for dinner and 1 hour later I had a mojito and the reaction came immediately. I don't get headaches, but the second time I did have diarrhea. And it really suck to have diarrhea and vomit at the same time!! The weird thing is that it doesn't happen all the time, for example this weekend I had shrimp and a couple of drinks and nothing happened. ??? In my case, both times people around me try to give me medicine, but I would vomit it each time. So now I know that nothing works for me. Has any type of medicine worked for anyone??? Oh God only we know how we feel when that happens!!!

Within the hour of ingesting shrimp and a margarita, I became extremely nauseated and passed out in the restaurant! Lucky for me, I had two nurses with me. Nausea, along with diarrhea, had happened twice before, but I had never fainted. I continued to have a bad headache, dizziness and weakness for hours. Finally, we put two and two together on what actually caused this scary happening. The public needs to be more aware of the adverse reaction of shellfish in combination with alcohol.

Rhonda

I am so glad I found this post. The same thing happened to me..... twice. The first time was at the beach. I ate a piece of Tilapia and some crab legs and calamari and had 1 or 2 beers with it. About an hour later I started vomiting. It lasted several hours. Pepto bismol did not help. It was so scary.
Lastnight I ate steak and crab legs and had a total of 4 beers over the course of 4 hours and it happened again! I threw up 11 times in 4 1/2 hours....

Now that I know this, I won't order seafood if I have been drinking and I won't drink if I eat seafood. I wonder if there is any medicine that can be taken prior to prevent.

I am a Registered Dietitian and have NEVER heard this before. I am wondering if I should go to the doctor or if it would be a waste of money.