alcohol intolerance???

Hey! Ok so... I'm 19 and have drinking since I was 18. Unlike a lot of the previous entries, I am not and have never been a heavy drinker. This has only happened to me about 5 times now. I've only really been drinking beer lately so I don't know if it happens with other alcohols but it doesn't seem to matter if it's a good beer or a bad beer and it only take 1 or 2 beers to make me feel like dying the next day.
Last night I had a couple of beers (at least one glass of water to every beer) with friends of mine and I woke up this morning feeling perfectly fine... for an hour, That's when I began to feel like I was getting a severe migraine (I get them on occasions and know that when my eye starts hurting that it's going to be bad). My head felt like there was so much pressure that if anything touched it, it would explode. Then after about 2 hours since waking up I was attached to the toilet and had nothing left in my stomach to throw up (thus the bile). That lasted for about 7 or 8 hours before i could keep down an anti nausea tablet and a painkiller for my head. During that time I collapsed twice (thank goodness I had a friend with me). Now after 12 hours I feel much better and my head only hurts a bit.
Has anyone ever considered the possibility of it maybe being something along the lines of a migraine due to a bad reaction in the body or dehydration or something? Although I always try to drink more water than beer when I'm out, maybe the alcohol reduces our ability to hold the water? I'm not a doctor and have never studied anatomy but From my experience with migraines all of the symptoms people have been mentioning sound much like those during a severe migraine. Any thoughts? If anyone knows otherwise I certainly wouldn't mind hearing ideas so I can at least cross that off my list.

I am 32yo female and have been drinking since I was 16. I have never really been able to hold my alcohol very well, but you'd never be able to tell. I'm fine while I'm out and about, but after I get home it's another story. Some times its immediate and others I can go to bed and then wake up by the need to puke. I can be in the shower anywhere from 3-8 hours. (Yes, I'm in the shower because I hate puking in the toilet. Also because I typically get a horribly high temp when I'm puking and this helps me regulate my temperature - try it next time to see if it helps you who suffer so bad with the headaches.) But, different from some posters, I rarely get a bad headache and after my final puke and some rest I feel fine the next day.
What I've found works for me is eating. If I can get some carbs in me during a small window after I've been drinking I'll be fine. I'm not sure how many of the posters are women, but it'd be nice to know. Women do different things, like not eat much before social drinking so you don't have the bloat, etc.
Also, I rarely ever drink beer. I typically stick to vodka + mixer (sugar-free redbull - yay!). (Again, a female / low calorie thing for me.)

Good Luck!

I had this same exact problem for a while and thought there wasn't anything that could fix it. I used to drink a ton all through college and not feel the slightest bit of sickness. Then suddenly about a year ago, I would have 2 drinks and be throwing up about every 40 minutes until 4 or 5pm the next day. I stopped drinking when I went out with friends.

I started taking prevacid (it's an over the counter medicice for reflux). I took it every morning for 6 weeks with a glass of water and did not drink for the first month of taking it. I feel like a new person when I drink now. I would recommend for everyone that is having this problem to try this!!!! I can drink like I used to be able to and not even feel a bit hungover in the morning.

hi there,
Same as everyone else, go out for a few drinks, not get drunk. Go home feel fine. Wake up feel fine. Hour or later sickness from hell for about 12 hrs. Bile and everything, cant even keep a sip of water down. Even just one pint leaves me sweating at night. :-(
Went to the doc's, got tested for diabetes, negative result, thank you buh bye. :-(
I've given up drinking now. I used to drink very heavily, i'm 25, smoke and have a few parcetamol overdoses in my younger years, so maybe it is something liver related.
I am relieved that I am not alone, the docs say there is nothing wrong!! :-(
A x

FIND CURE HERE

I am yet another person who read this issue and thought I was reading my life story. I Used to be able to drink anything and never got hungover or sick. Now I get to college and im always getting sick the morning after (when your sober so its the worst)!
-always yellow bile stuff
-can happen when i only drink a small amount and would never expect a hangover
-last for hours upon hours
this is the worst thing my body has to go through and it happens almost everyweek... but I HAVE A CURE
this cure will not be fo all thou. It you dont smoke weed it wont help because weed is the anwser. I can hae just vomited into the garbage bin then take a hit and be 100% better within the next five mins. Its the only thing that helps. Other than that maybe try saltines but tey can only help sp much... and thats all I got.

other tips that may help
-try to distract yourself from how bad you feel... (dont keep empty bottles around just the sight of them will make you gag... i know)
-get moving, laying in bed may be relaxing but moving around will help your body recover faster
-fill a bottle the can be closed with hot water and hold it on your stomach

Same issue! Used to drink occasionally in University, then around 23 or so would get the throwing-up-bile funness about 20% of the time, even after one drink the night before. I had an ultrasound and barium swallow, but nothing wrong with my digestive system.
Things I've found which have helped:
- Avoiding beer, sticking with vodka
- Gravol suppositories (not the most eloquent solution, but I'd vomit up the regular gravol)
Also, I agree. It's not alcoholism or the worst thing that could happen to someone, but it is a damper on my social life.

I've had this problem for the past 3 years on and off, and my boyfriend had to take me to the ER this past Saturday morning.

The only time I've noticed not having this problem was when I was eating healthy (steamed, plain veggies, grilled plain tofu, raw veggies and fruits, wild rice, etc.) I'm thinking about going back to this way of eating because, for once in my life, I didn't have any health problems. Maybe our bodies have too many toxins in them and can't handle more? I'll let you know if it works again. :-D

I've suffered from horrendous hangovers for years and have finally given up alcohol altogether and I can thoroughly recommend it. Yes, nights out aren't the same but, after years of denying it, "you don't need drink to enjoy yourself".

I'm 43 year old male, non smoker, good health. Was a heavy drinker upto and including college. I also drank a lot on weekends through my late 30's. When I was 39 I was diagnosed with dialated cardiomyopathy (symptoms: heart fluttering, PVC's, left ventricale and aortic root were dialated) - I stopped drinking for about 1 1/2 years excercised, lost weight and felt great. After my heart got better I started drinking again (briliant move). My new symptoms from drinking are: flushed red face after 1 drink, my tolerance has gone down (ie I get drunk after 2 to 3 drinks now), I feel nautious when I drink - sometimes throwing up, sometimes I feel sick for a few days, and my heart flutters again. This site is great - I feel your pain. Drinking has become a social part of my life (friends, co-workers etc) - I been to many doctors and they say stop drinking your body is telling you something - I can't smoke weed because I'm in a drugtesting pool at work. All signs point to a life of sobriety . . . Good luck and good health!

I am so glad to know others are going through these same symptoms as me. I have these horrible hangovers, and because NONE of my friends at my university have the same problem, no one relates. Glad to find this thread. People don't understand or relate to what I am talking about, and often think I am exaggerating my hangover episodes OR that it's in my head.



Unlike many earlier posters, I am not a heavy drinker and never have been. (Alot of posters used to be a heavy drinker when younger, then noticed the horrible hangovers started later).



For me, this happens only every once in a while and not dependent on what I drink. For me, it has only happened when I get drunk: although, because I drink pretty infrequently, I usually get drunk the times I do go out. So although I've never had one of the vomiting horrible hangovers after "a few drinks", I do not have enough sample size (of times of "a few drinks") to really know for sure.



Same symptoms as you guys:

wake up in intense sweating, cold spells, shivering, massive headache, vomiting, feel horrible, sometimes wobbly legs.



I throw up around every 30-45 min for 4-6 hours. I throw up all the liquid, then try to drink more liquid, but end up vomiting it all back up. Eventually, I throw up the yellow bile and it always feels the worst at that point. Like others, I cannot even stay hydrated because I am throwing it ALL up. I have ABSOLUTELY NO APPETITE so I can't eat: does this also happen to you?





"The reason you used to be able to drink like mad when you were younger with no ill-effects but now you get drunk a lot faster, your hangovers are worse, and you throw up a lot (whether the bile is present or not) is because your body has developed a level of intolerance to alcohol."

I only recently started drinking alcohol and have this problem. So, at least for me, it shouldn't be a tolerance issue. Unless my body developed this alcohol tolerance within a year, year and a halfs time.







Yes now that I think about it, nights that I ate a really strong meal or ate after/during drinking, I never had the vomiting hangovers.



PLEASE post any findings from doctors or research. OR any tips to make this less intense. I will just have to stop drinking I guess :(

"Some people have an alteration, called a polymorphism, in the ALDH gene which renders the enzyme inactive and makes it impossible for them to convert alcohol into acetic acid. Such persons should avoid alcohol, although they can enjoy the benefit of the antioxidants found in non-alcoholic red wine."

Based on this info, maybe the reason we all have such bad hangovers is because we have this ALDH gene polymorphism so that we do not have a functional alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme?

The sad news, if this were the case: it's a genetic cause, i.e. likely no cure, i.e. have to avoid alcohol to stop the hangovers?!

After I drink I get the same thing! I've never been a big drinker and one night I had three coolers and I went to bed and woke up a few hours later, ending up vomiting what I believed to be bile for the next 5 hours. I've been able to drink more than that other times and have been wondering if it's just what I was drinking and not simply the alcohol. I tried smoking before and I ended up throwing up from that too. With the drinking and the smoking I got cold sweats as well. It's awful!

I have the same problem. Started drinking when I was 14 and now at 19 I can have one (very weak) drink and be sick for 8 hours the next day. Sometimes it seems to bother my stomach right away but if I lay off drinking for about 6 months or so I can drink and feel totally fine until the next morning. This is just annoying because all my friends are partying it up in uni but I can't even stand the smell when I go to these things sometimes. I wish someone could figure out what this problem is, it really puts a damper on social things when you are the only sober one.

Last night I went out and had 4 beers (two had higher ABV) so we'll say 6. By the time I got home I was pretty much completely sober. Went to bed, and suddenly I started getting the spins and I had to get up to throw up. About 10 minutes later, threw up again. Then I was able to fall asleep for a bit, around 5:00, I wake up having to throw up again (with no food left), then I woke up again at 8:00 and I had to throw up for a forth time.

This happens to me quite often. There will be days where I have no problem with 5 or 6 drinks, and other days it makes me throw up. For me, if I'm not completely sober by the time I go to sleep, then it's almost guaranteed that I will throw up.

The exact same thing happens to me but it is very inconsistent. Sometimes I may be terribly drunk and wake up with no hangover at all yet other times I'll have a few beers and be puking bile the entire next day.... not able to hold anything down, and even the day after my muscles hurt from dry heaving! Sometimes I'll go months/years without this phenomenon and then other times it seems it's every time I drink.

I'm sure that the yellow vomit is bile and is termed 'bile reflux'.

I have a PhD in Pharmacology and would really like to do some lab/clinical research on this topic. If there are any other scientists out there, please contact me as I'm sure this would be very lucrative and beneficial to a lot of people.

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