Am i allergic to vodka?

I normally drink Seagram's 7 and Ive been drinking that the whole year, I recently switched to Ketal One vodka and was completely fine.  I also switch to ZYR vodka and I was completely fine.  I wanted to find a vodka at around the $20 mark, and found Seagram's Extra Smooth Vodka which caused me to feel as though I had a fever, itchy face and dry eyes.  I drank alot that night and slept for around 2 hrs and woke up completely confused and with a racing heart beat, heart palpitations and thinking that I was going to die.  After an hr of pacing I went into my dads room and asked him to take me to the hospital, they gave me Tylenol and gave me water and said rest for a few days.  I didn't actually know it was vodka at that point I just thought my body was catching up with me and I needed to start taking it easy.

The other night I just tried one shot of Seagram's Extra Smooth Vodka, just one and I start getting red faced, heart pounding, muscle cramping and itchy face so I instantly stopped drinking and drank water for the whole night.

Can anyone tell me why cheap vodka or certain types of vodka cause this?  Im fine on wine, fine on whiskey and fine on beer, and this is the first reaction to vodka Ive had.

Im allergic to vodka to i'm Serb and after 1,5l of vodka i get dizziness is that allergy or what :D It's vodka guys or girls :D dont drink it if you are not Slav :) 

Its really interesting to read all these and cool that this thread is still going.  I too experience the red blotchy, only from vodka - my choice of spirits for like 30 years.  I'm not a heavy drinker tho I am a daily drinker.  Weekends I tend to do the happyhour thing with friends and have 2 or 3 vodka somethings.  Week days, I mostly just have 2 glasses of red wine in the evening.  Wine no problems, ever.  Vodka the cheaper stuff reacts with me maybe 70% of the time.  Expensive vodka, somewhat less.  I tend to drink a lot of water with wine tho too.... vodka not so much.

All the best everyone!

Asians, like Native Americans, have a physiological inability to process alcohol, which makes your desire to have a greater tolerance not only unhealthy, but futile.  Rather than increasing your tolerance, work on learning and adhering to your limits (healthier.) Those flavored drinks don't come by their flavorings naturally, but by artificial flavors and chemical colorants, a double-whammy.  Add in a probably allergy to the flavorings, and you're not doing your body any favors trying to tolerate more of it.

That is SO weird. I have the same random rash with alcohol, but sometimes it can come from beer, sometimes other stuff. And sometimes I can drink the same brand and one time i get red, another time I don't. Maybe it's something that mixes with the food in my body that day? But, at 41 I have been drinking vodka for years. I am not at all a heavy drinker, but when I do drink, I can usually have a few over the night and be fine. The last 2 times I drank vodka I got REALLY sick! I thought I had food poisoning... but then it happened again with vodka. Have you learned anything about your condition?

I too have experience the hot face blush, my upper body becomes slightly itchy, I get a headache, and I fell out of sorts. Red & White Wine and Champagne too results in a constant runny nose and sneezing so no more casual drinks with the evening meal for me. Disappointing - but will have a few more dollars in my pocket to spend on other things.

Hi, I have drank for many years. I usually drink beer or rum but any and every time I drink vodka my face gets beat red! It can be mixed drinks or frozen type drinks... I truly believe several of us including myself are allergic to vodka!

Hey guys, I recently looked up my reaction to vodka giving me a hot, red face/neck and it brought me here. I've read the posts on here and I have come to the conclusion I am allergic to vodka as well. I drink a lot, two maybe three times a week. I'm 22 and all my friends and I go to parties and consume a good amount of alcohol. Normally I drink beer (Busch, Pabst, Budweiser) and I'm fine, no problems what so ever, besides a hangover the following day. Except for when I drink mix drinks. I had a few shots of jäger and I was fine. Then I had some Absolute vodka and Mr.Bostons. Like I said I normally am a beer guy but tonight was different with my choice of drink. My face turns red and looks terrible, to be honest I got self Conscious about it. I am Caucasian and have not had this happen with other alcoholic drinks besides tequila. I hope this helps and that we can all find out an answer to this.

I've been a vodka drinker for years but all of a sudden I have exactly the same symptoms. My face has red burning itching patches. I've changed nothing about my skin care, diet, laundry...etc.

I drink Stolichnaya vodka, last year I had Abolut and Cranberry and I next day started to swell, rashy, chap, this was last year May 2013, then I had a an Absolut drink with Cranberry again and it started. There is definitely a link with Absolut after reading other articles.

My allergic reaction is quite different.  Have been drinkng for the better part of 35 years as a social drinker.  Martinis were a choice about 5 years ago.  I started reacting to Grey Goose.  Within 10 minutes of drinking it, my head would get clogged and start sneezing, blowing my nose, coughing and just miserable. ..no rash though.   What I thought was a hangover the next day was actually my sinuses stuffed up.   I thought I would switch to Potato Vodka as I thought it was the wheat that I was reacting to.   This worked for a bit but now the reaction is immediate and severe no matter what brand of Vodka I drink.   Then, sometimes, I am fine and can drink it with no reaction.   What the heck?!   This has carried over to beer, bourbon, etc.   I guess I am on to the sober life unless anyone knows of an allergy shot I can take or what I would be reacting to?  HELP

Exactly same happened to me after drinking glens! Horrendous red rash all over but I've bn drinking smirnoff for years with no problems. Couldn't figure out what would be difference between the vodkas

I am even later than everyone else on here, but I will add my two cents for future viewers.

I discovered my allergy to vodka in college... I started out drinking different types of vodka all throughout college; but as time went on, I began to have horrible stomach aches all night long after a night of drinking (vodka)... and eventually it got to the point where if I had only one drink, I would vomit immediately (within 5-10 minutes), which is when I figured out it was probably vodka... now, even after years of not drinking it, if I even have a sip of a drink that has vodka in it, by accident, I have pain soon after and I feel nauseous.... Ever since I traced it back to vodka, I just try to avoid it altogether... I don't bother trying high end vs low end, grain vs potato, because it's not worth how I feel to experiment, and I'm afraid that because it was a developing allergy, it will just get worse with each exposure. I don't know how flushed I get, but I know my stomach feels like it is being stabbed and rupturing. I hate being that person that's like "oh Thank you, but I can't have that shot, I am allergic..." and then have to explain to the wondering eyes what happens when I drink it.... but I guess it's better than being the girl who throws up everywhere right after shots lolSo far, I have no problem with wines, beer, rum, tequila, or any other type of alcohol... just vodka (that I know of). I usually just stick to what I know has a good result. 

ps. Bloody Mary's taste really good with rum. You learn to adapt :) and watch the bartenders carefully.

Hope this helps!!! Thank you all for your input, glad to know I am not the only one

Recently I have had 3 episodes - not always - of immediate swelling of the lymph node in my neck close to the front of my ear and jaw, and it swells up hugely into my face - only the right side! And it gets itchy. I immediately took an Allegra antihistamine and it did the trick to stop the reaction. At first I thought it was the food I ate, but now I think it was the Grey Goose vodka. This is a dangerous allergic reaction, I have read. I need to see an allergist. I wonder if it would be safe to try a potato based vodka like .

I'm a ginger and I just got tore up like a rabbit in a bush hog off one drink of svedka vodka. Red blotches everywhere. Freakin ginger Dalmatian