I also have quite an intense and similar reaction to MSG, which I've come to understand may be in various alcoholic beverages. Haven't seen anyone mention this, so I thought I would.
Best of luck everyone - hopefully we'll nail this thing one day. For me - I'm off beer and wine again, for sure!
Like everyone else posting here, I have been experiencing this for some time. I have never met anyone else who has experienced something similar, and the way everyone describes this phenomenon in this thread is exactly how my experience is - the day after drinking around midday I begin to feel the bruised-skin feeling around my chest or neck, then it spreads to almost my entire body, worse on torso. I thought I would share my theory about what it is to try and put everyone's mind at ease and give them something to try, because I know how it feels to be stressed and helpless over your body.
In reading this thread I started to notice a few things that people reported in relation to this symptom that fell in line with lymphatic congestion, something taken very seriously in Chinese medicine but not really addressed at all in Western medicine. That may be why none of us are getting a succint answer - because this may lie in a medical gray area between East and West. Some people have reported that exercise or yoga, especially inversions, help alleviate the symptoms. Others report experiencing the same symptoms when they eat processed foods or MSG or just overeat in general. This is all consistent with lymphatic congestion.
Here is a description of the lymphatic system: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphatic_system
Since your lymphatic system is responsible for removing toxins and debris from your body, it would make sense that after drinking alcohol (a somewhat toxic substance) our bodies have trouble ridding the toxins. Perhaps we react to toxins worse due to sensitivity, perhaps some of us have compromised immune systems due to stress or previous illness or overuse of antibiotics. I think that the best method for combatting this is getting plenty of exercise, stretching, and eating a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals - cutting out processed food and sugars for a few days is my plan.
Although I am generally skeptical about a lot of "dietary science" and advice for taking strange fad herbs and foods with weird names, the overall logic of this theory does make sense; the lymphatic system is just under the skin, exactly where I feel the tenderness - like my veins are swelling. I have a history of too-heavy antibiotic use due to chronic sinusitis through my teen years, and in college I had C Diff and was forced to take an intense antibiotic that wiped out all of my gut flora. This combination of factors makes me think my immune system is not as great as the average person, thus the difficulty processing large amounts of toxins. I hope this helps and I don't sound crazy babbling about this...but after a few years you really have to start looking for answers in more creative places, especially when bloodwork is normal and doctors have no clue what you are talking about.
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The more I read about the lymphatic system the more I am surprised that it is so neglected in Western medical discourse...why has no one ever mentioned this before? Why is it not referenced in maintaining good overall health by doctors and athletic trainers? I think Eastern medicine features it more, and while I am by no means an advocate of Eastern over Western medicine, I think there is always a happy medium where the two can enhance each other. Plus, the advice for lymphatic health just makes so much sense - exercise, healthy diet, massage, hydration, stress reduction.
ALDH2 is also known as Mitochondrial Aldehyde Dehydrogenase. Lack of function of this enzyme can be very debilitating in the long term. Cofactors for this enzyme are Vitamin B1 and Nicotinamide. I would suggest that you take Nicotinamide Riboside rather than Niacin, and be very careful- start with about 25 mg and increase slowly. Symptoms can be aggravated and there could be flushing of the skin which is not a problem
Anthony
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2. I have this exact same problem.
3. I don't know what it is.
4. It is NOT rhabdo, alcoholic myopathy, or Hodgkin and unlikely related to muscles or lymph nodes. Now, it IS possible that some people might have these conditions but what is being described on this thread is a very superficial pain. At first I thought it was alcoholic myopathy as well but then I realized it hurt to just touch my skin or even to pinch my belly fat. That is definitely not muscle related.
5. Personally I have found it to be worse with red wine but since this is a new problem, I haven't tested out my hypothesis enough yet. Perhaps as some have suggested, it might be a developing sulfite allergy? I haven't noticed it much with beer and spirits.
6. As others have mentioned, it seems to be unrelated to hydration status. Also similar to others, the last episode I had was mild the following morning but became pretty significant later in the day. It is all proximal pain--back, stomach, thighs, lats. Very little pain in the forearms or below knees--basically in areas with little fat.
7. Once I experiment more with different types of alcohol, vitamins, possibly even some antihistamines, etc., I'll keep you posted if I notice any specific correlations. Now, I do take Zantac every day which is a mild antihistamine so that obviously doesn't help.