21 replies to this topic

[David]

Hi All:

I was wondering if anyone noticed they react very differently to alcohol than they did before they had celiac disease.

Unfortunately, I have a good reason to ask this. About a week ago, my roommate and I were having rums and cokes with shots (store-bought "Pucker" type shots that come in those little plastic bottles.)

The evening was going fine, my I have a memory of looking at video files on the computer. Then unfortunately, things went South from there. Honestly, I blacked out exactly what happened next, but suffice it too say it was extremely erratic, crazy and was disrespectful to my roommate. I followed it up that morning after crashing in bed for 2 hours with more "bad choices."

Worse still, the alcohol stayed in my system all day Monday, passersby thought I was still drunk. It wasn’t until Tuesday afternoon that the last traces of the alcohol left my system.

Suffice it to say, this was a horrible experience, and there are many long-term consequences to what I did that night. Clearly, haven’t had a swallow of the drinky drink since, and I am extremely regretful of what I’ve done.

But I’m still in shock as to how/why this happened. I’ve never experienced memory loss while before, and have never gotten so out-of-control. (Suffice it to say this isn't my first time drinking, but I have always been at least relativly "in control."

Complicating matters, my Celiac Disease and what I think are several allergies (soy, casein and lactose) are all self-diagnosed since I don’t have any health insurance.

I’m contemplating going to the county hospital just to see if they can track down these allergies and/or see if they can find any evidence of my Celiac Disease. At the same time, I’m not even sure of what questions, tests to ask for…

While I know you can’t get an official diagnosis of celiac disease after you’ve been off gluten, are there things that can look at as a sign that I "probably" do have it? If I ask for an allergy test for different foods, what exactly do I ask for? (Not sure what to expect at a free, taxpayer-supported health institution, but I don’t exactly expect the doctors will have the same breadth of knowledge they would at the Mayo clinic, so I want to make sure I know exactly what to ask for before I go in.)

This was a horrible experience, and while I don’t mind giving up the sauce for the rest of my life so as never to do anything like that again, I’d really like to understand it and know exactly what happened…. (Part of my whole frustration of my celiac disease and allergy experiences is that I’ve only been making "educated guesses" about it all, and it has been very hit-and-miss…. If at all possible, I want use last week’s horrible experience to end the "guessing," to find out exactly what foods I can tolerate and which I can’t, how it effects my body, etc.)

If I can somehow do that, it would be one of the few positives that can come out of it all.

Any of your suggestions as far what test to ask for, and/or if you had similar bad experience metabolizing alcohol would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

[JohnDory]

I can relate to these experinces, especially the length of time for the alcohol to be removed from my system.

Last new years I had a breath tester with me (good quality one), and at noon the next day i was still twice the legal limit while all my mates who drunk as much as me had zero breath alcohol. At 5pm that evening i was still blowing over the limit. Had to wait till the next day before i made the trip home. (was still eating gluten at this stage also, and was still experincing my major symptom of fatigue/brain fog)

I would love to blame my gluten intollerence for this poor metabolism of alcohol.

At a guess you could say that the hightened immune system responding to the gluten weakens your ability to rid the alcohol (similar to when you drink with the flu, my mate did this recently and blacked out and was still 'drunk' the next day).

Be interested to hear how other celiacs deal with alcohol. Ive pretty much given up drinking as it was shocked to think what it would do to your body having elevated blood alcohol for 24+ hours

Hi All:

I was wondering if anyone noticed they react very differently to alcohol than they did before they had celiac disease.

Unfortunately, I have a good reason to ask this. About a week ago, my roommate and I were having rums and cokes with shots (store-bought "Pucker" type shots that come in those little plastic bottles.)

The evening was going fine, my I have a memory of looking at video files on the computer. Then unfortunately, things went South from there. Honestly, I blacked out exactly what happened next, but suffice it too say it was extremely erratic, crazy and was disrespectful to my roommate. I followed it up that morning after crashing in bed for 2 hours with more "bad choices."

Worse still, the alcohol stayed in my system all day Monday, passersby thought I was still drunk. It wasn’t until Tuesday afternoon that the last traces of the alcohol left my system.

Suffice it to say, this was a horrible experience, and there are many long-term consequences to what I did that night. Clearly, haven’t had a swallow of the drinky drink since, and I am extremely regretful of what I’ve done.

But I’m still in shock as to how/why this happened. I’ve never experienced memory loss while before, and have never gotten so out-of-control. (Suffice it to say this isn't my first time drinking, but I have always been at least relativly "in control."

Complicating matters, my Celiac Disease and what I think are several allergies (soy, casein and lactose) are all self-diagnosed since I don’t have any health insurance.

I’m contemplating going to the county hospital just to see if they can track down these allergies and/or see if they can find any evidence of my Celiac Disease. At the same time, I’m not even sure of what questions, tests to ask for…

While I know you can’t get an official diagnosis of celiac disease after you’ve been off gluten, are there things that can look at as a sign that I "probably" do have it? If I ask for an allergy test for different foods, what exactly do I ask for? (Not sure what to expect at a free, taxpayer-supported health institution, but I don’t exactly expect the doctors will have the same breadth of knowledge they would at the Mayo clinic, so I want to make sure I know exactly what to ask for before I go in.)

This was a horrible experience, and while I don’t mind giving up the sauce for the rest of my life so as never to do anything like that again, I’d really like to understand it and know exactly what happened…. (Part of my whole frustration of my celiac disease and allergy experiences is that I’ve only been making "educated guesses" about it all, and it has been very hit-and-miss…. If at all possible, I want use last week’s horrible experience to end the "guessing," to find out exactly what foods I can tolerate and which I can’t, how it effects my body, etc.)

If I can somehow do that, it would be one of the few positives that can come out of it all.

Any of your suggestions as far what test to ask for, and/or if you had similar bad experience metabolizing alcohol would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

[David]

John:

Thanks for your reply. I noticed a lot of people had read this message, and no one responded. Was a little afraid that people were reading this for the "Jerry Springer" effect, and getting a thrill from reading about someone else’s bad behavior.

Just kidding, I know it is an odd, specific question, either you can relate or you can’t.

I have been gluten-free for months, and wasn’t gluttened, that I know of, but I do think my body is still "off", and that it had have something to do with the severity and length of the incident.

Thankfully, I do have a good update, the primary person in this incident has forgiven me, and I will be contacting some of the others today. Also haven’t had a drink since, of course.

It could be as simple as my not having had anything substantial to eat "that day", but suffice it to say I am taking a long, hard look at this, because I can’t allow myself to do anything that ever approaches that craziness again.

Thanks again,
David

[maile]

hi David,

I'm glad the primary person is willing to forgive you, what you described sounds like an unsettling experience.

as for your question about how alcohol affects us, I too am self diagnosed but can say that in the past year and a half I've progressively become a "cheap drunk" in the sense that it takes less and less exposure to trigger a tipsy feeling. and by less and less I mean down to 1-2 glasses in an evening. so yes, based on personal experience I would say we are more greatly affected by alcohol.

Also had another thought, those "shooter things" , do you know what they are made of? Could it have been grain based?
I know alcohol is supposed to be "safe" but after a couple of years of feeling sick after 1 drink made with Absolut Vodka but feeling fine after having the same cocktail made with potato vodka I'm more of a mind to think some of us are just going to react to wheat no matter what the form.

[OptimisticMom42]

Hi,

Just wanted to say I didn't read for the Jerry Springer/train wreck trill. I'm still trying to learn and haven't made it past the corn chips yet but hope to make it to a safe glass of wine or pink drink on a date night.

Your story is a good warning to me as I never could drink more than three drinks in an evening. Maybe now even one would make it illegal to drive myself home. And being realistic about my three teenagers who are all gluten light and parties, I will need to warn them about the possiblities.

Another thought in the dirrection of parties. Cigarette smoke speeds the metabolism. If you are already having issues with metabolism, are breathing second hand smoke and drinking........

Your contribution is helpful. Please continue to share your experiences.

[Lisa]

After going gluten free, I found myself FAR more sensitive to the effects of alcohol. It hit me harder and faster.

[David]

OptimisticMom:

Just wanted to clarify, I was joking when I wrote the Jerry Springer quip… I shouldn’t try to be sarcastic, it doesn’t translate well in these forums. Hope I didn’t offend you or anyone else.

At any rate, I do smoke myself too, yes that is another thing I need to stop…. So many bad habits, so little time…

Also, after a long break, I did drink a little on Sunday, probably about three Mimosas with lunch (Made sure I was eating when I drank--don’t think I ate anything on “that” day, which could have been a huge factor too.) At any rate, I made a quick run to the corner store, and noticed the alcohol was having an effect already, so I stopped when I got from the store….

I’m not going to say I’ll never drink again (at least not yet), but I will be very conscious of what I drink, really scale way back on the quaintly, and make sure I eat before taking a drink.

Thanks again for all of the responses, as always, they have been helpful.

Thanks,
David

[mommida]

Alcohol has a stronger affect on me since being gluten free.
I was having a fine gluten free cocktail (Nursing that puppy all night, until it was too diluted from the ice)
Than someone offered a taste sample of a shot. I asked what was in it and it should have been gluten free. BIG mistake, always ask the bartender that made the drink. Well it must have been gluten, because I made five steps out the door before spewing like a fire hose.
I had a buzz and made a bad decision about the safety of tasting that shot. Not a lot of people know about Celiac and malted alcohol being a problem. So I am sure every on-looker that I was just very very drunk.

So do what you can to make ammends. Never lose control of the amount of your drinking or making sure it is gluten free.

[bunnybaby]

I thought this was just me. I can barely drink now, it really goes to my head quickly. Also seems to mske me hungry and crave carbs so I am at risk of glutening myself whilst under the influence Resolved to try not to drink
Love Ruth

[ksymonds84]

My husband and I have a ritual of making a really nice dinner and sharing a bottle of wine (about 2 1/2 glasses each), then watch a rented movie. I used to be fine with that but now if we share a bottle, I can't stay awake long enough to finish the movie. My tolerance has defiantly changed. I like who ever said, "I'm a cheap drunk" fits me to a T now.

[anniedarling]

Wow. I thought it was just me. I have had times when I have certainly overdone it, but since I stopped eating gluten in January I have noticed I have become a real "cheap date." Back a few years when I was on anti-depressants I had to watch it, but I have been off them for years and let me tell you, lately it has been much worse. I can drink much less before I get loopy. (The only benefit is that I don't fall asleep at when I'd had too much like I used to back when I ate gluten.) ha ha!


Anyway, I hadn't really connected the two until you mentioned it so now I get WHY I am so susceptible to alcohol! Isn't this forum great?!!!


Thanks for putting two and two together for me; and I am sure your friends will forgive you as it sounds like you were very upfront about apologizing. [/font][/font]

[SunnyJB]

UGH! This is my least favorite part. I can drink one shot and be throwing up because of it. This is coming from someone who used to tear it up every weekend.

And, last night my husband made us margaritas, I didn't sleep *AT ALL* because of the d... tmi, I know, but any form of alcohol just kills me now!

[pdx.lila]

I have to agree with what other people have said so far. Before going gluten free I could drink an entire fifth of hard alcohol in a night and be drunk,but not blacked out (keep in mind,I'm a 5'0" tall girl). Now, 3 drinks and I'm starting to feel tipsy. I haven't had an episode like you talked about in the original post,but it was good to read about it, to keep that possibility in the back of my mind.

I've gotten so paranoid with alcohol though,I'm terrified to drink anything because I'm so sensitive. I think I'll have to explore potato vodkas.

I actually turned 21 a few weeks before I found out I had Celiac, so I've got horrible timing...

[LadyCyclist87]

I've never drank alcohol to the point of blacking out, but I am definitely a "cheap drunk" as well. I like to think that some of it has to do with my height/weight (I'm 5'1" and weigh an average amount for a woman my height), but I know that some of it also has to do with my Celiac Disease.

I'm not acutely "drunk" for days when I drink, but I do have more symptoms of the brain fog, HA, and fatigue for the next day or two. When you do get a chance to see a physician, ask if you have problems with yeast as well. This is coming from someone with chronic problems with candidiasis, and purposely avoid food/drinks that either directly contain yeast (bread, for instance) or will contribute to the formation of yeast infections (sugar, processed foods, lactose products). Little did I know until recently that I shouldn't be taking in alcohol AT ALL because when it ferments inside the body, it gives the candidiasis a greater opportunity to grow within your body, thus all those yucky symptoms. In fact, this is the website which I received all the information from:

http://www.integrate...d/int_yeast.htm

I should also remind you that when you have a weaker immune system in general (from the gluten intolerance you seem to have, perhaps), you're more prone to a multitude of adverse reactions from a variety of foods. Yeast overgrowth occurs with a weakened immune system. But anyway, skim over the site and think if any of the symptoms applied to you during your aftermath of drinking (or how long in duration they are), or if they do currently. It does seem like an extreme case (maybe more than just getting "loopy" easier), so I would say this is a considerable concern to bring up to a physician. I'm not doubting that there's still possibility that it's only related from Celiac, but I just thought I'd offer my two cents...

I hope this helps you if it does turn out to be a problem for you as well. By the way, I appreciated the Jerry Springer quip...it made me smile.

[MDRB]

I'm so glad someone posted this! I thought maybe it had something to do with getting older, or maybe I had developed another intollerance. I am a very petite woman and used to be able to hold my drink like a man, I could just keep drinking and drinking and never really feel it let alone get sick from it. But since going gluten-free I find that 1 glass of wine will get me tipsy, 2 glasses and I am drunk, 3 glasses and I am REALLy drunk and my poor husband has to take me home. I also find that it takes me a lot longer to recover, I am usually still drunk the next day and it takes me about 2 days to recover fully from a hangover (I never used to get hangovers before I was gluten-free)