Stoli Kicked My Butt

[jojoe72]

So I've been feeling really good now since going on the gluten-free diet. Went out with a couple of friends for New Years Eve and had a couple of Stoli and cranberry's. The next day I felt like I drank 20 of them. Extreme stomach pains, a splitting headache behind my eye that lasted 14 hrs, brainfog, etc... The only thing I could think that caused it was the Stoli or Champaign. I've never been a lightweight and I definately didn't overdo it on drinking. Anyone else ever had a reaction like this?

Thanks

Joe

[Canadian Karen]

What is Stoli?

Karen

[Rachel--24]

Was that the first time you drank any alcohol since going gluten-free? I cant drink most alcohols and I think its because I'm sensitive to salicylates but I get a reaction similar to that just from eating some grapes so I'm sure champagne would really mess me up.

[tarnalberry]

if this is the first major drinking that you've had since going gluten-free, you may have just discovered that you've done a lot of healing and are better absorbing what you consumed. additionally, if they used the 100 proof stoli, and weren't going light on it, you may find that 20 drinks was PLENTY to leave you with a NASTY hangover, especially if you weren't eating enough food, drinking enough water, and are better absorbing what you do have now.

but I have not reacted to stoli, though it's been a while.

[Guest BERNESES]

Sorry to hear that you're not feeling well. Yuck! I found when I first went gluten-free that I could drink vodka with no problem- regardless of what it was made from. After going gluten-free for a bit (maybe 6 months or so) I found that I couldn't tolerate any alcohol that was grain based. Technically, all of them are gluten-free because of the distillation process but they make me sick anyway. So now I stick to vodkas made from corn (I think Smirnoff is corn based) or potatoes (Chopin- pricey but worth it). I try to stay away from vodka for the most part, but when I do those are the only ones I'll drink.

Another problem could have been the cranberry juice. If they were using a cheap one and it had "natural flavors" on the label, that could have been the problem. Another thing I stay away from is juice in my drinks. I usually gfo with tonic water.

Or it could be what others have said- no one told me this at first, but alcohol is not recommended for the first 6 months of the gluten-free diet. Hope you feel better, Beverly

[jerseyangel]

The only thing I drink is wine, but I can't seem to tolerate it at all now. I'll just not try it again for a while. Maybe when I hit the 1 year mark?

[Guest Viola]

I have no problem with wine or champagne, but I never have any more than two glasses.

Sure hope you are feeling good again soon!

[Guest BERNESES]

Oh Karen- Stoli is vodka. B

[jojoe72]

Hmmmmm...I only had 3 drinks and a small glass of Champaign. The night before we went out and I had 3 Captain and cokes and was totally fine. Im assuming it was cheap cranberry juice because it came out of the gun. This was the most I drank since going gluten-free. Last week during Christmas I had a couple of gin and grapefruit juice (real juice) and also felt totally fine. It just blows me away that even a year ago I could go out and drink without any problems or notice of a hangover. The only times were when I would drink beer. Years ago, even before I knew about Celiac, I stopped drinking beer because even 1 would make me so tired and bloated I'd just want to go home and sleep. It's also wierd too that now I seem to be super sensitive to anything with gluten but I've only been aware of the problem for about 10 weeks. Thanks for all your input.

Joe

[CeliaCruz]

I also got really !@#$ed up on New Years Eve. I stuck to Skye Vodka martinis so I wouldn't have to worry about unknown mixers, but after three martinis, I blacked out. I literally don't remember huge chunks of the evening.

Three martinis is not usually a lot for me. It'll get me pretty lubricated, but I don't black out or anything severe. And I had a lot of money in my wallet the next day so I'm sure I didn't buy lots of other drinks -- I even talked to the bartenders and friends of mine later who confirmed that I didn't drink that much. The only thing I can think of is that I lost a lot of weight since going gluten-free and maybe my tolerance went south as well.

[Guest BERNESES]

Losing weight will DEFINITELY affect your tolerance. Sorry to hear that- that's really scary! B

[jenvan]

Similar to what Tiffany said... your body pre and post gluten-free can react differently to alcohol. Pre gluten-free I could tolerate a lot of sugar...and could have several drinks w/o noticing anything, not that I really drank much to begin with. Now, 11 mos gluten-free, I no longer really like sugary candy and find it gives me a headache. Alcohol isn't so appealing to me either, b/c I definitely notice it affecting me more now. Both effects I attribute to better absorption, like Tiffany mentioned.

[cavernio]

Well, stoli is made from wheat, and maybe you have a wheat issue not just a gluten one. But I don't like that explanation really-the alcohol shouldn't really have much, if anything, from the stuff it's made from.

I've only been gluten-free a month, and although my near constant abdominal pain is only an occasional one now, I have been getting some pretty bad headaches. I used to get really bad headaches as a kid, (I call them migrains because they're always on my forehead, always pulsing, and are just, well, very very painful.) I haven't had one in years, but last week...oh man, was it bad.

I'm guessing my headaches are part of a detox thing...like what's supposed to happen when you fast, because when you fast it's supposed to clear out your digestive system, including the intestines, or something. Well, being gluten-free is supposed to heal my intestines too, so I figure, hey that might be it.

I was going to suggest that this is probably the same thing with you, going through detox, but you'd been gluten-free for over a year, so that seems like a long time to start getting these effects, although not out of the realm of possibility since I've heard it can take years to 'get back to normal'. (The issue being that if your body is working hard to get rid of other toxins/waste accumulated in your body, then the addition of having to get rid of the alcohol too is just too much toxin for your body to handle, so stuff ends up getting sent back into your system instead of being released. And note that whatever is/was being released was probably just sitting in cells not doing much, and for it to get sent back into your body via your blood stream is why it would feel much worse to get re-toxified even if the net amount of toxins overall in the body wouldn't really be higher. Just for example, if you fasted for a few days and then just started to drink, I'd imagine you'd feel like you did after new years.) I suppose it really depends how bad you were before going gluten-free if what I'm saying could be possibly be right.

That said, it seems to me there are a lot of people who notice one food sensitivity/allergy, and then they notice another one months or years later, and then another one, so maybe it's a pattern of a failing/overzealous immune system that will just keep on wigging out even more over time.

[mushroom]

Please note that this is a six-year old thread that you are responding to.