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Alcoholism + Gluten Intolerance = A Confusing Mess!

bridgeofsighs

By bridgeofsighs
in Coping with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

bridgeofsighs Apprentice
bridgeofsighs
Posted

Hello everyone, first time poster here. I'm a 26 year old male who at one time loved to drink alcohol. Beer, more specifically. Let me bring you guys back to before any gluten intolerance suspicions came into the scenario...

Gradually drinking had become less and less enjoyable for me. It seemed even the consumption of one or two beers would put me into a bout of deep depression with brain fog that seemed to linger for days, not to mention just feeling physically drained. Over time i started to accept that i was an alcoholic and that i would never be able to drink again without these issues affecting my quality of life. I loved beer, but i never felt i had to drink just to function. I never drank alone. I never woke up in the morning and had a breakfast beer. Hell, i was lucky if i had a six pack a week on average. I just started to accept that i was an alcoholic that would never be able to drink again without issue, even though i never displayed those tell-tale signs of a true alcoholic. So i decided to quit drinking. Failed attempt after failed attempt, i finally made it to a month without drinking alcohol. Hardest thing i had ever done. The emotional rollercoaster ride, the mood swings, the irritability, the depression, the hopelessness... it was all there in full swing. Yep, okay, check, i definitely have an addiction to alcohol. But the depression never really seemed to clear up after that months time being free of alcohol. The brain fog was still as thick as ever.

That's when i started to become suspicious and suspect there might be a deeper underlying source. Eventually, by means of the interwebz, i stumbled upon information about gluten intolerance and how gluten can be the cause of certain neurological issues. I took that information and ran with it. So i changed my diet and almost immediately i started to feel better and have more energy just from eating whole foods, and cutting out all of that processed garbage. After a little over a month sober, and a week on my new gluten (and dairy) free diet, i felt like i was at the top of my game! I felt normal again, something which i felt like i hadn't known for years! What a revelation!

Now i'm starting to question, "Hmmm, can i possibly drink again without issues?", "I may be an alcoholic, but am i really that bad?" and "If i switch to gluten free beer or liquor, will i be okay?" These are the thoughts the are currently running through my mind. I know alcohol is a depressant, so i expect some minor negative side effects, but jeez, if i could handle a gluten free beer or two, and be able to drink socially again, that would be fantastic!

Has anyone ever experienced something remotely similar? Any thoughts? Does my scenario sound like something that could logically happen or am i just a crazy alcoholic looking for any excuse to drink again? :D

Thanks for taking the time to read my post! I'm looking forward to continuing a gluten-free lifestyle and being enlightened on celiac disease and gluten intolerance, even if i'm not suffering from it. Bye for now!

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ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

Your problem may have been gluten in the beer. Gluten for some of us is addictive and when you combine it with alcohol it can be a double whammy. I would wait until you have been gluten free for a bit longer before you try the gluten-free alcoholic beverages. Give yourself time to heal and get through any withdrawl you may experience off of the gluten. When you decide to try a gluten-free drink do try with something like gluten-free beer, wine, clear rum with no flavorings, tequila or another non gluten grain derived alcohol. Not all of us react to distilled gluten but there are a few so best to avoid it at first.

I used to get hangovers from alcohol free beer and wondered why. After I was diagnosed I realized it was the gluten in the beer that was giving me what I thought was a hangover not the tiny bit of alcohol in it. That could be what is happening with you.

bridgeofsighs Apprentice
bridgeofsighs
Posted
  • Author

Your problem may have been gluten in the beer. Gluten for some of us is addictive and when you combine it with alcohol it can be a double whammy. I would wait until you have been gluten free for a bit longer before you try the gluten-free alcoholic beverages. Give yourself time to heal and get through any withdrawl you may experience off of the gluten. When you decide to try a gluten-free drink do try with something like gluten-free beer, wine, clear rum with no flavorings, tequila or another non gluten grain derived alcohol. Not all of us react to distilled gluten but there are a few so best to avoid it at first.

I used to get hangovers from alcohol free beer and wondered why. After I was diagnosed I realized it was the gluten in the beer that was giving me what I thought was a hangover not the tiny bit of alcohol in it. That could be what is happening with you.

Thanks for the reply, raven. I was truly starting to believe i was going insane and that there was no hope for me. I thought i would continue on this downward spiral until the day i died. Now i shed tears of joy on a daily basis, as it seems i have found the solution. If i end up having to quit drinking for good, so be it, i just want to feel normal again. :)

GlutenFreeBeer Newbie
GlutenFreeBeer
Posted

Hey Bridge,

More than likely you will be okay with a Gluten Free Beer. What kind of beer did you like best when you drank? Wine is a little more iffy as wine can have cross contamination in it from the glue in the aging barrels. We have tried liquor that is suppose to be gluten free and still had a gluten reaction. You have to be really careful with anything that is processed even if it says gluten free. In Europe, gluten free means 20 ppm, for my wife (who is the most sensitive in the family) 1 ppm is too much and the US has not standard. I can recommend some beers if I know what your taste is. Chin up man, sounds like you are on the right track!

psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

Wine is a little more iffy as wine can have cross contamination in it from the glue in the aging barrels.

Can you provide a specific example of a contaminated wine, please. We have debated this at length here, and nobody has ever been able to provide one. The major support organizations for celiac disease consider wine to be gluten-free. What do you know that they don't?

Loey Rising Star
Loey
Posted

Can you provide a specific example of a contaminated wine, please. We have debated this at length here, and nobody has ever been able to provide one. The major support organizations for celiac disease consider wine to be gluten-free. What do you know that they don't?

I drank quite a bit of wine Sunday night before the funeral we attended on Monday (yes I was sh@#faced). Everyone had a great time making fun of me (myself included). My problem wasn't the wine it was the delicious Spanish cheese that I couldn't resist. I suffered for it yesterday but it was well worth it. Within reason I don't seem to have trouble with wine. Again, that's within reason! I am now back to adhering strictly to a dairy free diet.

Loey cool.gif (shades for my hangover)

bridgeofsighs Apprentice
bridgeofsighs
Posted
  • Author

Hey GFBeer,

Thanks for the advice. I was a fan of microbrews, myself. Darker, hoppier, type beers (Ales, IPA's) Does anything tasty exist in the gluten free beer world? I'm open to any and all recommendations you can give! Many thanks!

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GFinDC Veteran
GFinDC
Posted

Green's gluten-free beer is made in Belgium and is available in several versions. They might suit you, but they are around $3 a bottle.

conspiricytheorist Newbie
conspiricytheorist
Posted

Hello everyone, first time poster here. I'm a 26 year old male who at one time loved to drink alcohol. Beer, more specifically. Let me bring you guys back to before any gluten intolerance suspicions came into the scenario...

Gradually drinking had become less and less enjoyable for me. It seemed even the consumption of one or two beers would put me into a bout of deep depression with brain fog that seemed to linger for days, not to mention just feeling physically drained. Over time i started to accept that i was an alcoholic and that i would never be able to drink again without these issues affecting my quality of life. I loved beer, but i never felt i had to drink just to function. I never drank alone. I never woke up in the morning and had a breakfast beer. Hell, i was lucky if i had a six pack a week on average. I just started to accept that i was an alcoholic that would never be able to drink again without issue, even though i never displayed those tell-tale signs of a true alcoholic. So i decided to quit drinking. Failed attempt after failed attempt, i finally made it to a month without drinking alcohol. Hardest thing i had ever done. The emotional rollercoaster ride, the mood swings, the irritability, the depression, the hopelessness... it was all there in full swing. Yep, okay, check, i definitely have an addiction to alcohol. But the depression never really seemed to clear up after that months time being free of alcohol. The brain fog was still as thick as ever.

That's when i started to become suspicious and suspect there might be a deeper underlying source. Eventually, by means of the interwebz, i stumbled upon information about gluten intolerance and how gluten can be the cause of certain neurological issues. I took that information and ran with it. So i changed my diet and almost immediately i started to feel better and have more energy just from eating whole foods, and cutting out all of that processed garbage. After a little over a month sober, and a week on my new gluten (and dairy) free diet, i felt like i was at the top of my game! I felt normal again, something which i felt like i hadn't known for years! What a revelation!

Now i'm starting to question, "Hmmm, can i possibly drink again without issues?", "I may be an alcoholic, but am i really that bad?" and "If i switch to gluten free beer or liquor, will i be okay?" These are the thoughts the are currently running through my mind. I know alcohol is a depressant, so i expect some minor negative side effects, but jeez, if i could handle a gluten free beer or two, and be able to drink socially again, that would be fantastic!

Has anyone ever experienced something remotely similar? Any thoughts? Does my scenario sound like something that could logically happen or am i just a crazy alcoholic looking for any excuse to drink again? :D

Thanks for taking the time to read my post! I'm looking forward to continuing a gluten-free lifestyle and being enlightened on celiac disease and gluten intolerance, even if i'm not suffering from it. Bye for now!

I am going to try gluten free beer soon because I saw an ad for it. Honestly though, I have major gluten sensitivity and possibly an allergy to yeast......my nose starts running with even a sip of champagne, beer or wine. Because my diet is so restricted now, I am very tuned into each and every sensitivity I have. I do tolerate rice and corn. I don't tolerate potatoes, peppers or tomatoes which are all in the deadly nightshade family (I just found out they have a lectin in them that some people are sensitive to). I'm on a casein free, gluten free diet, and considering adding to that lectin free. So basically the paleo.

I've found that I can tolerate vodka, so maybe you could find a mixed drink that you enjoy if the gluten free beer doesn't work out.

lovegrov Collaborator
lovegrov
Posted

Can you provide a specific example of a contaminated wine, please. We have debated this at length here, and nobody has ever been able to provide one. The major support organizations for celiac disease consider wine to be gluten-free. What do you know that they don't?

Sort of like my list of turkeys containing gluten, Peter. Still standing at zero.

richard

cap6 Enthusiast
cap6
Posted

Loey ~ Lol We'll have to get together for some wine some day. Are you a red or a white?

Loey Rising Star
Loey
Posted

Loey ~ Lol We'll have to get together for some wine some day. Are you a red or a white?

I love a semi sweet white wine. Like a Liebfralmilch (spelling totally wrong) or an Asti. Although any time there's an open bottle of wine I am game - be it white or red.

Wishing you a healthy and happy gluten-free Thanksgiving!

Loey

cap6 Enthusiast
cap6
Posted

I like a nice deep red Cabernet. So we'll have to open 2 bottles - 1 for you and 1 for me. That works! lol

Happy Turkey Day to you too!

dilettantesteph Collaborator
dilettantesteph
Posted

I would say that my pre gluten free alcoholic signs were much worse than yours. Now I can drink gluten free beer. I don't even get the desire to binge like I used to. I would say that the consumption of gluten seemed to be the cause of my alcoholic behaviors.

frieze Community Regular
frieze
Posted

I love a semi sweet white wine. Like a Liebfralmilch (spelling totally wrong) or an Asti. Although any time there's an open bottle of wine I am game - be it white or red.

Wishing you a healthy and happy gluten-free Thanksgiving!

Loey

spelling not bad, lol....take out the first 'l' and put in a 'U'

sb2178 Enthusiast
sb2178
Posted

There is also hard cider! Look for a good dry one, generally exported or from a smaller domestic orchard. Just, when you start drinking again, keep an eye on how it makes you feel, signs of dependency, etc. The morning beer isn't the only sign pointing toward AA.

I'd consider avoiding EtOH altogether for another few months, just because it can promote leaky gut, which may be part of your problem. Did you ever get tested for celiac? That's one thing you should consider, although if you are entirely on a gluten-free diet that totally wipes out the validity of the testing (except for genetics).

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