Learning To Live With an Alcohol Allergy

If you have ever experienced an allergy to alcohol, you might not recognize the allergy from a “hangover”. An alcohol allergy is quiet uncommon for the most part, but people can have an allergy to the ingredients that go into making the beverage.

Many people think they are just having a real bad hangover day and swear never to over drink again. In all reality, you could have an allergy to alcohol. There are many reasons why people are allergic to alcohol, which include a preservative called sulfur dioxide or the wheat used in alcoholic beverages. Some wines also have an ingredient that causes rashes and / or flushing.


Medical professionals do not come out and say you have an alcohol allergy; they normally call it intolerance to alcohol. Some of the symptoms for an allergy to alcohol include headache, your skin may itch, stuffy nose, stomach pain or cramping, heartburn and vomiting or nausea. If you have ever overindulged the night before, you may experience any one or more of these symptoms. For many people, one drink containing alcohol can trigger any of these symptoms, either right away or within hours after drinking. This would account for why so many people feel they have a “hangover” the next day.


Learning how to live with an alcohol allergy requires some simple thoughts. Many choose not to drink at all. This suggestion helps avoid any symptoms and requires no further treatments. If you enjoy a drink now and then, you are either going to have to live with the allergy or try different alcoholic beverages until you fine something that does not affect you this way. Limiting yourself to a few drinks instead of many drinks may also help the severity of the alcohol allergy symptoms. Other than that, refraining from alcohol is the only way to avoid a problem completely.

Treatments for alcohol allergies do not exist, but if you have symptoms the morning after, you can do a few things to lessen the severity of the symptoms. Drinking plenty of water to re-hydrate the body is crucial to overcome the nausea and stomach cramping. Eating saltine crackers for the salt will also settle your stomach and allow the body to absorb the salt loss due to overindulging. Things to avoid are caffeine and nicotine, which can aggravate the symptoms of the alcohol allergy. Food and water are vital to recovering from a night of drinking alcoholic beverages.
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