Nobody Knows Anything

I am so relieved to find this web site. I do not suffer any symptoms while drinking wine, but lately I have felt like my allergies have gotten worse. Atleast that is what I thought. After reading everyone’s comments I know that I must be allergic to something in wine. I wake up with so much nasel drainage that I sometimes gag. The worst thing is that having a glass of wine makes the symptoms dissapear. This is NOT a solution. This is building a road to a huge problem. No more wine for me!

Thank you everyone for your honesty!

Nobody has mentioned sleeplessness. Last night I had one glass of an Australian chardonnay we havent tried before. Went to bed at ten and was awake till about 0230, I should have slept like a baby from my days exertions. I have noticed it before but usually its after a few glasses. Reds dont seem to have the same effect thankfully. All in all its a pretty mild symptom compared to some less fortunate people on this site.

I am 46 y/0. About a year ago I started getting dreadful headaches & vomiting after drinking white wine or champagne. I can’t even toucvh 1/2 a glass without a severe reaction several hours later. I feel like I have been poisoned. I had always been able to drink all types of alcohol prior tho this, but these days am afraid to touch anything due to the severe reaction I have had with white wines. Is there anyone else with this problem. I am a female and possibly pre-menopausal. Could this be a symptom of menopause?

whenever I drink red wine lately, I start to blinks big time. What is the cause. It’s been happening around 1 year so far. I will not give up my wine.

i am having the same exp and this is the 1st time i thought that it might be actually the wine since i really dont drink red wine alot ‘more or less in winter’!!!!

I was interested in the comment by Dave #2. I too had a glass of Australian wine that I had never had before and also had a horrible sleep due to an upset stomach (racy and fluttery). Additionally, I had an itchy eye and my nose lines were red the next day. I wasn’t sure if it was a reaction the the H1N1 vaccine but I pretty much narrowed it down to the wine. Thanks Dave you helped me out.

To Paula – The same thing happens to me – started about 6 months ago. Before that I could drink wine with no problem. Now if I drink 1/2 glass of white wine, I am sick as a dog. I already went through menopause so I don’t think that is your problem – I just wish I could figure it out. I used to love white wine or champagne with dinner occassionaly – now I am scared to touch any alcohol.

So happy to have found this site. Same symptoms as lots of others. Really bad rashes all over upper body, arms,neck and this year on my face. In winter Im ok but as soon as the pollen starts its all over. So Ive given up the lovely wine to see if it goes away and also any food with sulphites in it. Here in New Zealand its labeled 220 and all the numbers 220-228 are suspect. Thought about trying the odd Vodka but I think its made from wheat so anybody with a wheat allergy should be aware!

My doctors believe I’m allergic to wine, possibly because it’s fermented which means I’d be allergic to beer, other alcohol, vinegar based foods, etc. I have terrible itching – this time it’s just on my 2 arms. I itch so bad, I scratch and break the skin. It’s uncontrolable. However, this isn’t a firm diagnosis. Now I’m thinking I may be allergic to wines aged in oak (wonder if there are any molds that grow in the oak)…. so I’m experimenting with wines aged in steel.

I also have had congestion problems when drinking wine-esp. red. Happens about 1/2 way through drinking a typical 4 oz. glass. Start to sneeze and then I have to grab the tissues because my nose becomes completely blocked. Not to mention my eyes. They begin to itch badly. Tried a non-drowsy antihistamine and it seemed to be the only thing that helped. But I do not want to combine anthihistamines with alcohol. I have also been to an allergist more than once. Was told: not allergic to anything–just have a hypersensitivity to irritants. So maybe it’s something in wines that irritate? Wish there was a solution other than antihistamines because I love wine!

I am so relieved that others are having the same problem. I have stopped drinking wine all together. I am scared to drink anything but one beer every now and then. The last time I had a glass of wine, I thought my husband was going to have to take me to the hospital! I felt like someone had poisoned me! I am going to the Doctor next month to find out if is is pre menopausal or what!

Comment to Paula and Beverly,
It happens to me too. I am 49 (pre menopausal) and I used to drink red wine (usually Australian Shiraz or Cabernet) a lot. I never had any problems. I got violently sick with headache/nausea/vomiting approx 2 months ago after drinking 1 glass of red (not the same brand as my usual)I blamed it on the brand… Last night I had one glass of my usual Australian Shiraz, I was awfully pale before I went to bed but felt OK. I woke up this morning with terrible headache and nausea and I had to stay in bed all day. No more wine for me… Ursula

I have had ‘5 Seeds Cyder’ and also a few glasses of sweet white wine on weekends the past 3 weeks..ended up in hopsital everytime…I came down with a sore throat, runny nose, eyes all puffy and my tongue was itchy, oh and not to mention a big red itchy rash all over my body, head, neck and face. Im thinking it has to be something in the White wine and Cyder, like ‘Sulfites’ because thats all i had drunk on those nights. I have always drunk Vokda, and never had anything like this before. Has anyone heard of this before and can they help me? Is it the wine and Cyder?

Mystery of the rash on my face is still not solved but I am slowly putting the pieces together.

I recently turned 50. I have been drinking red wine for years. Thinking back I can remember times when I only had one glass of wine and the next day felt like I had a bit of a hangover. But life went on.

One day about 3 years ago I would wake up with little red spots on my face after a night of red wine. It took a couple of days for this to clear up.

Over the past year I occasionally felt a bit of tingling in my feet and even some swelling in my hands and feet and occasionally find a itchy hive like pimple on my body. Occassionally I would even feel like something was biting me. I started calling them “itchy bites”

About five months ago I developed a pimple on my face that itched and would come and go – It seemed to be worse after a night of red wine. It would go dormant but come back as soon as I had wine.

Just recently, I woke up with a hive like rash on my face by my mouth and still the pimple under my nose. I played with drinking wine off and on and was beginning to see a pattern.

A week ago, I decided to switch to white wine thinking that would be better than red wine. I woke up the next morning and my breakout reappeared and was worse with a breakout around my eyes too and the return to the usual places on my face. I went on the internet and learned that white wine actually has more sulfites than red so now I am thinking what am I going to do.

Today, I went to the dermatologist and I explained my reactions. The Dr. never came out and said it is the wine but did say is had some sort of peri??? dermatitist which I got from ingestion of something. She said most people have a reaction to floride or cinnamon.

Because she is not an allergist, she could not tell me what the culprit is. I was put on a 30 day antibiotic and some ointment and asked to return in four weeks.

I am wondering if I should see an allergist. I also wonder if this can run in families. My brother is sulfite deficient but suffers from allergies and it affects him in different ways. He is a doctor and takes something like Immudyne (spell?) from a vitamin shop.

I appreciate all the comments and feedback and still searching for answers.

WINE ALLERGY GONE!

For the past couple of years if I drank more than a glass of wine I would start sneezing like a maniac and my nose would be a faucet of mucous. It was very upsetting as red wine is the only alcoholic beverage I enjoy drinking.

And then! For completely separate reasons I chose to stop consuming soy products for a while. I generally had soy milk on my cereal every morning and tofu in dishes 1-3 times a week. Since I have cut soy out of my diet I have not had a sneeze or runny nose once while drinking wine.

It has been about a month. And I have drank wine fairly regularly throughout the past month. I have rarely had more than two glasses, but at the moment I have just over half a bottle in me and I am sneeze free!! Thank goodness.

I don’t know if this relates to anybody else’s experiences, but maybe it can help somebody.

Last night being New Year’s Eve, my husband bought a bottle of Barefoot Bubbly. We have (ok, rarely) had regular wine from them and I never had a problem. I normally drink beer, rum and whiskey for alcohol. Last night after the first glass, my face felt really warm. I figured the bubbles made the alcohol absorb faster. After the second glass ( over a period of about an hour and a half) my lips and eyes were disfiguringly swollen and blotchy red, my hands were swollen and red, I had red blotches on my arms and my arms itched. I also could feel my heart beat in my lips and face and my heart felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest!
I didn’t eat anything unusual or that I hadn’t had before.
My husband gave me some benedryl and I went to sleep. This morning my lips are still a bit tingly, but everything else is realtively normal.

I’ve just started feeling dreadful every morning and getting swelling directly under my eyes. Little pockets full of fluid and then they disappear during the day – I’m wondering if it’s the histimines in red wine. Has anyone else experiences this type of reaction?

After only a couple of sips of red wine, I regularly experience a hot red flush from my upper chest and up my neck. If I take an anti-histimine tablet it quickly disappears. Recently I ate a large dark-red grape from a fruit platter, and I immediately came up with the same hot red flush. It does not happen with green or pale red grapes. I enjoy white wines more than red’s anyway, so now I just generally avoid red wines.