Comments on: Wine allergies

By: Kelli

Kelli — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:00:01 +0000

Hi Ursula,

Was kind of pleased to see your comments to Paula and Beverly…..
I suffer from exactly the same symptoms as you all do!! I don’t suffer from classic allergy symtoms such as sneezing,itching, watery eyes etc……..all I know is that sometimes all it takes is only half a glass of wine and the next day I feel like i have the worst hangover ever….bad headache and nausea. I really feel like I have been poisoned, and it always takes a couple of days before I feel normal again. I also used to be able to drink a lot more alcohol with hardly any side effects. It can happen with alcohol that I have been able to drink in the past with out a problem also. I am 39 but know that I am perimenopausal as have spoken to a fertility specialist recently. I really wonder if it has something to do with this?? It is the most awful feeling…..I suppose the only solution is not to drink alcohol. I would love to hear if anyone has found a reason as to why this happens??
Kelli : )

@Ursula

By: Debbie Oelofse

Debbie Oelofse — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:57:53 +0000

I am allergic to sulfides and can not drink alcohol in general, especially wine. Most wines are preserved with sulfides and the cheaper the wine, the worse the reaction. I can have 2 sips and have an immediate sneezing fit and be left with the worst “head cold” ever, for a good few days. I live in Cape Town and I have been through a few wine farms. They sterilise the bottles with a sulfide solution which does leave a slight trace and that is enough to make me sick. If you want an instant reaction give me a glass of “Amarula” but make sure there is a box of tissues on hand. I have a sneeze with every sip!! The only way around the problem for me is not to drink!!”

By: vicki

vicki — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:43:31 +0000

I keep getting itchy blisters on my elbows. I have recently realised it is shop bought white wine that does this. We have been making our own wine from kits and my skin never flared up. I had one glass of shop bought wine and the blisters were straight back the next day. They stay for about a week before they disappear.

By: Joan

Joan — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:21:44 +0000

I too have had swelling around the eyes, subsiding during the day. I recently took Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM tablets for a problem with my foot, The swelling dates back to this time. I stopped the tablets but will now stop my nightly glass of red wine – what a shame! I think the problem must be due to the sulphur in the MSM and also in the red wine. Does anyone know if a gin and tonic would be ok ?

By: Heather

Heather — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 09:38:56 +0000

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.

By: Sunshine

Sunshine — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 22:14:20 +0000

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?

By: RiA

RiA — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:41:22 +0000

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.

By: Noah

Noah — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 07:28:08 +0000

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.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:22:45 +0000

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.

By: Seany-c

Seany-c — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:39:35 +0000

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?