alcohol gives me serious blotches

[jamie999]

whenever i drink alcohol(not every time but most,) i come out in red/purple blotches all over my face and body(goes as far down as my shins) and i feel terrible as my face tends to swell up slightly too. i have suffered from this for around 12 years although i have learnt to control it by not eating for a few hours before i drink. it looks so bad that on more than one occasion people have tried to take me to casualty! after an hours sleep or without any fluids it subsides....anyone else get this or have any ideas to what it is?...and please dont say...avoid alcohol,like on gp said!!

[quattro]

My son and I get an allergy to certain alcoholic drinks to certain degrees my son has a similar reaction to yours to some alcohols and I get short of breath from drinking (mostly) vodka and some bitters . Me being older and more ? sensible I was able to isolate my allergy sooner than he was him being in the Army and drinking everything under the sun but he has got on top of it now and if he follows a sensible drinking pattern where he drinks just lager or if he eases off if he feels the symptoms coming on he is ok . My allergy was easier to find because I don't like mixing my drinks but on holiday a few years ago I had a Vodka and Coke and felt terrible almost athsmatic it happened a few times later and It was easy for me to control it . A lot of Alcopops are vodka based so just cut them out and then try to stay on one thing like red wine for the night rather than mixing your drinks . Do you have any other allergies ?could it be something you eat before you go drinking ? It should'nt be too hard to sort it out my son's GP said the same as yours and he still gets wrecked .

[woofgang]

Jamie, I hate to be a killjoy, but you run the risk of having a really nasty life threatening allergic reaction if you don't take some action. Ask your doc to be allergy tested. As the good folk here have said,It may be that it is not the alcohol as such that gives the problem, but an ingredient of one or more of the drinks, or food that you ingest. If you do not identify what it is, you run the risk of it popping up in your diet unexpectedly and leading to a collapse. Sorry to sound like your granny, (no offence intended to grandmothers), but please, at least be in a position to make informed decisions.

[DavidUK]

I became allergic to alcohol years ago. Beer and spirits gave me a tight throat and chest and stuffed up nose, while wine often gave me severe heartburn. I just had to give up alcohol and it seems you will have to too. Sorry! At least it means you save some money!

[jamie999]

many thanks for all the replies. quattro, i seem to be in the same boat as you and your son, i too get short of breath and like your son i was in the armed forces for 7 years where we were expected to drink for a living!! i now know that i cannot drink budweiser as that is the worst, so too is red wine. i just stick to one lager all night and it tends to stem it,however(and this is bizzare) the other week,after a night out,i awoke and drank a glass of orange juice and ...bang, the blotches came up almost instantly.this was at 9.00 in the morning and i had been asleep for 7-8 hours. i have tried antihistimines before going out but the best solution i have found is moderation. woofgang i take your advice onboard as i do think it is food related too,this is why when i am going out i do not eat after 2.00 in the afternoon,this seems to work for me.i have seen my g.p but he was unsympathetic. i have recently changed g.p so i guess i will raise the subject with him. daviduk, dont know if it is common in all who suffer with this allergy but i too get bad heartburn from white wine. if you are ok not drinking then good on you. but moderation seems to be working for me,so till it gets real bad ill have to review the situation. actually im going to spain this weekend and it tends to be worse in a hot climate, so im not sure if body temp is related in some way?? thanks again to all of you...i thought i was a lone sufferer!!!!

[Greedyfly]

I get really hot and my skin burns which makes it itchy