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Alcohol related chest pain - is this an allergy?

Recently i've discovered certain alcoholic beverages trigger severe heart pain. It feels like extreme fatigue in the heart and arm muscles.  Most alcohols don't bother me. The only drinks i know of that do are smirnoff fruit twists, or seagrams fruit coolers. However not all fruit drinks react in this way. The amount i drink doesnt seem to be a factor. This has happened to me three times and the least severe were the two times i had downed about two bottles. The worst of it began after i had taken only a sip. It was so bad I thought I was having a heart attack.

  I know the best solution would be to stop drinking. And seeing as I know that is my cure, i'm more curious than concerned. Is this even an allergy?
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I took two shots of a blended whiskey and I started sweating and feeling as if the alcohol was somehow just above my stomach but below my esophagus. I did my best KING Kong impersonation in the bathroom to no avail.

I do not drink often, once or twice a year in fact, but I did drink a few shots of Beam yesterday.I actually ate a salad with a pretty heavy amount of Italian dressing an hour before taking the shots.

My younger cousin had acid reflux and so I've actually tried taking his medicine before drinking.  I seemed to lessen the pain but it was definitely still there. Warmer climates and tempatures seem to make it more severe.

I regularly eat Tabasco on my corn and my potatoes without experiencing any heartburn.

Lying down and a glass of water helped me somewhat.

I think this may have something to do with our blood pressure. I'm 6'4" about 195 and workout often. My hands and feet feel like they are too warm. A little swollen but nothing crazy.

Good luck everyone. This thread is quite old now.
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Down a Mikes Harder Lemonade over ice and it is a "heart attack"; crushing chest pain.  Maybe esophageal reflux, maybe esophageal spasm.  Does not happen with red wine.  I think it is the fructose - alcohol - histamine? reaction.

No more Mikes for me.

You will swear you are having a heart attack.
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I’m getting a gassy burp kind of thing.....a little stabbing quickly subsiding pain as well.
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Same as whoops97 here. Uncle Google led me here. I just experienced this 30 minutes ago. The symptoms were chest and back pain. It's like there's a belt around my upper torso that cramps up, the cramps lasting for a few seconds, then eases, then comes back after about a minute or so. This goes on for about 20 minutes. I've noticed a little pain after drinking some red wines, but the worst up until now has been the white wines, although not all kinds. This time it was beer. But a very acidic beer. I forgot the name, but it was brewed using dairy bacterias, making it quite acidic. I drank half a pint (very slowly) and the pain started after I had finished it, gradually increasing. At its peak I started to feel dizzy. That part's new to me. And the lightheadedness just got worse and worse. I raced back to my hotel with my friends and had to sit down just outside the hotel entrance, fearing I would pass out if not. I was very close to fainting, but managed to find my way to my hotel room and hit the bed. There was an extreme tingling sensation in my hands, like I had been working non-stop with a jackhammer for the past hour. The tingling and dizziness receded after about 10 minutes, as did the chest "cramps" later on. I tried to drink something, and it feels like my throat and esophagus has swelled up as swallowing is now a slow process. Sorry if I elaborate too much on the symptoms here, but it kinda felt good to recognise some of these symptoms in these other posts. What I will say is that I have never had any problem with acidic non-alcoholic beverages. So the common denominators seem (in my case) to be alcohol and acid. I won't be looking for any medicine to help with this, because the solution is simple enough: Don't drink that combo again. What I would like to figure out, however, is what are the ingredients that trigger this. Because I've had acidic alcohol drinks before with no sign of this.
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Avatar universal
Really glad to see some people who really can relate. I was looking up “chest pain after taking sip of alcohol” and it led me here. I literally was drinking Seagrams and someone mentioned that that’s what triggers it. An antacid seemed to help and I experienced all the symptoms y’all are describing—severe chest pain for about 5 min, radiating to arms (but mostly my right), hot flashes—it was also very uncomfortable to lay down (not like sitting up was much help) . However I do feel a lot better now and I will probably sip slower next time
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Avatar universal
Hey, I know this is a super old thread, but I think I experience the same thing! I'm 18, and have been drinking for a few years (not a heavy drinker though, I can count on one hand the amount of hangovers I've had). My first experience with this pain was earlier this year, I was drinking Archers Peach Schnapps (I also had a couple shots of vodka) and I started feeling a terrible deep pain through my chest. I had to lie down and try to suck in air in an attempt to relieve the pain. It felt like I had poison running through my heart. It took maybe 20-30 mins to pass and then I was fine the rest of the night (though that night led to one of my few, very terrible hangovers). Now, over the past month or so, I've found that it comes on very quickly. I'm not one for strong drinks as I hate the taste (other than tequila) so I mostly drink cider like Rekorderlig and Kopparberg, but even after maybe two sips the pain returns (although not quite as painful as that first experience with the Archers) and lasts around fifteen or twenty minutes. It eventually passes but I find it quite frightening because, despite being just 18, the second I feel pain and heaviness around my chest and arms I instantly think heart attack! I'm rather paranoid haha, because I have a slew of health problems, though none relating to my chest, mostly just affecting my blood. I try not to drink in excess anyway as I have ITP (autoimmune condition causing low platelets). It does seem to be especially sugary drinks, but on nights when I'm drinking more, once that first initial pain passes I don't think it returns for the rest of the night, though that could be because the drunker I get, the less I care about drinking tasty, sugary drinks haha! Just thought I'd pop in my experience!
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