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Feel hungover without drinking and a host of other problems

Hello, I'm writing for my husband who is 36. He has been 'ill' for about 2 and a half years now and the doctors haven't been much help. His main problems are with his stomach, eating causes nausea and stomach pains mainly in the upper quadrant, sometimes lower. Sometimes he feels sick before he's even finished his meal. He's had a CBC done and also been checked for H. Pylori, all clear. The GP hasn't been interested in sending for more tests, just writes a prescription for Zantac. If his only problem was his stomach, I wouldn't be that concerned, but he also suffers from joint pain, muscle pain, extreme fatigue, blurred vision, headaches, occasional pins and needles and 'burning', and the oddest symptom to me is that he wakes up in the mornings feeling hungover even though he's not had a drink. I keep thinking it's a food sensitivity, as he feels the worst after eating. I've researched the hangover bit myself and the only thing I found that was medical related was gut fermentation caused by overgrowth of yeast in the gut.ALL of his symptoms match. I was wondering what other people thought or if anyone had any other suggestions. He has yet another Dr Appt in a few days and this time I want him to be armed with some info, because the GP's around here try to fob you off as much as possible. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Cheers!
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Avatar universal
Hi sara, Did you ever find an answer? I have had the same symptoms for about 6 years now. It seems to be worse the longer I am inactive. I don't get sick during a meal, but I do have a mild burning sensation in my stomach after I eat. i have joint pain, the hangover in the morning effect and headaches. I also get pins and needles, but usually if I have my arm resting on the table or from certain pressure points. My muscles hurt mainly in the neck, base of neck and shoulders.

Let me know. I am curious. I was beginning to think this was just the way I was going to feel forever. I go to the doctor and I usually get the brush off because I look fine.
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1 Comments
Have you been tested for B12 deficiency? Your symptoms fit this
Avatar universal
hi guys, i have been having similar symptoms, hungover feeling in the morning without drinking, feeling very drowsy and sleeping, tingling sensation in my face, neck stiffness and pain, other joint pains and muscle pains, itchiness of skin, bruise easily, headache, foginess in head etc. after numerous tests was told i had ME/ Chronic fatigue syndrome, i too look well tho i feel ill all the time, now i am bringing up very bitter tasting stuff. i have felt thois way for over 2 years . i already have a gut problem.

if any thing comes up please let me know too . thank you
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Avatar universal
I have very similar symptoms.  I have been thinking either a food allergy or candida.  Got tested for celiacs disease/gluten allergy and don't know the results yet.  Will let you know if anything comes up.  Only abnormal blood tests so far are Low B12 and positive Ebstein Barr (maybe from past infection).  If candia or gluten allergy don't work out, GP is thinking CFS but not sure I believe in CFS except as a word to describe various and numerous symptoms.
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Avatar universal
Hi I had similar systems and ended up allergic to wheat (not gluten so you can eat other grains) but when I stopped eating wheat, it healed up.
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Avatar universal
What test did you get done that showed your wheat allergy?  That is interesting; so you were allergic to wheat but not gluten?  Maybe I should have gotten tested for more allergies than just specifically gluten.  Still haven't heard back on the results yet though.  
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Avatar universal
These are all symptoms of candida albicans overgrowth which your husband could have. Yeast feeding produces Alchohol and other horrible things which over work the liver making one feel generally unwell most of the time. It will be worse if he eats simple carbs. and then goes to bed. My advice to you is to get a high strength probiotic (20 billion+ per capsule) take a few per day and go on to an anti candida diet. The probiotic will compete with the candida, the diet will starve it. If this is the case he'll notice an improvement fairly soon.
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Avatar universal
Hi,

I have had some of those symptons for the past few years now. I basically feel hungover every day even though I'm not drinking. I usually get it for months at a time and then it randomly goes away. I had a number of tests done and tried some alternatives including acupuncture and iridology. I don't really have the joint or muscle pains

Did anyone manage to have any luck with solutions?

Thanks, Emma
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Avatar universal
Hello,

This was very interesting because I thought I was the only one with these symptoms. I basically feel hungover every day, without drinking any alcohol. Drinking a lot of water will not alleviate the problem. I also suffer from chronic neck and shoulder pain (muscular), fatigue and anxiety. I haven't had much help from my doctor, although I did find that exercising for 20+ minutes a day for about a week will get rid of almost all the symptoms. A couple days without exercise and my symptoms will return. Also, cutting out simple sugars from my diet seemed to help a lot. I feel much less hungover if I avoid candy and cookies.  Hope these two tips might help someone.

-Cam (age 22)
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Avatar universal
Hi. All of these symptoms are also caused by anxiety. Without even realizing it, our body's react in strange ways including a hungover feeling, pins and needles, stomach problems, speech problems, seeing problems and a whole bunch more. Try to get exercise and see if that helps, it should. Also, drink lots of water and avoid alcohol! I hope this helps :)
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Avatar universal
Any updates on this? I too have chronic neck pain, pressure in my head, feeling of a hangover, slight dizziness, floaters in my eyes,  etc... and no doctor has an answer.
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745975 tn?1258960922
yes! yes! there are others!! I feel hungover every day with out drinking. Also have chronic dull daily headache... my Dr. thought it was related to my Hashimoto's thyroid disease but i'm taking medicine for that and it doesn't seem to be helping, if anything it's making it worse!

I clearly am having an auto immune reaction to SOMETHING since my ANA levels are 1:320. but I don't know if it causing me to feeling like i'm hungover... or if it's something else....

Also can't seem to tolerate alcohol as well anymore either.

Please if someone finds out what is causing this let me know!!!!
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Avatar universal
Finally! Finally, others with similar if not identical symptoms. All of my blood work has come back normal with the exception of Epstein Bar and Valley Fever, both of those were in chronic or past exposure phase. I have an easily upset stomach, lower abdominal pain, hangover sensation without drinking, dry mouth, frequent head aches, muscle pain and weakness, joint pain, fatigue, mental fog and anxiety as well as weight gain. I take ibuprofen, but that is it, because without knowing what is wrong with me there is no way to treat it. I try to stay hydrated, eat an organic pesce vegi diet and exercise as much as I can. My quality of life is going down here and I am so glad to find others with similar experiences. I will try the Candida fast, but am already on probiotics.
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745975 tn?1258960922
I'm curious......any one here gotten their adrenals function tested???? I'm beginning to think my issue is adrenal insufficiency which probably CAUSED my thyroid problems to begin with.....

I've read that it can cause similar symptoms described by many of us here...
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Avatar universal
So what's the verdict on this?? It's is certainly annoying feeling like this every day. It's nearly 5 and I'm in bed feeling hungover and haven't touched alcohol? I'm not really sure what to do.
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Avatar universal
OMG I have been like this for 3 years now! No solutions!!!!
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Avatar universal
Hanover without alcohol - I have the same problem once a month or so. Lasts for 1 to 3 days. I quit alcohol years ago. My research has come up with 4 possibilities so far but I am sure there could be more.
1. We need to drink more water and less coffee, less tea.
2. Some of us may have kidneys that cant handle our diets. I will ask my doctor about this next visit. Other website mentioned excess potasium could be problem for tired kidneys. I ate bananas every day this week
3. I have a weak liver due to excessive alcohol years ago. Another website mentions that some carbs can metabolize into alcohol under some conditions?
4. Toxic air in our homes or offices from radiator paint, new carpet, defective furnace leaking carbon monoxide, etc. Keep
We should all try writing down what we eat.
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Avatar universal
What a relief to hear i'm not the only one - been going round in circles for years at docs. Over 10 years ago i drank far too much and always woke up only after a few hours. Now i'm doing the same but without any alcohol for years. I tend to get red hot in the face and body and the pressure builds up in my head, i'm alert and this could be 2am. I don't sleep well and rarely wake up feeling refreshed. I can have bowts of this during the day though where central heating seems to make it worse. I've recently had a food intolerant test and wheat, oats and barley came up with a deficiency in many vitamins. Has anyone got any further with this? (I also got tested for sleep apnea and now have got referred to hospital for infectious diseases????)
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Avatar universal
I have been having similar symptoms and you may want to get tested for Diabetes.............unfortunatley some of the symptoms can be a result of the imbalance in the sugar...........not saying it is full blown diabetes but can be the start of diabetes that can actually be prevented.
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Avatar universal
Hallo. I am Hanna 39 years old. I have just taken a genetic test that showed that I was born with celiac disease. I have suffered from all of the above, (not all at the same time) all my life. I also get car,boat,plain,train sick. I have exzema and I migrene. I have also not been able to get pregnant. With great help from my husband, an allergy doctor and a nutrisionist, I Have been GLUTEN FREE from almost 5 weeks. It is difficult without help, because GLUTEN is in so many products that are not obvious. My life is great without GLUTEN! All my health problems have dissappeared. The greatest thing is that two days ago, I discovered I was pregnant!!!
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Avatar universal
hello fellow sufferers.
i suffer with major hangover feelings most the time from the moment i open my eyes, i dont drink but have noticed that its mostly the day after i eat out, also recently i felt like this on holiday everyday for 10 days. no ammount of fluids shift it and im a bit sceptical of going to the doctor with it as i dont think they will understand, in the past all my blood test have been NAD so i  know its not a haematological problem but i had an enderscope a couple of years back where they removed 4x polyips and also there was what looked like a cauliflower type object attached to the side of my bowel. ive been tested for celiac and chrones disease as they are both in my family and that was also NAD.
The feeling i get is a groggy mouth, no ammount of teeth cleaning can help a bad head that no pills can shift i even get the upset tummy very tired feeling like i cant stay awake sick feeling at food and also ive noticed my joins are really bad too mostly my hips (to the point my legs give way underneath me) and my shoulders and a foot and ive been having bad head aches too.
I feel its now time to get it sorted but my doctor is so old fashioned and stuburn i dont even know how to address this or where to start and even a little bit of me thinks she wont belive me especialy seen tho i have hangovers without drinking. :(    :(     :(
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Avatar universal
Hi, yes i'm the same - after eating out and on holidays (as if it goes against routine?) - I'm trying to run it off and wake up all dreary and head out to get some fresh air. My legs don't feel like carrying me far as i feel so hungover but somehow i manage to do some and i do feel better afterwards, i just wish it wasn't so much of an effort - i keep thinking i could be a top athlete if i didn't feel so exhausted with a stomach the size of a house all the time - running also seems to get the digestion moving and often i can't get back in the house quick enough...
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Avatar universal
yeah, i get the "heavy leg" feeling at work, ive been feeling like this for two days this time, spent 17 hours in bed but feel worse today, im thinking about going private for an MOT the full owrks to see whats going on.
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Avatar universal
I am almost 22 years old, and this problem began a couple weeks after my 20th birthday.  Also, I really began noticing something was wrong two weeks after I had used Ritalin (unperscribed) for the first time.  For about 2 months afterwards I used Ritalin for schoolwork and parties but never was addicted to it.  I have abused more serious drugs than Ritalin in my life and have never had serious problems.  Now i have a serious problem, but I'm definitly not a druggy or a bad person.  I have been sober almost two years now, but ever since this Ritalin thing, I always feel like I am high on marijuana, or that I am hung over everyday.  My mind is a static TV screen, and never can think productively, but yet my mind is racing.  I have basically all symptoms of clinical depression and am in a lot of pain and can't enjoy anything, but I am definitly not upset or sad about anything in life, I just feel aweful all day.  I have a really hard time being around friends and family.  I dont think Ritalin can do this to anyone, even if its snorted and abused.

When i think about how I feel, the best way to describe it to someone else is the feeling of being hungover.  I have a hard time believing that something called "depression" has nothing to do with being depressed.  I'm not upset or mad or anything, I just want my functioning skills back!!

I have been seeing physcaritrists, practitioners, neurologists, have gotten catscan and MRI done, and all the bloodwork tests.  All of this hasn't given me anything.  I was actually hoping that I have multiple sclerosis because that would explain a lot of this.  However, the MRI didn't show any legions.  

I've tried fish oil, vitamins, excersie, healthy social behavior, I have done everything to try to feel better and clear my head up.  The only thing i havn't done is try to balance my brain out with anti-depressants or whatever, but because i dont understand why I would need to do this.  

Very interestingly, ever since age 17, I have had very high tolerance to alcohol.  Ever all this **** has been happenning to me, I can barely handly one beer.  I used to be able to take seven shots and seven beers with my friends and still function a party.  NOW if I have two beers I can barely see anything and say two words together that make any sense.  But before i start drinking, i already feel drunk/hungover.  I havently felt sober in almost two years.  This is hell.  

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Avatar universal
My husband who is 42 now has been suffering small bouts of many of the symptoms I have read above for approximately the past two years.  Recently, however the hung over feeling without drinking has become more and more frequent and more intense.  We too have had all the blood tests and some have show adrenal dysfunction and some have not.  I have considered the pituitary gland and hyperthyroidism.  At one point we even considered a caffeine allergy as he became less and less able to tolerate coffee in the mornings.  He has cold sweats where he feels like his groin area is warmer than the rest of his body, he has a bad taste in his mouth out of nowhere, he has had difficulty sleeping on and off and would at times fight to stay awake when driving, chest palpitations, itchy dry skin and scalp, joint pain with poor circulation.  His heart rate is solid and strong like a runner.  Last week we took new blood tests for food allergies and we are waiting on results.  He was having stomach related issues which lead up to a colonoscopy but still no answers.  

Most recently he feels as if he is loosing control of his bowls or that something is just not right with his control or the feeling of being normal in that area.  We think that symptom is likely triggered by whatever it is that is causing all the other symptoms.  

One other interesting symptom is his intolerance to chewing tobacco. He has chewed tobacco since he was 16 and all of the sudden he is instantly nauseous when he puts any in his mouth, but not always.  What is most peculiar about all of it is how this symptom, like all the others, is not consistent; presents with some symptoms sometimes and other symptoms at other times.  We are really frustrated, and my poor husband is exhausted and just wants to fell well again.  I hope the right person with the exact remedy reads this and helps us.  Please help us.
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