When i drink alcohol i ALWAYS get cold-like symptoms the next day?? Surely this can't be right?

[Gemmaann07]

I'm 19 years old, and i enjoy going out with my friends on the weekend having a few drinks. I really enjoy doing this but now i find that i don't want to because everytime i drink, i always wake up with cold-like symptoms the next day. I get really bad cold symptoms, runny nose, sneezing, bad sinus conjestion etc. It's really having an effect on my social life, i don't need to drink of course, but i enjoy it and i don't want to have to stop because i feel so ill the next day, i don't think this is normal and want to find out if anyones had the same effects or knows what it might be? I was leading towards thinking its an allergy or some kind maybe? Who knows, but it's putting me off going out whenever alcohol is involved! Not to mention making me lose a day afterwards! :(

[caregiver222]

Alcohol depresses the immune system, making one prone to catch bugs. I suspect your immune system is not in good shape to begin with, so the alcohol becomes the "straw that breaks the camel's back".

[rpooo]

Well it looks like you can never drink again. Sorry! ha ha

Wow if only I would've had that problem I wouldn't have end stage cirrhosis. You can have a lot of fun with your friends without drinking if not maybe find some new friends!

Maybe try drinking less since I suspect its nothing more than a really bad hangover. Drink responsibly.

Randy

[Gemmaann07]

Oh great :/ haha
Well i'm going doctors this afternoon anyway, so i'm going to ask him just to try and find out what's going on. I have pretty much drank alcohol every other weekend since i turned 18, so that's probably why it's damaged my immune system so much, haha

[rpooo]

Did the doctor confirm what I said? hrmmmm?

[Gemmaann07]

She said that some people are just sensitive to alcohol unfortunatley and it makes them conjested, giving them cold-like symptoms. the most common drinks that causes it are red win and brandy, but i don't drink those, but she said it can happen with any alcohol, no cure unfortunatley.

[rpooo]

Well it is unfortunate but in a way im kinda glad for you. I mean for your health, alcoholism is a horrible disease and many people spend their entire life battling with it. In some cases as you know it even takes lives.

Your young and probably don't need to worry about things like this so maybe it's kind of a blessing for you. I spent the last 20 plus years of my life drinking-drunk but now i've been sober for nearly 2 years. Life really is much more enjoyable through sober eyes! You can still hang out with your friends and have a lot of fun too. I like making fun of the drunk guy and tricking him into acting even more dumb! ha ha Only in a harmless manner though.

Take good care of yourself and if you have to drink in order to keep these friends then maybe it's time to look for new friend that like you the way you are. Surround yourself with good people and it will make you a better person. You will get much farther in life too!

I bet you didn't know you were going to get a lecture did ya? ha ha have a great day!

Randy

[Gemmaann07]

Thank you, appreciate it. You're probably right anyway, it won't stop me drinking in all honesty, like next week it's my 20th and i'm gonna go out with lots of friends and i am gonna enjoy a drink, i'll just have to deal with the consequences. I'm not addicted, i'm young and i just enjoy a good time with my friends, but i do realise that it's not the only way to have fun and tbh now i'm a little older i am gonna calm down with the drinking.. well i have to really haha, can't be snotty all my life! haha.

Congratulations being sober for 2 years, and thank you for answering my question, alcohol isn't the biggest thing in my life, i can do without it, and im surrounded by lots of lovely friends and family who don't need alcohol either, but like i said i will enjoy one from time to time, but no doubt, getting ill will put me off drinking haha, but like you said, not a bad thing!

Thanks again!

[aka666]

    Alcohol is bad for your health you may have a condition that you may not can drink.  All in all I would find out.  

[XxbreeaxX]

Yeh I have had the exact same problem as you and in 18, I went Docters just now and they have me blood test so until couple days they will tell me, but the docter thinks it's lack if vitemin D

[rpooo]

You are very welcome. Are you doing alright or did you find the answers you need? I see you are new here so Welcome to MedHelp :)

Randy

[Vickyhorses]

Hi I get the same reaction to alcohol I'm 32 and only been experiencing the problem the last 3 years . I've never really been a big drinker but it's not fun when you have a glass of wine with a friend or a g&t on shot summers day. Did you have any luck with trying vit D ?

[martinronan]

Hi Gemma07,
Like yourself I tend to suffer from cold like symptoms after drinking alcohol, depending on how much. I used to call it my Wednesday cold as invariably by mid week I would feel full of man cold (serious form of regular cold:). I spoke to a bio-chemist and she reckons that its an antibody reaction wherby the antibodies see alcohol as an intruder or foreign body and attach themselves to in my case the lungs to fight off infection. Not sure how correct this is but the lady in question is a renowned scientist and I would have great faith in her.

Regards,
Martin

[TTinKKerBBell]

This is actually a "blessing in disguise"

Your body is trying to tell You something important and instead of listening we look for a way to get around it so we can still drink.  

If we listen (pay attention) to our bodies, we would avoid much addiction, diabetes, high blood pressure, CAD, etc., etc.  Our bodies are 'smarter' than our minds - it warns us when we are doing something harmful to ourselves but we don't listen.  Alcohol is poison to our bodies and our bodies react when we ingest alcohol.

[rowe69]

Hi I am 45 and have just started with cold symptoms/ hay fever the morning after a drink.
it last for 24hrs depending on amount of alcohol consumed previously.
Did you find out if it was lack of vit D
I have always drank on a regular basis and probably more than I should but this is my only vice. I am not advising anyone to drink lots but I enjoy a drink and otherwise live a  fit and healthy lifestyle so this is my choice.
I am just wondering why now I have started with these symptoms

[ddpalm]

Hi, I am a female 49, and I too get the cold- like symptoms after consuming alcohol.  It used to happen only after consuming red wine, but now any type of alcohol causes the symptoms.  I read recently that it is possible that we are not allergic to the alcohol itself, but perhaps the histamine it contains.  Anything fermented (alcohol, vinegars, etc), aged (hard cheese, cured meats)  and simply foods that contain naturally high levels of histamine (coffee, tea, tomatoes, pineapples, etc.) could have an effect. (Everything I adore). This obviously is a whole different animal and needs scientific research, but it could be a start and something you can research.  

[Philsen]

Hi there Gemaanno, well we have the same problem, every time i got drunk I got the same problem but that was before since the day i stop using any mix soda or any juice on on my alcohol, what I do is every time i take one shot I drink 3 to 4 shots of water it also help to get rid of the after taste and also try to avoid putting to much ice on your drink, you can just make it chill, I hope this also works for you, I know how it feels not to able to drink with your friends but consequence wait for us hahaha Its really hard! May the force be with you! :-)

[emailbrianjohns]

I'm a physician and have had the same problem for the last 15 years.  Its very inconvenient, but people are correct - alcohol is actually poison to the body and affects people differently.  For example, my wife cannot drink it or will go unconscious (she lacks the enzyme to process it).  Western medicine doesn't seem to have any good explanation for why some people develop cold symptoms with alcohol.  

I can't help but wonder if I have a chronic, latent viral infection that emerges when my immune system is suppressed (such as with alcohol).  Others hypothesize that alcohol may produce an inflammatory, allergic-type reaction whereby the body may attack itself on a cellular level through the immune system.  Unfortunately, there are no known cures or easy fixes except to avoid the offending agent.  Guess we'll always be the sober drivers! ;)  BTW, thanks for posting - I've never actually known other people who suffer from this and most physicians have no idea, as this topic is not covered in medical school or residency training, as it is a little obscure and pretty rare!

[Cherjp]

My husband has been having this problem for several years now and this is the first time I've searched for cold symptoms after drinking.  He had to notice the pattern himself, but he's finally been to the doc enough times--sometimes receiving medicine and other times being told there's nothing wrong after a blood test.  It doesn't happen 100 percent of the time.  Probably affected by the amount he's had and whatever other conditions, but usually congestion and extreme fatigue.  He plans to switch to cola when he goes out to meet his friends and see if that helps.  He has had a non-alcoholic fatty liver diagnosis and gets a checkup every year.  That healed and tests became normal when he switched from daily colas to water.

[wineallergy]

I have the same - but worse. I suspect it's all because of yeast/mold allergy. My full on-cold symptoms were the worst when I drank wine (and I drank it daily, one small glass to dinner) or a glass of good quality beer. I hardly ever drank strong alkohol, if any it was vodka and I experienced mild to non at all problems depending on what I drank the vodka with (juice, coke).  It took me years to figure it out. In meantime I have had treatments meant for cancer survivers cause my colds just never eneded - with no result. When I stopped drinking wine and favourite beers for years the symptoms after even a taste of wine were much worse - more like anaphylaxis (but I didn't have even one cold in 3 years). Recently I've read about yeast allergy and decided to avoid eating yeast (also natural saurces like juices, some fruits, fermented goods) for 2 weeks. I never knew I was so bloated and puffed all the time. My wedding ring just fell of my finger cause it was 2 sizes to big, so were all my belts. I was quite slim to begin with, but I beacame skinny. When I ate bread afterwards - I "gained" it all back in matter of hours (!) So I'm going for IgE and IgG allergy test tomorrow (yeast), don't know if it's going to show anything, I've read that glycoproteins can be responsible for cold-like of symptoms. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/09/wine-intolerance-adults-7-percent-allergy-symptoms_n_1651677.html Anyway, from my experience - small amounts of alcohol, the theory of some hidden infection just doesn't add up. I have an idea that maybe alcohol/yeast can cause quick overgrowth of natural yeast in our bowel flora, so I've added candida allergy test just in case yeast allergy will not be the explanation.

[wineallergy]

Also a glicoprotein similar to latex had been found in wine http://www.drvino.com/2010/11/26/allergies-wine-glycoproteins-palmisano/, and I do have latex allergy. There is also something like Oral Allergy Syndrom, it's normally associated with pollen, but it may be the same with molds and latex. So my sympthoms may be so severe cause they come from a couple of reasons (?), but I believe it's allergy that's messing up with immune system.

[wineallergy]

Cola contains acid, it's phisically hurting the throat, same as strong alcohol. Drinking it daily explains getting cold infections, especially when immune system is weak because of other health problems.

[Dembelle]

I've wondered about the relationship between alcohol and cold-like symptoms since I started getting a "rough" throat in 2010 (yeast infection?). This year (2015) I have suffered a string of colds and wonder if my depressed immune system could be due to exceeding government guidelines for alcohol consumption (in my case white wine and beer). I'm now on my third day of abstaining from alcohol and already notice some improvement in my symptoms, so I intend to continue abstaining. Since all of this can be thought of as self-inflicted injuries, I haven't sought medical advice. It stands to reason, anyway, that life-style is probably the biggest contributor to health and happiness and it's my own fault if I don't feel well.

[ibizan]

Right on Dembelle!I agree 150%!

[Humphree]

Wow, I'm so glad I finally found this post.
Initially very angry when I read the response from Randy on page 1. I've heard that sort of thing too often.
We're not alcoholics like you Randy!
This is a totally different thing.
We just want to be able to have 1 glass of wine with dinner, without getting the 'midweek flu'!
But anyway...  as I read more responses, there's intelligent, experienced & informed ppl, & even a Doctor who all suffer the same symptoms from having even just 1 glass of wine.
All with thoughtful & logical comments about this topic.... But no actual diagnosis.... Or solution! )-;
Reading on however, it seems Randy may have kinda been partly right about  1 thing, I think our immune systems aren't functioning properly to begin with. Some sort of over-reaction to the alcohol.
Thanks everyone for the comments. Good to know I'm not alone, & not crazy.
In my case These symptoms seemed to coincide with a serious immune system crash, in which I was bed ridden for 2 years, & very weak for 4 years after that. I still haven't got this out of my system. Even if I don't drink at all (which I haven't for 5 years), unless I stay fit, avoid stress & getting over-tired, take vitamins & fresh juices, eat 3 - 4 cloves of raw garlic daily, & use my SCENAR machine regularly... I will regress back to severe flu symptoms, infections, gut problems, joint pain etc etc.
I maintain myself very well these days, but drinking alcohol will hasten the return of my condition.
Whatever it is. 7 doctors & many different types of alternative therapists have never found a diagnosis.
wondering if anyone else's 'Wednesday flu' (as another person posting here called it) seemed to be connected to a chronic immune system type illness?
The Doctor that posted here Seemed to have the best hypothesis
Some sort of latent viral infection...
Best of luck to us all to finding a cure or treatment that allows us to enjoy an occasional drink.

[Willingham_Baker]

This is interesting because I just had the occasion to drink a lot of both wine and whiskey last Saturday night, over a lot of hours (about 6 hours along with a good bit of food -- dinner and snacks) but I usually don't drink very much due to having next-day dizziness and nausea. Somehow I just kept on imbibing as the old friends kept reminiscing, and the whiskey turned out to be very high (variable) proof. I had a whale of hangover the next day (Sunday) but it really felt like the flu, too, it seemed. Monday, Tuesday, and today I have had a very bad "cold" and been miserable. I haven't had a cold in years and no one else I was around had or got anything as far as I know. I can't currently even stand to smell liquor and I think my subconscious thinks I was trying to poison/kill it. I have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) and a very low alcohol tolerance anyway, and did not get a flu shot due to the thyroid doctor's advice (flu mist is supposed to be better but they don't have it where I go to get flu shots). I think it is definitely connected about overdoing the alcohol and getting this "cold/flu" thing.