Can you become 'allergic' to wine?

[Sallycinnamum]

Last night I got together with a few friends for a catch up.

I probably had one glass of fizz and a few glasses of white wine. I don't drink at home during the week so I did have too much to drink last night but I feel absolutely horrendous today.

I never used to throw up if I has a hangover but I'm starting to now, which is awful as I hate being sick.

I have a relatively good social life and I'm often out a couple of times a month and love a glass of wine but even if I have a couple I've started to notice it's affecting my sleep so I'm shattered in the morning.

In in my mid forties so that's probably not helping but in the last couple of months I dont seem to be able to tolerate wine at all.

I of course I can switch to another drink and it's not such a big part of my life that I'll be distraught if I can't drink wine ever again but I do seem to react to it badly now.

yes, you can become intolerant.
most wine also has sulphur added which is a known allergen. so that might be a separate reason for you feeling unwell.

it's happened to me

I don't drink much at all, max 2 glasses of wine when I drank it.
when I was about 35, I noticed that even half a glass left me feeling odd

then one day after 2 glasses I came out in hives. 2 antihistamine and a few hours later, they had only just gone down. I was even looking for a bite mark in case the cause lay elsewhere.

suffice to say, that was such an uncomfortable night, I no longer drink wine. I can drink prosecco though.

I know you can look at sulphates and so on to see what might cause the allergy, but it wasn't important enough to me to bother investigating.

Well I'm not drinking the expensive stuff so I wondered if it's the sulphites that are responsible.

I've only got myself to blame for feeling so rough but it's such s waste of a day if I'm too rough to do anything.

I am just before my period. The tiniest amount gives me a migraine. It’s the shit other than alcohol they put in it. Sufphates??!

Snap espresso

It happened to my mum, she used to love white wine - now even a sip of it will make her ill, she has had to switch to red.

It happened to me too, and I've now switched to vodka.

Glad it's not just me then!

I can't drink more than 1 glass of prosecco or any new world white wine - California, Australia, South Africa etc. I get a banging head from prosecco and a racing heart / sense of doom from new world wines. If I stick to French or Italian white wines I can drink more - 4 glasses or so. I have no idea why.

I did wonder if it might be tannins rather than sulphites....

Red wine doesn’t agree with me, even 1 glass WILL give me a headache and make me feel rough the next day!

But I’m fine with white, rose or fizz it’s most weird

I seem to have developed this as well! I also get short of breath when drinking white wine.

I can't drink wine any more either. Unless it's homemade, no added stuff. Gives me a rotten headache and sicky tummy. Oh well, spirits it is

Organic wines might be worth a try?

I'm all finding that the next day I'm very teary and anxious, which back in the old days happened occasionally when I'd made a twat of myself when pissed. Luckily I don't drink enough to do that anymore!

Yes. I stopped drinking all alcohol about 10 years ago because of a gradual intolerance to alcohol. Wine made me start throwing up and severe migraines after with spots all over my face. Then I switched to vodka and was ok for a bit but then the headaches came an hour after drinking. Only ever had a couple of glasses of wine or two vodkas and I felt poisoned (which I was) and had to take strong painkillers. Finally stopped drinking alcohol. Don't miss it and find the drinking culture weird now.

When I drink wine and some spirits, my face swells up and I go bright red. I can usually feel it and it can be quite painful. I just put it down to the sulphites and don't really drink that much anyway.

Sally that's what I mean by "sense of doom". I wake with a start in the night and a sense if terrible shame/ embarrassment/ horror as if I have made a terrible fool of myself. Logically I know I've just sat in front of the telly sharing a bottle with DH and talking about the kids. But I feel like I have done something terrible.

I did some research and found out that alcohol is converted to a chemical similar to adrenaline when it's being broken down. I am very sensitive to adrenaline - have to have the adrenaline free injections at the dentist, for example, as the ones with adrenaline make me shake. I think it might be because of that, so physiologically my body thinks I am full of adrenaline plus the depressive effect of alcohol produces "negative adrenaline reaction" = "shame". Just my hypothesis.

I could have written this as well. I vomit on a few glasses whereas in the past I could drink 2 bottles. I do have lots of allergic reactions to random stuff but wonder if wine production has changed. I can not stomach wine without food at all..

@Sallycinnamum. I don't really drink anymore but in my younger days I loved a nice bit of white wine. And aside from feeling a bit dehydrated the next day, I was always good to go.

Recently I had 2 glasses of wine at a dinner party, that left me feeling extremely anxious the next day (not just the "Beer Fear") but an overwhelming sense of dread, in my case I think it might just be an age thing.

I have developed an intolerance to red wine, since being on some fairly heavy-duty meds (which I may well be on for life). I can get away with small amounts, but too much (which can be as little as a second glass) and I have evil sick headache hangover which is out of all proportion to number of units.

So it’s usually prosecco/cava, white wins spritzers or gin for me these days. I don’t drink that much these days, and don’t seem to have the same issues with these as with red - might it be something to do with congeners (or whatever they’re called)?

I can feel hungover after a half bottle of wine these days but in the past i wouldn't even have noticed it! I'm 48.

I've got a sulphite allergy and avoid most processed foods as sulphites are really widely used.

It's more likely to be the alcohol levels. Years ago wine were 9-10% (I grew up with licensee parents so I have a long memory on this) now it's more 13%, some of the reds dh buys are nearly as strong as port.

Vodka based drinks are more like 10% when mixed correctly.

Omg I thought it was just me! Prosecco and cava have started giving me palpitations. Only gin is left to me now!