AIBU or can you develop a bad reaction to red wine?

[Puddypuds]

I have always enjoyed red wine but recently even if I only have a glass I will wake up during the night with a crippling headache. The headache often results in me being sick - almost like a migraine. It wakes me up and leaves me feeling awful the next day. Obviously as I appear to have narrowed it down I will avoid drinking it. It doesn't seem to happen with any other alcoholic drink. Anybody else had this? I'm mid 40s if this is relevant.

Red wine did this to me too in peri. I switched to white reluctantly.

Once on HRT I happened to mention my intolerance to the GP who said that the HRT may have fixed the problem.

I tried a glass carefully. FIne. Next time I had two glasses - still fine. I'm now a happy red wine drinker again.

That's interesting @Elphame When I am taking the tablets for two weeks (can't remember the name of them, but the progesterone ones I think they are) I get the worst hangover, on just a few glasses of any alcohol, but especially red wine. It also affects my stomach. It has helped me to really moderate what I drink, so now a g&t will be a single measure instead of a double and I measure out my wine so I know what I've had. Dh tends to half fill any glass when he tops up drinks, no matter the size of wine glass, and we have quite large wine glasses.

I agree with others saying it could be sulphites - or it could be the tannins in the skin of the fruit. Can you eat dark/red fruits with no ill effects? I was wondering if you can eat black grapes okay.

Red wine now gives me the most awful upset stomach. I found this out while at a friend's house and having eaten their lovely casserole in red wine. The effects were pretty horrid. I had no idea it was the red wine until the next time I drank some, and got the same intestinal distress.

Almost all other types of alcohol make me feel awful now, like a blistering hangover, within about 5 minutes of having had literally a few sips. I steer clear of the stuff pretty much altogether now. The only thing my system can tolerate (in very small doses and about twice a year) is gin and tonic.

Well, I've got a headache today after drinking non alcoholic rose 😞 I googled and found that it's probably due to the sulphites and tannin.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/food_and_recipes/4775923-what-wine-for-no-hangover?reply=125220791

Yup, same here once I hit about 50 - I’m fine with drinking it during the day, just not at night!

I used to find I got a headache half-way down a glass of Malbec. Used to point it out when looking at the wine to DH. D now XH used to order it. He's an alcoholic. Anything else, Vacquéras, Gigondas, Hermitage Châteauneuf I'm ok. Just bloody Malbec.

This.

It's devastating 🙄🤣, but it just has to be braved.

Just another horrific consequence of the menopause that has to be borne!

I switched to white wine which WAS difficult, but I persevered💪😁.

Something about the sulphur and tannins would give me terrible hot flushes, headaches and a handover as if I'd been out all night.

Happily as the menopause past, so too did this terrible inconvenience.

All good now😁

Don't despair, hopefully it is just a blip that will pass in time.

Another vote for the menopause. I can only drink ~250ml of wine these days or I get terrible insomnia. On holiday this week and had 3 small glasses of wine and woke up at 2am with a headache. Grrr. Couldn't get back to sleep for hours.

I drink sulphite-free red (which is nice unlike the white) or filter normal wine with an Ullo filter - this has been a gamechanger for me. Once I hit my 40s it kept me awake for hours otherwise.

I got this with white wine - I used to drink it religiously and then it started really disagreeing with me, same as you even one glass I’d be sick as a dog the next day and not sleep etc. haven’t drunk it for about a decade now.

I take an antihistamine 30 minutes before drinking red wine or champagne. Seems to help prevent the migraine

I can no longer drink red wine.
I come out in hives on my upper half & get really itchy, my chin & lips also.
I always have the runs the next day as well.
Love it as well but not worth it anymore.

Yes definitely. I love the taste of red wine but that is the specific drink that got me sober.

I'm sure there is a reason why, but after two glasses, I would be crying or black out, it tended to trigger a migraine and I'd be hungover for days.

Because I loved it I would always blame other things.

Now I am tee total I have no health problems!

Taking a Piriton drowsey after drinking cured my friend of her issues as red wine played havoc with her sinuses.

One glass - makes me chuck - I like it but it makes me chuck.

I would have allergic reactions to red wine. I'd feel sick and come out in a rash. Would knock me off my feet for a few days feeling ill. Even say casserole sauces that contain red wine has the same effect which is what alerted me to what was the cause so I avoid red wine at all costs.

Yes me too after my third dc at 36 I couldn't tolerate it. Even half a glass ended woth me feeling v ropey in the morning. Then couldn't stand the taste. I sometimes ( 6 years later) now manage a small light red or a glass.of white but more.often than not I give it a miss.

Yes, this. I know quite a few women this has happened to. I am also perimenopausal but gave up wine in my 30s for other reasons. I do still drink alcohol but much less frequently and more moderately than I used to. Peri has really decreased my tolerance.

I never used to get hangovers, but since I was about 38 I am careful with either mixing different kinds of drinks, or around red wine - have learned to stick to no more than 2 glasses of it. If I do wake up feeling hangovery in the night (and it takes the form of a 'pickaxe in back of head' pain) ibuprofen is usually good at seeing it off.

Sometimes I think there are particular wines that can just set one off for some reason. I still generally don't get hangovers, but I had 2 glasses of a white wine I'd never had before and got that distinctive headache, so I can only assume something about that specific wine didn't agree with me.

Heaven’s sake! I linked the other thread because it contains an actual solution to the problem …

^ This...

I don't get my stereotypical "student days hangover" from drinking red wine. Instead it causes me horrendous sinus pain, so more of a face-ache than a head-ache.

If I remember to take a one-a-day non-drowsy antihistamine about an hour before having the first glass, I'm fine (unless I drink enough to give me a legit hangover, LOL!)

Also, some varieties don't seem to have anywhere near as negative an effect for me. Sadly it's not one of my preferred ones, but I find Pinot Noir is often okay.

I’m 32, just googled this and seen your post. I am really struggling every morning after red wine. First world problem I realise, easily solved by avoiding it. Except it’s my favourite, I want to be able to enjoy a glass or two without feeling like utter crap. Even tried buying a £15 bottle last night to see if that helped. It hasn’t. 🙄

does it work if you take the anti histamine the day after drinking?

Yep! I love wine but am allergic to it these days. I feel drunk after a glass, my jaw hurts/tonsil area and my head spins.