Sneezing when drinking alcohol…?

[Whatishedoing]

obviously more to it potentially but would really appreciate any insight anyone can share -

when my husband drinks to excess, he sneezes. A lot. Like up to 20 times in a row. This only ever happens when he’s downstairs on his own.

im upstairs and can hear it now. He’s a heavy drinker (I say he’s an alcoholic) but he never sneezes when I’m there when he’s drinking. He can’t be allergic if it doesn’t happen when he’s with people.

anyone have any clue?

Could he be fake sneezing to cover up another sound, maybe pouring more drinks?

That happens to my friend if she has too much wine. She calls it her 'wine sneezes". Never happens with any other drink she says. All very strange.

I sneeze after a night on beer and I suffer quite badly with grass pollen Hayfever so I always assumed there was a link with the hops. I could be wrong!

No hayfever, and they’re definitely
real sneezes… thank you though!

Not sure on this one seeing that he doesn't do it with people around...

But I have allergic Rhinitus, and if I have something with fruit (eg fermented berries in some alcohol-) it makes me sneeze like crazy for about half an hour afterwards.

He doesn’t drink whiskey in front of me because he knows I hate him drinking it. It’s hardly ever in the house. I wonder if he’s drinking whiskey alone and whether that makes people sneeze?

Alcohol can have strange effects. One thing it does it weakens your immune system so he could be getting more sensitive to other things that make him sneeze. I often get a bit of a cold the day after heavy drinking. But not always.

It could be an intolerance to histamines (alcoholic drinks tend to be high in histamines), which sets off allergic type reactions like sneezing if you are intolerant.

The histamines in alcohol could be the culprit. I sneeze like mad 15 minutes after first glass of wine or beer.

Hmm.

If he's doing it on his own is he possibly taking any other substances, nasally, that might cause irritation?

I'm probably just being skeptical because of the experiences I've had living with people like this, but you're right, alcohol would probably make him do it round other people if he drinks socially.

My DH sneezes about 20 times at 9.15pm when we are eating out and he is drinking red wine.

If it was histamines it would happen around other people…

@Jimmyneutronsforehead would ‘other stuff’ make him sneeze lots?

I do think histamines is the most likely explanation. As to why it happens when other people are not around, maybe it is because he is necking it back faster / in greater quantities when he’s not being observed, which would trigger a stronger histamine response.