Wine intolerance post menopause?

[GameBoy]

Anecdotally, talking to similar age female friends, this seems to be common. Lots of us seem to have found that in our late 40s/ 50s we simply can't tolerate wine any more?
In my case, my tongue swells a bit (gets 'fluted/ ridged' on the sides and feels big in my mouth) and then I get terrible indigestion/ stomach pains. Sometimes diarhorrea later. Also all the usual alcohol symptoms seem more pronounced - rapid heart beat, flushing etc.

I wondered if it was a sulphites thing and tried a few organic wines, but often they aren't great-tasting and of course it's a pain when people want to share a bottle etc.

Now I mostly drink a gin & tonic instead, which doesn't have any of the same effects.
But I feel sad and miss my 'social' glass of wine with others.

Is this a 'thing' in menopause? Any solutions?

Exactly the same, except I have vodka instead of gin.
I feel so ill drinking wine. Terrible acid reflux, I used to adore it!

Same with onions and orange juice.

Yep, me. Breaks my heart, I tell you! It's definitely sulphites in my case; sausages make me puke in short order, cider and preserved fruits do as well.

I also developed a dairy intolerance - medically identified; the NHS doesn't tell you whether it's lactose or protein.

So the bastarding menopause has robbed me of wine, cheese, sausages, affordable fruit cake and cream. I shall never forgive it!

Vodka's all good, though, and beer.

Oh god, that sounds awful 🙁

I had my worst reaction after a beefburger with onion pickle and a half of cider! Pickle/ vinegar/ salad dressings etc also seem a problem which is why I concluded sulphites!

These are all foods that contain histamine, which our bodies also produce in response to estrogen. I have this too and I don't think its sulphates:
https://drbeckycampbell.com/menopause-and-histamine-intolerance-connection/

Oh gosh yes me! After white wine I have had horrendous palpitations and flushing as well as headache and just feeling awful.

It happened three times before I twigged and was so awful I didn’t drink any alcohol at all for over a year but have recently managed champagne and a few sips of red wine.

Really miss a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc though.

I have completely quit wine - rapid heartbeats, migraine and severe hangover. Moved to vodka completely. Apparently the clear alcohol is easier to tolerate for most people.

Me too. What is it about onions and white wine though? I'm quite a bit younger but I am having this. I get horrendous hangovers when I have hardly had anything to drink! Someone tell me what I have to avoid... can I have beer?

Both contain sulphites. Onions actually smell of sulphur! I think there's probably more to it, because each of us can tolerate different things. I'm okay with onions, definitely not with vinegar or any wine.

@GameBoy, I use citric acid instead of vinegar. It's what gives lemons their flavour, so not the same - but okay for most purposes, and I've found I can 'vinegarise' it with bay leaves & pickling spices.

No idea why orange juice! It doesn't bother me - but it might be worth seeing if it's only the packaged juice that irritates, Can you safely eat oranges?

Re alcohol: If you have a sulphite intolerance. everything made with fermented fruit is likely to set it off. Not only are sulphites used in refining most mass-market wines, but fruits produce sulphites naturally during fermentation. So, for me, that's wine NO, beer YES, cider NO, vodka YES, brandy NO, whisky YES.

Even if I bought into the histamine theory, there's no way I'm adopting a complicated set of dietary rules created by someone selling recipe books! I just avoid things that make me ill 🤷🏼‍♀️

I’ve had to give up all alcohol, the plus side is that I feel so much better and I have lost several stone.

I have an issue with red but not white wine, having previously preferred red to white

I had never made the connection between wine, menopause and the acid reflux I
now get. Even the thought of white wine brings it on. I’m a G&T girl now. There’s a red wine I love and can tolerate, it’s called Bread & Butter, I but 6 bottles at Xmas and they last me all year!

I can tolerate wine (in that I'm not getting any physical reactions to it) but it does give me horrendous insomnia. So if I choose to drink, I'm usually awake from 4am. And one glass could give me a hangover. (Interestingly I had wine last night and slept really well).

But I have found that I can't tolerate gluten at all. And have had to give up any food with dairy or fodmaps in, and many other foods/additives make me bloat so I look 5 months pregnant. So I can eat potatoes, but not potato skins for example. My food intolerance list is very long now. (I have always had IBS but it is worse now than it has ever been).

@GarlicGrace The problem I have is that I can’t always confidently predict what will make me ill! Once I start cutting out everything that might have vinegar/sulphites etc in my diet becomes very restricted.
I seem fine with dried fruit and orange juice, but not lemon juice though. Mayo is fine, but not salad dressings.
I do carry food anti-histamines with me in case of a bad reaction when eating out, so maybe it is histamine related?

Thinking about it, I’d really like to get tested and understand how to manage it better, but I have no idea where to start! So many allergy tests are such complete scams.

@gameboy what food anti-histamines do you use? Do you think they help?

I've been relying on omeprazole that I have leftover but it doesn't always help.

I don't really buy into the histamine theory wholesale but I would be willing to try a medication if it would reduce the balloon stomach situation when I've gone wrong.

These ones: https://www.boots.com/boots-pharmaceuticals-allergy-relief-4mg-tablets-chlorphenamine-maleate-30-tablets-6-years-10173502

Were recommended by the pharmacist for food allergies and seem to stop my reactions if I feel them coming on. I always think I should take one as a precaution before eating out but I'm a bit anti pill-popping unless absolutely necessary!

And crisps. Can't eat crisps now

Bloody hell this is me! I kept thinking I'd caught a stomach bug until I'd narrowed it down to every time I ate cheese!

Same with wine. It makes me feel like I've got the flu, I feel awful for days afterwards! I seem fine with whiskey though. All though tbh I've pretty much stopped drinking atm because I feel so shite. Suppose that's good health wise.

I'm mid 40's and the negative effects of wine far outweigh the slight 5 minute rush. Night waking plus terrible thirst and pounding heart at 3am. I used to be able to drink it in my 20's and 30's. I still crave a red but it's just not worth it.

I have asthma and had my first attack at 40. I take an antihistamine every day for dust and hay fever allergies.

G&T is ok but I sometimes get a weird fuzzy head whilst drinking it.

Chocolate is fast replacing booze for me.

The odd daytime session on a few gins once every few months is ok.

Getting a taste for beer but it makes me feel so tired afterwards. Bloody peri!

'm mid 40's and the negative effects of wine far outweigh the slight 5 minute rush. Night waking plus terrible thirst and pounding heart at 3am. I used to be able to drink it in my 20's and 30's. I still crave a red but it's just not worth it

I’m 50 and react exactly the same with alcohol which is why I’ve finally knocked it on the head - just not worth feeling so crap for the next day for an hour enjoyment at the most.

I can’t drink full stop since my late 30s. Even half a small,glass of anything makes me feel very odd, hot, sweaty, heart racing, dizzy, sick. Given up with it all.

Same, but red wine and beer.

My safest bet nowadays is organic white. (Aldi and Morrisons both do a decent organic pinot grigio, and Aldi does a lovely organic white or rosé prosecco).

Menopause really is the gift that keeps on giving, isn't it!

It's sulphites. I tried sulphite free and felt so much better. Of course I still drink the stuff that upsets me (along with the gluten that makes me uncomfortable) and pop pills.

If anyone has any recommendations for organic/ sulphite free wine please post them, as I haven't really found any I think are any good!
(I know organic isn't the same as sulphite free, but it's often 'no sulphur added' so lower in sulphites).

At one point I found some 'wine drops' called 'Sulfree' which claimed to neutralize the sulphites, but then they stopped making them due to a change in food regulations in the EU I think 😢