# Anyone having problems with alcohol? Is this even IBS related??



## atoosagurl (Aug 7, 2003)

I am IBS-D and when I drink I am usually OK the night of drinking,but the whole next day I have bad D attacks like you wouldn't believe! But my question has nothing to do with that. When I drink I will feel drunk, and I will have had only 4 beers. 4 Beers doesn't seem like a lot, but I will wake up at around 5-6am and run to the bathroom to puke my guts out. Then I will wake up on average every hour and puke up to 4 more times on the hour!Last night I had 2 beers....TWO! I didn't even feel drunk, and yet I puked 4 times this morning. Does anyone know what that could be from? Is it IBS related?


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## Guest (Aug 31, 2003)

this is just like me! that is so weird. when I drink I actually feel great! but the next day I get terrible terrible cramping. I think the sedative affect of the alcohol helps with the cramping that may cause D and in my case just spasms and Gas. But the next day the body swings wildly in the other direction-not sure why. My tolerance is also way down and also get puking feeling when I'm not drunk. Not sure what that is about but didn't have it before ibs. We may be absorbing alcohol differently than others without ibs. Or perhaps when the cramping starts it stays in our systema and then the body wants to evacuate it: aka, D and puking.I have no idea what I'm talking about! Just a guess.


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## Pitzi (Mar 15, 2003)

I cant touch beer, makes my IBS much much worse!!


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## matrixd (Jul 31, 2003)

went out last night as i do every sat night. i took 1 immodium tablet plus an inderal tab to help with my anxiety. as soon as i had 3 cans of beer i felt like i was bloating up. felt very uncomfortable. then as soon as i had two more beers in the pub it sent me straight to the toilet for very loose BM with some D. i could feel it coming all night. dont seem to have any tollerance for beer at all and if i drink 4 beers quicly, i'll be dizzy and start puking badly. feel like a lightweight but i know its ibs related. wonder why the beer has such a negative effect? anyone any suggestions for anti-anxiety drugs to take, instead of inderal?


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## badger1 (Jan 26, 2002)

Try a trial of not drinking for say a week and see if your symptoms improve.There are those whose stomachs are very sensitive to alcohol.Give it a try.


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## scajacuada (Jul 8, 2003)

I've read nothing that links alcohol with IBS in the manner you describe. Possibly you might have a certain alcohol sensitivity unrelated to your colon. Lots of perfectly healthy people can't touch alcohol, assuming that's causing your reaction. Note, however, that if you have a wheat intolerance, beer will be as much a problem as breads and pasta. Wine, especially red, produces migraines and other reactions in those with sensitivity to it. If its the alcohol itself, you'd get the same reaction from Nyquil.


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## mandsu815 (Aug 6, 2003)

Matrixd-Anti anxiety drugs increase the effects of alcohol. I started prozac last week, which by the way has improved my syptoms about 95%, and this weekend I had one drink and I felt drunk. These drugs basically make you get drunk faster.


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## greg2101 (Aug 28, 2003)

I really don't think that alcohol is to great for IBS sufferers but I noticed different effects from different types of beer. For example corona does not bother me to much. However, dark or heavy beers make me very tired and sick the following day. White wine is worse than red wine. Some red wines better than others. I rarely drink but when I do I know a few wines and beers that cause me the least reaction.Trial and error.


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## Dawn68 (Aug 22, 2003)

The last 2 years I had to quit drinking. I used to be able to drink a couple beers but now I will vomit every time I drink. It is just one more thing I have had to give up with IBS. I hear some people do better with wine. I have a hard time with all kinds. Good luck!


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## DocHollis (Sep 2, 2003)

Bubbles open the valves between the stomach and the duodenum, the duodenum and the intestine, allowing stomach acid into them, causing the reactions in question. Alcohol gets into the blood stream faster! Think Champagne or a beer and a shot-quick drunks. The side effects in the morning are heavy. Test for alcohol sensitivity by trying a glass of something bubble-free and do like the rest of the world, drink it with a meal! If your're okay with that, change your drinking habits. Wine, bloody marys, black russians, manhattans, etc... if it's the bubbles. If it's the alcohol, well... there's help for that out there!


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## wlwoodma (Jun 16, 2003)

My drinking experience is similar in that the next day after drinking I felt like I was going to die (not just IBS problems but just feeling horrible). Beer would make the IBS stuff worse but any alcohol was starting to make me feel really bad the next day and I also started to vomit after drinking significantly less alcohol than before. My husband was pretty alarmed and we really thought thru it and our resulting "theory" is that the IBS affects your aborption of nutrients so that when you do drink it screws up your blood sugar bsdly so you puke easier and feel the next morning effects much worse. I have been able to lessen my IBS symptoms greatly in the last few months and now can drink moderately, although I avoid beer totally. I try and pay close attention to what I eat if I am drinking and never drink if my IBS is bad. I am interested in what everyone thinks about this. I was able to drink several days this past holiday weekend and feel great! SG


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## scajacuada (Jul 8, 2003)

There's a lot of bad science on this thread. If you drink alcohol and you vomit, you simply drank too much, and that might even mean drinking any alcohol at all. IBS is not a catch-all explanation for everything that goes wrong.


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## wlwoodma (Jun 16, 2003)

possibly I drank too much and that made me vomit but usually 3 beers isn't enough to do that for me. I admit I don't know the answer to the connection between alcohol and IBS; I am just posting my experiences. I apologize if I made it seem like more than just my own personal theory. I agree we all blame IBS but I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss it in all cases either.SG


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## Gimmeyotummy (Jul 28, 2003)

Let me just say--I officially CANNOT drink anymore. I have IBS-D and GERD, and absolutely have to steer clear. I too am on anti-anxiety meds as well, and you really CANNOT mix the two. Maybe one glass of wine, but it is not a good idea. I know of someone who unfortunately died, as he was on Xanax and drank a large ammount of alchol one night, and he never woke up. Be careful! They are not meant to mix! But, overall, I just don't drink. I hope that eventually I will be able to, but for now, it doesn't really bother me. I did **** myself though one night after serious drinking, and beleive me, you don't want to experience that!Good Luck!


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## Gimmeyotummy (Jul 28, 2003)

Oh yeah, I also vomit profusely, and have in the past ended up at the hospital due to the dehydration from the vomiting and D.


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## Marius (Jan 26, 2003)

How different the IBS experience can be! My symptoms diminish when I drink. I relax, and don't hear a peep from my gut. Just as there seems to be no rhyme or reason to diet, the same seems to be true for alcohol consumption.


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## bellyknot (Jul 24, 2000)

I had pain and D (I'm usually C type) after a party night. Was diagnosed with IBS but actually I have chronic pancreatitis. For goodness sakes, if alcohol doesn't agree with you, leave it alone.







Where's the fun in being sick? I wish I had listened to my own advice for the last 20 years. It would have saved me alot of pain and grief.


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## atoosagurl (Aug 7, 2003)

Marius:My gut feels fine when I drink too, I also get relaxed and so forth. It's _after_ I have drank however many beers when I feel crappy. Like I will have a good night, have had 2 maybe 3 beers (and I used to be able to drink 8 or 9), come home around 2 still feeling good, no nausea, nothing. But then around 6 in the morning I will wake up and just _know_ that I gotta run to the bathroom to vomit. After I have vomited the first time, I will usually puke every hour after that, for about 4 or 5 hours....NOT FUN!Another example is last new years eve. I had finished not even half of a mickey of bacardi, and I was soooooooo sick. My bf said I must have puked about 15-20 times, I was SICK, and all I drank was the equivelent of 3 beers.Why does this happen? I used to have fun and REALLY drink!!!


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## Poohpants (Aug 30, 2003)

beer is a big no no in my case and dont even mention mixed drinks. non alcoholic beer doesnt cause the gas,bloating,"runs" but then you dont get the beer buzz either.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Even wihout IBS Alcohol can irritate the lining of the stomach and can cause diarrhea.Everyone has a different tolerance for alcohol.For what it is worth the healthy amount of alcohol for anyone to drink regularly (so this isn't you can save up for days and drink all of it on the weekend...this is daily maximums for healthy moderate drinking) is 2 drinks for a man and one for a woman. People who drink about this much or somewhat less tend to test healthies for the longest. Once you start drinking more than that on any sort of a regular basis you usually start to get long-term negative on the health thing... so in my mind 4 beers in a evening is rather a lot of alochol rather than a small amount, but that is my opinionNow this isn't enough to make you drunk, for most people, but it can be enough to make many people tipsy if they do not regularly binge on alcohol. Many people you find that drink 4 or more drinks without getting tipsy/drunk are people who routinely drink a LOT of alcohol. And I know people that regularly get quite drunk on one drink (or at least pretty tipsy....for me a lot depends on how exhausted I am, how much I have eaten, etc. I can get awfully drunk on one beer under the right circumstances)4 drinks in a fairly short period of time (less than 3-4 hours) is enough to make most people legally drunk, so it may be imparing you even if you don't feel it (you can be too drunk to drive, but still feel like you are not drunk...any alcohol makes it harder to notice that your reaction time is down, etc) Personally, my stomach has a two drink maximum. One is always OK (and always has been IBS or not) Two may be OK, but Three is always going to make me puke and two will if they are too strong. Now if I drink very slowly like one every 2-3 hours sometimes I can get away with 2 strong ones.


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