Alcohol why does this work

[Darran321]

looking for some advice, if I drink alcohol on a night which is once a week, why the following day do I feel great with no pain, I as wondering what medication or supplement I could use to substitute the alcohol and have the same affect.

 

[taniaaust1]

You may not have ME/CFS, alcohol intollerance is so common in us that it was even discussed with being added into the diagnostic criteria. If its making you feel great, that isnt usual at all for us.

 

[Cheesus]

looking for some advice, if I drink alcohol on a night which is once a week, why the following day do I feel great with no pain, I as wondering what medication or supplement I could use to substitute the alcohol and have the same affect.

I disagree with @taniaaust1. ME is highly heterogenous and getting a benefit from alcohol would not rule out ME even if alcohol sensitivity were on the diagnostic criteria.

I do not know why it helps you feel better. I'm sure there could be a number of reasons. There are a few theories that there are subsets of ME related to poor circulation and alcohol is a blood thinner, so perhaps that may have something to do with it. Obviously, however, it is impossible to know. I have seen other people on this forum saying they feel better after alcohol too. Perhaps if you use the search function you will come across the posts - it wasn't that long ago.

 

[gregh286]

there is a good thread somewhere here "better with alcohol", or similar.
quite a few of us better with alcohol.
in my case its due to the vasodilatory nature and increased blood flow.
be careful with it as it double edged sword.
can suppress your adrenals even more and prolong recovery.
use it with food and sparingly.

 

[AndyPandy]

I'm alcohol intolerant and it makes my IBS, generalised pain and fatigue much worse. Didn't have any issues with it before developing ME.

 

[Living Dead]

Probable reasons:

• It dilates blood vessels
• It increases the effect of GABA
• It decreases the effect of glutamate on NMDA receptors

It also does a whole lot of other things, which may or may not be relevant.

For people who have an aquired alcohol intolerance I suspect they are low in NADH, which is required to break down alcohol. Many beverages with alcohol also contains histamine, which is a potential problem substance.

 

[Jenny]

You may not have ME/CFS, alcohol intollerance is so common in us that it was even discussed with being added into the diagnostic criteria. If its making you feel great, that isnt usual at all for us.

I've never had a problem with alcohol. It has no effect, good or bad.

 

[Mrs Sowester]

I feel better after a glass of fizz, but not every evening or it starts to mess with my sleep. My daughter is the same.

 

[Snowdrop]

I'm wondering if alcohol intolerance in PwME is more about OI/POTS since a high percentage of us have it.
So many cannot tolerate it but if it makes you feel better perhaps it's because it's a CNS depressant.

 

[Mrs Sowester]

If I recall correctly wasn't it about 30% of pwme who responded to the poll here on PR who said they can tolerate alcohol?

 

[Marky90]

If you fit the diagnostic criteria, you have ME even though you get better from alcohol. Why does it work? No one knows. It could be due to loads of things. Maybe our nervous system is dysfunctional, and alcohol makes it work much slower.

 

[TiredSam]

You may not have ME/CFS, alcohol intollerance is so common in us that it was even discussed with being added into the diagnostic criteria. If its making you feel great, that isnt usual at all for us.

Strongly disagree with this. I've been diagnosed as fitting the CCC and G93.3 from a very credible institution, and alcohol makes me feel better too. Doubting someone's diagnosis isn't much of a welcome to a new member.

there is a good thread somewhere here "better with alcohol", or similar.
quite a few of us better with alcohol.
in my case its due to the vasodilatory nature and increased blood flow.

Me too, I think. For the last few months I've been drinking 250 ml of red wine every evening and I think feeling better for it, certainly no worse. I'm cutting it down to 125 ml and not every evening now, but that's only because I'm making a last-ditch attempt to loose some kgs I can't exercise off any more. If that fails I probably won't be too bothered, as it'll mean I can say "at least I tried", and then just give up and go back on the wine

 

[gregh286]

there is another solution.
wear a wetsuit top below your tshirt..
3mm is fine....dont need a 5mm winter one..
you will sweat heavily and dilate like mad.
your family may worry about your mental state but im sure theyve seen it all by now.
this helps 2 ways....detox through skin and dilation helps clear debris from cells that are "suffocating". Cells will get more oxygen etc as arterioles widen.
bizarre but works.

 

[gregh286]

there is another solution.
wear a wetsuit top below your tshirt..
3mm is fine....dont need a 5mm winter one..
you will sweat heavily and dilate like mad.
your family may worry about your mental state but im sure theyve seen it all by now.
this helps 2 ways....detox through skin and dilation helps clear debris from cells that are "suffocating". Cells will get more oxygen etc as arterioles widen.
bizarre but works.

btw my entire protocol since feb has been based on vasidilation and i am 90% function.i alternate sauna..red wine.....baths.....wetsuits....NO boosters and high carb food....and vindaloo

 

[TiredSam]

your family may worry about your mental state but im sure theyve seen it all by now.

Yes.

baths

Baths can go 2 ways with me. I can feel better after one if my muscles have been aching, but from a BP point of view they can wipe me out, get my head pumping and headachy.

 

[gregh286]

Yes.

Baths can go 2 ways with me. I can feel better after one if my muscles have been aching, but from a BP point of view they can wipe me out, get my head pumping and headachy.

yea at my worst baths were hard to tolerate...heart just couldnt keep up with the increased HR.
it just depends.on your adrenal state.
guys on here talking a lot about the latest nauiveax et al study and looks like were hibernating.
lams been saying this years ago!! its not new news.

https://www.drlam.com/articles/adrenal_crash_and_recovery_cycle.asp

 

[Chocolove]

wondering what medication or supplement I could use to substitute the alcohol and have the same affect.

@Darran321 Perhaps scouring the AA forums may help to come up with the answer.

 

[TigerLilea]

You may not have ME/CFS, alcohol intollerance is so common in us that it was even discussed with being added into the diagnostic criteria. If its making you feel great, that isnt usual at all for us.

Only some people with CFS/ME have alcohol intolerance. Rich Van K felt that people who drank on a regular basis before CFS probably didn't have problems with alcohol because their bodies were used to it. It was the people who didn't drink often that found they couldn't tolerate much or any alcohol once they came down with CFS/ME.

 

[flybro]

i can't take alcohol, for me the 2nd/3rd day after drinking seemed worse than the morning after.

 

[Dufresne]

If alcohol works for you, you might also want to try guaifenesin and/or dextromethorphan. Some say they're helpful for pain associated with ME/CFS and fibromyalgia. And if they do indeed help, NMDA antagonism may be the reason.