Better with alcohol

deleder2k

deleder2k

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Why do my OI issues go away when I drink 5-6+ beers? I know alcohol is a pain killer, but the cramps in my leg go away and I feel so much better.


I've read multiple times that alcohol is bad for OI, and I feel so much better... strange.


Does anyone have a clue?
 
deleder2k

deleder2k

Senior Member
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1,130
OI = orthostatic intolerance. Yes, I do have CFS/ME. It is strange... I know that alcohol is a painkiller itself, but I do get more energy and feel less dizzy... it doesn't add up.
 
gregh286

gregh286

Senior Member
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980
Location
Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
hi,
yes, very strange. Beer has an unusual effect i think of "opening" up the gut wall a little more, hence allowing more nutrients into bloodstream. I know it can knock CFS people of their feet, but its a complex disorder with many faces.
Do you get instant relief or next day
 
deleder2k

deleder2k

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Instant. Next day is not so good, hehe. But it depends on how much I drink. 5-6 beers are enough to relieve my symptoms.
 
DanME

DanME

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289
Hi again ;). Alcohol makes me much worse. A small glass of wine is fine, but a little more and I feel very dizzy and tremendously tired.

So half a year ago I completely switched to non-alcoholic beer (especially wheat beer) and surprisingly it eases my OI symptoms. I discovered that most non-alcoholic beer is isotonic to hypotonic and probably it helps rising blood volume and so perfusion. Then I tried some other isotonic drinks. They help a little, too, but beer has the best effect.

Alcohol is a diuretic and dehydrates your body. It widens the vessels and interacts with the nervous system (as we all know;).

My best guess is, you profit more from the beer than from the alcohol. Try, if you have the same or an even better effect with non-alcoholic beer.
 
deleder2k

deleder2k

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1,130
@DanielBR, but vodka and wine does the same for me. Jägermeister too! I have very trouble with my legs. It feels like the blood flow is severely handicapped. I got the intermittent claudication symptoms. I am 24 and never had a smoke. Going to the hospital in a month or so to have it checked with ultra sound.

Could it be that the alcohol widenes my blood vessels so that the blood flow increases? http://www.meassociation.org.uk/201...ional-journal-of-cardiology-10-november-2011/
 
DanME

DanME

Senior Member
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289
In my opinion it is a marker (or a nice hint).

A lot patients have the experience, they get worse from alcohol. I always thought, the reason is its effect on the vascular system. It is a potent vasodilator and probably even more blood sinks into the legs and the abdomen. As well its diuretic effects lower the blood volume.

Alcohols mechanism of action on the nervous system is remarkably not very well known. But we all know, it makes people dizzy and light headed.
 
DanME

DanME

Senior Member
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289
@deleder2k Hm...I am not sure, but alcohol definitely widens the vessels (especially in the periphery). That is why drunk people, who fall asleep outside in winter, die very fast.

But it shouldn't resolve all your OI symptoms. It should make your dizziness worse.

Do you have high or low blood pressure. Did you have a tilt table test? Did you try Aspirin?
 
deleder2k

deleder2k

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1,130
I have low somewhat low blood pressure. Never tried tilt table test, but I get dizzy sometimes when sitting up. Especially when I wake in the morning. Started with propranolol 4 weeks ago. It works. It also relieves me of high pulse rate which I get sometimes.
 
I

Iquitos

Senior Member
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513
Location
Colorado
I was alcohol intolerant for decades but since starting medical cannabis, I can have a couple of glasses of red wine and feel just fine. They both make me a little dizzy right after I take them, but it passes in 10-15 minutes.

I've read somewhere, sorry don't remember where, that the cannabis chemicals do something to affect the body's response to alcohol. Maybe it was @Hip who pointed that out?

I understand that the hops used to make beer is related to cannabis, botanically.
 
heapsreal

heapsreal

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In australia, there was a footballer who had cfs, the only way he could sleep was to drink, not to get drunk but just a couple to relax. He was a high profile person here, so he said he use to have different liquor stores mapped out that he would use so he wouldnt be seen at the same one all the time and not get a reputation as an alcoholic.

I think it was dr bell who wrote an article on pots/oi and how narcotic pain killers seem to help some with this issue. I can recall the ins and outs of it, but maybe its a similar situation with alcohol for some.

I find drinking hit and miss, usually a miss in that it makes me feel like crap. Dam i miss a good drinking session and watching the sun come up while sitting around a fire.
 
heapsreal

heapsreal

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deleder2k said:
@heapsreal, hopefully we can do that in a few years. Either with Rituximab, or with somewhat else. Then you can head down to Gold Coast and be like the British in Magaluf, hehe
Click to expand...

The best sessions i had were in an old dusty country pub, beer tastes better when in the dusty outback and the people are better too.
 
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