Comments on: Alcohol, allergies, histamines and sulfites – reactions from an allergist

By: THOMAS

THOMAS — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:49:00 +0000

Sorry everyone, I just couldn’t leave well enough alone! I did some more reading of the professional trials and tests cited in the above article by ‘Dr Vino’. I wanted to add for some clarification and posssibly some assist to others searching for a headache free wine inclusive life, that prior to our ‘non-California’ approach, we had been all the way around the barn on the sulfite free ‘goose chase’, to no avail; trying only organically grown and produced wine as well. I am thinking now, after reading two study results above, that if not the actual Histamine, in the soil and thus the fruit, of California; then maybe it is an organic/chemical level of something else that acts as a trigger, via the wine in my wife’s system that results in her headaches, and maybe others reading here.

I found this: (quote~ DR. GIFFORD JONES — Toronto Sun
Jan. 10, 2006)> Dr. Frietag, also a sufferer of red wine headache, offers a solution. He reports he can drink some reds and not others. For instance, he’s able to imbibe in almost every California wine, but only certain wines from France. However, he adds, some of his patients can only drink French reds! So if you suffer from RWH, so much for that theory.

The Harvard Health Letter suggests that if tannins are the culprit, you should try a wine with a lower tannin content such as Beaujolais instead of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Other experts speculate that many people today are drinking young California red wines, having heard of the health benefits of this nectar. Young wines tend to have more of the substances that cause headaches but some of these become inert with age. The answer, they say then, is to drink older wines to reduce the risk of exposure to RWH[red wine headache]. (end quote)

Well, thanks again for letting me add my two cents. Hoping all with this unfortunate nuisance will find their way to enjoying red wines to their liking and headache free!

Good tasting, Thomas

By: THOMAS

THOMAS — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:11:18 +0000

Just though I would share this anecdote on the subject at hand . . .

Set the “way back machine”,Sherman, to early 2000′s; wifey constantly getting ‘wine headaches’,bad ones! So she swore off wine, MAJOR bummer! Two years or so off wine, we are at an event in Boston, and a wine club is set up doing promo for their schtick, including tastings. We explain our plight to the guy at the booth, and he listens with empathy and understanding; long story sickening, he is from California, a gardner, a wine guy, and a chef. He advises us to try wines that are not sourced from product grown in California soils, saying – and this to the point of this thread – California soils contain higher levels of histamines. Since we have employed his advice, wifey has been ‘wine headache’ free. Does she miss out on some extraordinary product from CA? Yes, however she does NOT miss the headaches! So, any correlation of this experience on this topic? You decide. Thanks for letting me share.

Good tasting every one!

Thomas

By: Terry

Terry — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:04:58 +0000

For over fifteen years I have not been able to drink alcohol due to a condition called Samter’s Triad. IT is asthma, nasal polyps and an allergy to aspirin/ibuprofren. Any type of alcohol (including beer) can be added to the mix. I’m really starting to think that sulfites could be the cause of my problems with the nasal polyps. I do miss the occasional glass of wine.

By: Annie

Annie — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:29:20 +0000

I LOVE red wine. On many occassions, it does bother me in the form of stuffy nose and asthma-like symptoms for the next day or 2. It is not consistant and only happens about 1/2 of the time. I think it probably has more to do with my body and what is going on inside than the wine. I am guessing the wine may trigger something but not the cause. I usually take a few sips and see where it is going before I proceed. Usually one glass will be OK if I pay attention to what is happening in my body. However, if I proceed slowly I can usaully figure it out pretty quickly whether or not I can have more. I am unwilling to give it up (so few things I enjoy so much!!) so this process seems to work for me.

So, somtimes it is not an all-or-nothing proposition. I think of it as “use caution and proceed slowly”…..

Cheers!!

By: Dave Ryan

Dave Ryan — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:53:25 +0000

My reaction to drinking wine is shortness of breath. I am asthmatic so I must be in that small percentage of people that are prone to sensivity to sulfites. I developed the sensitivity in my 40′s. Before that I never had a problem. I stopped drinking alcohol altogether for about 10 years. I was being treated for cervical spondylosis by a practioner of Chinese medicine. He used a combination of acupunture and Tui-Na. I told him about my asthma and sulfite sensitivity. After treatment I was able to tolerate wine drinking again. That was about 2 years ago. The problem seems to be returning. I will go back to get more treatment and see if it is effective.

By: Magda Neser

Magda Neser — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:58:40 +0000

I have a different problem out of the blue when I drink wine I get with some heart pulpatations and now a days I find that I get hot spouts my feet hands ears are starting to warm up so badly I can sleep something like hot flusses.
What could this be please advise?

By: Furkan Güngör / Blog

Furkan Güngör / Blog — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:59:18 +0000

Furkan Güngör / Blog…

[...]Wine, allergies, histamines and sulfites – reactions from an allergist | Dr Vino's wine blog[...]…

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By: Sharon

Sharon — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:46:48 +0000

I’ve read the article and all the posts here and still have no clue as to what “allergen” my body may be responding to. For the past 27 years, I’ve had a reaction to both wine and beer that causes a burning sensation in my face/forehead with resulting bright red splotches — this after only a sip or two of wine (red or white). I have the same reaction to niacin tablets. A couple of weeks ago I developed a light, itchy rash on my wrists. A few days ago I got the same, but more intense, rash while crushing grapes (our own organic) for wine and realized the first rash developed after I crushed grapes for juice. So, what’s the common denominator between beer/wine/grapes that can cause both an internal and external reaction?

By: Scarlett Hepworth

Scarlett Hepworth — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 19:23:11 +0000

I have never been bothered by the sulfites in wine. I’m a wine enthusiast, live in California, and never ever have had a reaction to sulfites in wine. BUT: I cannot eat a serving of french fries from a burger joint or a salad at a restaurant without having an attack of severe phlegm-filled coughing within about 20 minutes of finishing. Why don’t the sulfites in wine bother me the way the added sulfites in restaurant produce do.

By: Fonda

Fonda — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:54:24 +0000

Can I contact you and show you some photos of the allergic reaction I ha over the weekend? It has to be from alcohol an it was really bad! Thanks!

By: Sondra

Sondra — Fri, 20 May 2011 19:51:03 +0000

If you are missing an enzyme, it is not an allergy. Your lack of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) results in metabolic products that cause your reactions. An allergy means that your body is making antibodies to ADH or antthing else. The ADH problem is most often seen in Asian people, a genetic error.

Quite a shame to not be able to enjoy wine.

By: Candace Mc

Candace Mc — Fri, 20 May 2011 19:01:07 +0000

I really am allergic to alcohol. I do not possess the enzyme required to process alcohol by breaking it down into two components — one is sugar, the other is released through the lungs — the one that gives most people that “happy” feeling. In my case there is no “happy” feeling. I do not have the aldehydedehydrogenase in my bloodstream – the enzyme of which I speak. It is hereditary. Basically, if I take a sip of alcohol it turns into formaldehyde when it hits my lips and I have trouble breathing and get extremely ill, requiring antibiotics. It probably wouldn’t kill me — I just get very, very sick. My father had it too — later in life for him. He could not drink either — Like father, like daughter!

By: Susan (commoncents)

Susan (commoncents) — Sun, 15 May 2011 13:25:38 +0000

Hello Dr. Vino. Nice to find your site. I am not a Winer but perhaps a Whiner.

Wine and aged cheese eaten at one time gave me two full days of headache pain. We can speak about numbers and sulfites and molds as to the cause but, if it bothers one …cut out the offender. However, if wine is ones drink of choice, one may want to try this…..

Make your own wine. If the processed and ‘supposedly fine’ wines bother you, find a wonderful older Italian or French gentleman and he can tell you how to make wine naturally. The house I rented for four years in the 60′s had very old grapevines brought from Italy in the back. The man who owned them would come up and gather the grapes and make red wine every year. He couldn’t make much with only one arbor, but knew how to care for the vines, to get the best from them naturally. His wine was wonderful and clear. I suppose now they would call it organic. I called it exceptional.

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