Alcohol. Can you tolerate it?

I would just like to know who can tolerate alcohol please?
If you could but cant now.
Do you also have Fibro/CFS.

I find it makes me feel really weird and now dont touch it.
But not sure if it is the migraine disease or my fibro.

Got a wedding reception and a christening coming up.
No idea if I will get to them but...
I wouldn't mind just a drop but just not sure.

Thanks

can't really drink much anymore and it's down to migraine.

hope you make it there ok and have a nice time.

I take elderflower cordial with me to special do's as a backup.

Di

pen,

Before the migraines, I used to tolerate alcohol pretty well...now all it takes is 2 margaritas and I'm puking sick. Something definately changed. Now I just stay away from drinking all together.

I guess I got turned off from drinking because during my migraines, I feel extremely drunk/hungover...but the kind of drunk that's not very much fun if ya know what I mean? There's no in between from a little tipsy to puking sick!

In my opinion, I would not risk making myself sick by drinking. I already lose so many days to these horrific migraines.

For me, drinking is like playing Russian Roulette...it's not worth it.

Besides, you can still have fun without drinking. Hope you can make it there and have a good time.

Dawn

Thanks both of you. It isnt just me then, and could be the migrianes alone, dont need the FMS
I dont feel I need to drink, just thought a spritzer might be nice for once, but probably not worth the risk.
I have not drunk anything stronger than a shandy for about 10 years.
Boy to people try to get you to though. My sons in laws.....every time...oh not just a white wine Pen....
Well if you have Vodka that wont effect you.....I see them fairly often and we start over every bloody time...
Nice folks but cant understand why drink is not important to me, especially not worth migraine.
Pen
They will be at the Christening, but not the wedding do.

Pen,

I know, my sister and her husband are alcoholics and can't understand why I keep turning them down. I tell them it's because I don't want to risk inducing a migraine, but they just roll their eyes at me. They tend to take it personally when I refuse to drink with them.

All I can say to them is get over it. If you knew the pain I went through during these migraines, you would do anything in your power to prevent them! It's like they can't just enjoy my company...I stopped being bothered by their reactions though. In the end I have to do what's right for me. I am certainly not making myself sick to accommodate to their feelings!

Good luck to ya.

Dawn

I haven't had alcohol for over 30 years. Having a low resistance (as you do) to everything I can't touch it. PS I hope you will be able to attend the wedding. G.

Hi P,

Alcohol is a no no. I just need to sniff at a glass of wine and on comes a migraine.
I generally avoid it, but sometimes in social situations I end up with a glass of wine/champagne in my hand. I started to pretend to drink it, because I don't want to go into lenghty explanations why I can't drink.

As a teenager, before my migraines started I was perfectly able to have the odd drink without any after effects. How things have changed.

Having said that, I don't really care for alcohol. It doesn't really taste nice and it makes people do stupid things. So no big loss really.

P

I never know if alcohol is going to trigger one so I don't drink very often. When I do I make sure Im off work the next day.

I have a high tolerance to booze, it takes quite a bit to get me going.

I don't have fiber.

I am beginning to think it is the migraine "disease" not the fibro that makes this particular sensitivity.

I do get confused, I seem to react to all sorts of things that I never did.
I have drunk plenty of alcohol since getting migraines without it even causing a migraine.

Something changed...

Pen

Pen,

I used to be a bartender and a party girl. I could drink grown Irishmen under the table. Now I have 2 drinks and I feel like I drank a whole bottle. And not only do I get a rotten migraine, but I am hungover (nauseous, upset tummy, sweaty, head pain) for 3 days!

It just isn't worth it.

I have found that I can have on glass of white wine or one vodka cocktail (not a martini, too much booze). And be ok. But beer, brown liquor (bourbon, scotch, tequila), or red wine do it every time.

I think I am still fun without the booze But I sure don't get out much anymore, even without the drinking. Too much input. Too much noise, light, conversation. It is hard. I hope you can rest up and make it to the shower and the wedding.

I hav gotten good at staying for a little while, pretending to drink a cocktail, chatting and then leaving.

My husband actually has some good advice. During college he didn't drink beer. But he found that when he went to a party people though he was odd. So he would walk around with a half a beer in a cup. It looked like he was drinking it and it was full enough that no one felt the need to refill it! I think that was very clever!

Good luck!

Mary Anne

It's definitely the migraines. I have Fibro too and alcohol doesn't really have an effect on my pain levels or tolerance of things. But migraines sure have. I don't drink anymore, except for the odd event like my son's wedding. I had a glass of white wine and a glass of champagne and sure enough the next day was lost to a nasty migraine. My brother was up from San Diego and I only spent about 3 hours with him as I had to lie down most of the day.

That was the first alcohol I've had in about three years. I pretty much figured that since I was working on three to fours hours sleep a night for the last two nights, with most of that time spent standing up while baking and decorating the wedding cakes., Sunday was going to be a big let-down day. I was in so much pain already that a glass of wine sounded really good. I was able to enjoy the party. I was so happy that the endorphins were doing their job and alleviated some of the pain. I had great talks with some of Chris's closest friends. It was absolutely fabulous.

I have been to lot of events while not drinking. I just say my medication prohibits drinking. Not many people argue with that. And it usually works way better than saying I don't want to get a migraine since I get the same response from some people. White wine or vodka.... the "acceptable" drink....
So I drink either ice tea or cranberry juice (which gets served in a "drink" glass so it looks like a vodka and cranberry. Good for avoiding questions in a bar setting).

My tolerance for alcohol slowly got narrower over the 30+ years I've had them. By my late thirties pretty much all alcohol triggered a migraine. It's easy to not drink, I have great motivation. And since I am not worried about whether this drink is going to trigger a migraine, I can relax more and enjoy myself. Which is the whole point... relax and enjoy your family and friends.

Remember, alcohol is just a trigger not a cause. There are lots of other things working on our brains all the time, if a few of those got changed by environment, age, medical condition, etc, our trigger fuse gets shorter and things that didn't seem to bother use before are more apparent.

I'm in a rambling mood, obviously.. Nice quiet Sunday morning with my tea and no real head pain.