Almost five years later, she’s still struggling with severe whole body pain, sleeplessness, depression, painful rashes and boils, uncontrollable urination, short-term memory loss, and irregular periods. Drinking alcohol with long COVID symptoms is not recommended; it can exacerbate symptoms and prolong recovery. Sian Ferguson is a freelance health and cannabis writer based in Cape Town, South Africa. She’s passionate about empowering readers to take care of their mental and physical health through science-based, empathetically delivered information. However, these medications can cause unpleasant side effects, like headaches, which may be worsened with alcohol use. It’s also worth noting that the effects of alcohol — and a hangover — may be particularly unpleasant if you also have COVID-19 symptoms.
Long COVID Symptoms
Alcohol intolerance can happen even to those who aren’t experiencing long COVID, may disappear or become less severe with time, and can be triggered by specific types of alcohol but not others. Although inconvenient, not being able to drink alcohol isn’t the most earth-shattering of symptoms compared with more serious effects. While research on alcohol intolerance post-COVID-19 is limited, numerous anecdotal reports suggest that alcohol intolerance could be a symptom of long COVID for some individuals. In the meantime, clinical trials must be designed to accommodate and include the patients they’re intended for, Vogel said. Many people are house- or bed-bound and can’t travel for multiple in-person visits and risk triggering a flare-up of symptoms, she added. “There’s just too much that you can’t know until you have them at the table,” she said.
Patients undergo a thorough evaluation process that includes a medical history review, physical examination, and laboratory workup. Based on personal medical history and presentation, a personalized treatment plan is then developed. Treatment options at Oasis Medical Institute include both conventional medicine as well as complementary and alternative therapies to ensure a holistic approach to treatment. Recovering from long COVID can be a challenging process, particularly for those experiencing alcohol intolerance as a result of the virus.
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This condition, also known as alcohol intolerance covid a “long hauler” or post-acute COVID-19 syndrome, may be identified by certain physical and mental symptoms. Since this is a case report of just four patients, no causality can be established between long COVID and alcohol sensitivity. “My first few drinks, I was like, ‘oh well, this is just my long COVID pain.’ But when I would have a glass of wine with dinner, I’d feel terrible again,” the Arkansas resident said. “So it finally dawned on me that even small sips of alcoholic drinks were exasperating my symptoms quite a lot.” Harmon now avoids alcohol entirely. When she got COVID in February 2021, she experienced loss of taste and smell for several weeks, which included a weird aversion to foods like onions and guacamole.
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Although the underlying mechanisms aren’t fully understood, the symptom may be linked to the broader condition of long COVID and share similarities with conditions like myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). While research on post-COVID alcohol intolerance is still limited, anecdotal evidence suggests that it’s a symptom experienced by many people following the virus. In lieu of specific treatments, people with long Covid must balance their rest and activity in a strategy called pacing, Brode said, and receive physical and cognitive behavioral therapy for further support.
Sensitivity tests
“Even people that had it mildly, never went to the hospital, treated it all outpatient are like ‘hey man, I never really felt awful, but I never have kind of had that bounce back that I would have expected,'” Dr. Vaughn said. Now, almost three years after her initial COVID diagnosis, Stein is still unable to enjoy any kind of alcohol. Anecdotal data has found that some people have reported a change in how their bodies react to booze after testing positive for the coronavirus. The helpline at AddictionResource.net is available 24/7 to discuss the treatment needs of yourself or a loved one.
- Other potential mechanisms include disruption of the gut microbiome, which has been reported in long COVID and can also be caused by alcohol.
- This theory can explain why many people with long Covid experience cognitive issues, fatigue and exercise intolerance, Koralnik said.
- According to several anecdotal reports, alcohol intolerance, which is characterized by reactions like nausea, low blood pressure, fatigue, and dizziness when consuming alcohol, may be a unique symptom of long COVID.
- Long COVID is a recently identified phenomenon that affects people who have recovered from COVID-19 but continue to experience symptoms for months after the initial infection.
Symptoms following alcohol consumption have also been reported in those with Hodgkin’s lymphoma 4, Epstein-Barr infection 5, and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) 6. Patients with post-viral illnesses can experience a myriad of symptoms, such as persistent fatigue, headaches 7, tachycardia/palpitations, sleep disorders, and dyspnea. In a study on patients diagnosed with ME/CFS, a syndrome that can be triggered by viral infections, two-thirds of patients experience increased alcohol sensitivities leading to a reduction in alcohol intake 8. Recent studies have also reported alcohol sensitivity after the onset of their illness in 65-80% of ME/CFS patients 9.
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When you don’t have enough ALDH2, this final process doesn’t result in alcohol intolerance symptoms. Even when you’re not alcohol intolerant, the buildup of acetaldehyde in your body makes you sick when you drink too much. The peer-reviewed study by researchers at Stanford University concluded that SARS-CoV-2 infection could be related to increased alcohol sensitivity. The group at Stanford’s Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome Clinic studied four patients to determine whether their long-term COVID had any effect on them after alcohol consumption.
- While the exact mechanisms behind alcohol intolerance in long COVID patients are not yet fully understood, experts believe that the virus may cause changes in the body’s immune system and metabolism.
- There is no test for long COVID, and though it is gaining recognition, few American medical providers know how to screen for it.
- There’s growing evidence that it may be a unique symptom of long COVID, particularly the post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS) type.
- When someone has long COVID or ME/CFS, their blood vessels can’t properly respond to signals from the brain to tighten or loosen up.
Some experienced individual symptoms like headaches or a delayed emergence of symptoms resembling a typical “hangover,” while others experienced a general worsening of their PASC symptoms. The alcohol sensitivity that is observed and reported from these patients generates interesting questions and hypotheses. It warrants further study as it may also reveal further insights into pathophysiology and provide guidance for lifestyle management in clinical care. OI is a condition characterized by an individual’s inability to tolerate an upright posture because of an abnormal response of the body’s autonomic nervous system to gravitational changes, resulting in inadequate blood flow to the heart and brain. This condition is notably common in patients with ME/CFS and is becoming increasingly recognized in patients with long COVID or PASC 13-15.
One idea is that remnants of the virus hide in different tissues after an infection subsides, Brode said. These viral particles continue to multiply or stimulate the immune system in ways that trigger long Covid symptoms. NIAAA Director, Dr. George Koob, discusses what we know about how alcohol affects our immune and stress systems, along with issues related to treatment access during the pandemic. Long COVID is still being studied, but what is conclusive is that drinking alcohol will do more harm than good.
While more research is still needed, at least one peer-reviewed study concluded that long COVID has a causal link to increased alcohol intolerance. Long COVID is a condition marked by long-term symptoms and conditions that occur after the acute two-week period of a COVID-19 infection. The condition is more common in those of us who have had a severe COVID-19 infection or are not vaccinated.
A new onset of alcohol sensitivities should be assessed along with other post-COVID-19 symptoms and may provide novel avenues to explore the pathobiology of illness and potential interventions. Alcohol reactions and sensitivity are not well characterized in the literature as it relates to post-viral illness. A 60-year-old male with no prior medical history presented with five months of persistent symptoms following acute COVID infection, including headache, cognitive impairment, anxiety, and mood and sleep disturbances.
For some individuals who have recovered from COVID-19, consuming alcohol can trigger a host of unpleasant symptoms. Understanding these symptoms is vital to identifying and seeking appropriate care for long COVID patients. The experienced medical team at Oasis Medical Institute takes a comprehensive approach to addressing long COVID symptoms, including alcohol intolerance.
Alcohol can cause digestive upset, difficulty sleeping, trouble with concentration, and other unpleasant side effects that may worsen your symptoms. If you don’t have a physical dependency on alcohol, and you drink lightly or moderately, consider stopping while you have COVID-19. Alcohol intolerance is not included in the current list of long COVID symptoms on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) websites. An NIH spokesperson said in an email that the topic was not asked about or analyzed in the agency’s own research, published in May 2023.
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