I get redness on face and eyes when I consume alcohol. Is this alcohol intolerance?

Question

Hello doctor,

I have some infection in my liver, which I got to know through LFT test. Also, I have been drinking alcohol since three to four years, but never encountered this problem. But now, I have developed alcohol intolerance. Even if I consume one peg now my face and eye reddens, and my heart starts beating very fast. Kindly help.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have seen the attachment (attachment removed to protect patient identity).

First, the liver function tests are not much abnormal and dos not seem to happen due to alcohol intake. However, your weight may be the cause of that much deranged liver function tests. Overweight can cause fatty liver disease or simply fat in the liver. I need to recommend you some more investigations to confirm this.

Plus infection of some virus can be the cause of it, but they need to be actively investigated with some blood tests, which I will write below for you. The common infection causing persistent elevation of liver enzymes are hepatitis C and B viral infection. Do not get frightened, we would just exclude then by blood tests, and they can very well controlled if found, in case.

Lastly, your concern of being red after alcohol. Well, be guided that some redness of the skin is common after alcohol intake. The reason is alcohol causes vasodilation means dilation of the blood veins and arteries supplying to the skin. So flushing is common to alcohol intake. Some other common symptoms after taking alcohol are diarrhea, increase urine production, numbness, and mental fog. But none of the above-mentioned symptoms you have except the redness.

The other explanation which seems to be rare and may not be present in you is Disulfiram reaction. This is similarly the same symptoms constellation as mentioned above but are more pronounced. There are some foods, medication which can interfere the alcohol metabolism. In the liver, it can cause increased flushing and increased heart rate.

You mention that you are not on any medication at moment, can you recall having medication in the recent past like in last few weeks namely, Metronidazole, Tinidazole, or any antibiotics? Did you use mushrooms, walnuts? Kindly recall and let me know.