A sudden acquired intolerance to alcohol has been reported in many different situations: post concussion syndrome; after minor head injury; in CFS/ME, neurasthenia; hyperventilation; after fever, recent surgery; in battle fatigue; after shipwreck. All these situations, especially with weight loss or dehydration, can lead to low perilymph pressure and a hypersensitive state of the auditory and vestibular parts of the inner ear. In such a state, the ears become particularly sensitive to a very wide range of drugs, including alcohol.
Is there any good reason why this simple general explanation does not apply to all cases of alcohol intolerance?
Many Asians are intolerant of alcohol because of variation in the ALDH2 gene. So are symptoms of a hyperactive inner ear (endolymphatic hydrops) part of the Asian Flush or Glow after taking alcohol? Characteristic symptoms would include pressure sensation in head/ears; sensitivity to noise; dizziness; nausea; tinnitus; distorted hearing?
Another situation where alcohol intolerance would be predicted is after cancer chemotherapy, where nausea is prominent. Weight loss, dehydration and possibly use of powerful drugs are likely to induce hydrops, sensitizing the ear to many other drugs and toxins. See London Times Sep 15 Times2 p 6:
"Every night until nine years ago, they [Hunter Davies, Margaret Forster] shared a bottle of wine, arguing about who had drunk more. 'And when she went off alcohol because of the treatment, I drank her portion'.."
The jockey Walter Swinburn had a perennial battle to stay at least two stone beneath his natural weight. When accused of assault in a drunken rage, part of his defence was that his eating disorder had reduced his tolerance to alcohol.
Obituary The Times Dec 14 2016
Another situation where dehydration and low perilymph pressure is likely.
I believe that autism is primarily a peripheral ear disease, specifically Meniere Spectrum Disorder. In MSD the inner ear is in (usually) a hypersensitive state, including the vestibular part which is the body's sentinel for toxins. The accounts below confirm this nonspecific drug hyperactivity. Hypo-reactivity is also mentioned, which also occurs at times in MSD. The involvement of the ear in abnormal reactions to drugs was first noted by Itard two centuries ago. Dizziness plus vomiting is usually (? always) triggered from the vestibular organs in the ear (as any GP knows).
"What's the reason I don't react to drugs like other people? Is it because I'm autistic?...
Zem Jones, works at Higher Education
Answered 22h ago
It will depend on the drug and the biomedical make-up of the individual.
Autism is not a personality disorder but a genetically based developmental difference and, as such, it affects the processing of sensory stimuli and the biochemical make-up of the brain and body...
I also don’t use alcohol because of my unusual reaction - it triggers an unpleasant form of synaesthesia where my whole body feels wet - ugh! - and anyway I can’t drink more than one glass without passing out because I react so strongly that it only takes 2 glasses of something like wine for me to pass through all the stages - giggly by half a glass, roaring drunk by one and a half, and on the floor by 2!
That’s obviously the exact opposite of what you are talking about and it’s very common for autistic people to react more strongly to drugs such as antidepressants and antipsychotics than most people. Many people on the spectrum need lower dosages of those sorts of drugs...
Gareth Greetham, High functioning ASD, M.E. Sufferer, probably a little blunt for my own good.
Answered Sat
The autistic brain is different. So the effects will be different. I had similar experiences in my teens.
It does mean you have to be more careful though. I had a rather interesting amphetamine based Christmas. Felt fine. Had energy. Got though a fair cracknwithout really noticing. Didn't sleep for a week and then the comedown left me in hospital. So all told, you need to watch yourself. Especially on long term harm. It's like holding your hand in a fire but not feeling it burn until it is too late.
If recreational drugs are your thing, that is your decision, but be aware that having ASD means you may have to be a lot more careful and informed about what you take...
Heidi Embrey
Answered Sat
It could be. I have something weird where I seem to react in an exact opposite way as others to drugs. For examples Antihistamines cause me to be unable to sleep, or Marijuana makes me hyper. Unlike you I am super sensitive to drugs and their side effects. There are no medications that will ease my pain when I’m in pain not even Morphine or Dilated, all pain medications just make me throw up and feel dizzy. I do feel it has something to do with my genetic make up, brain chemistry, or something, because I also seem to think the opposite of other people in almost every way. If everybody else is saying up I’m saying down..
Jack Biggs, I know about some types of autism
Answered Oct 11, 2015
It could be because the drugs your taking could stimulate a part of your brain unusable to autistic people like you and myself"
Flying sensitizes the ear, and can cause many ear problems. This would account for the increased effect and reduced tolerance of alcohol on planes (air rage).
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