As she lay in bed after having dinner and sharing a bottle of wine at a restaurant with her husband, Laura-Jane Barnell suddenly felt her chest tighten and her heart begin racing wildly.
For the next ten, frightening minutes, she lay in pain, waiting for the palpitations to calm down. But when they didn’t, she staggered across to open the window to get some air, all the while hearing her pulse thumping loudly in her ears.
‘I was terrified that I was about to have a heart attack,’ says Laura-Jane, 38.
Terrifying effects: Before she realised she was intolerant to wine Laura-Jane Barnell thought her symptoms were a heart attack
‘I went to see my GP because this was becoming a regular occurrence most Saturday nights.
‘I didn’t have a clue what was causing it but I was scared it was serious. I even stopped exercising, fearful that I might have an undetected heart problem.’
But she didn’t. In fact the pain and palpitations had a different explanation: Laura-Jane was experiencing an adverse reaction to the wine she so enjoyed. Her GP explained that while thousands of British women are thought to be affected, few realise the cause of their distress is their favourite tipple because the problem is not widely written or talked about.
Yet it’s so common, doctors have even given it a nickname: ‘holiday heart syndrome’. Why? Because people who rarely drink at home will reach for a glass on holiday and suddenly suffer an unexpected reaction. In severe cases, it can even cause heart failure.
A lack of research means we do not know why wine can have the effect and there’s no cure, except to give it up.
Relieved: Laura-Jane hasn't had a drop of wine since her diagnosis
The problem is quite distinct from the well-known issues surrounding excessive consumption of alcohol, such as liver damage, reduced fertility, high blood pressure and increased risk of various cancers and heart attack.
For, in this case, rather than many years of heavy drinking leading to problems, even relatively small amounts can lead to immediate — and terrifying — consequences. Many complain they suffer from palpitations after less than a single glass of wine.
Laura-Jane, an administration manager for a retailer, hasn’t touched a drop since she was diagnosed with holiday heart syndrome five years ago and hasn’t had another incident since.
‘I had my first attack about a decade ago after dining at a friend’s house,’ says Laura-Jane, who lives in Hartwell, Northamptonshire, with her husband Jon, 40, and their children Lexie, five, and Lennon, three. ‘I assumed I’d just drunk too much white wine.
‘But over the next few years it reached a point where it didn’t matter whether I had several glasses on a Saturday night out or a couple of mouthfuls at the end of a stressful day — the physical reaction was always the same.
‘I was surprised but relieved when my doctor said it was a common reaction to wine since the irony is that, like millions of women, I often used to have a glass to unwind or to relax before bed. I haven’t touched a drop of wine since as I never want to feel so poorly again.’
Consultant cardiologist Zaheer Yousef says the condition is becoming increasingly prevalent among those over 30 because nowadays we drink wine to relieve stress, as well as when we’re out socially.
‘Alcohol can trigger heart palpitations, arrhythmias — where the heart beats too slowly or too quickly,’ explains Dr Yousef. ‘If sustained for long periods of time, a racing heart can cause heart failure.
Meanwhile the arrythmias can lead to the development of blood clots which can cause a stroke.’
Dr Yousef, from the University Hospital of Wales, says it’s not known why alcohol — particularly wine — is to blame, but it’s quite common to suddenly develop an intolerance.
Dr Yousef, from the University Hospital of Wales, says it’s not known why alcohol — particularly wine — is to blame, but it’s quite common to suddenly develop an intolerance.
‘As we get older,’ says Dr Yousef, ‘our body becomes more intolerant of alcohol, our heart changes, and our blood pressure and hormones alter. This is a complicated cocktail that can increase a person’s susceptibility to palpitations and arrhythmias.
‘You could experience this reaction to alcohol for a couple of years and then it might pass. Again, it’s not known exactly why.’
Holiday heart syndrome: Many people who do not usually drink at home suffer an unexpected reaction when they have wine on holiday
Heart palpitations aren’t the only problem that wine can cause.
Even the smallest amounts have been linked to causing extreme nausea and exacerbation of chronic skin disorders such as eczema and rosacea — a reddening of the facial skin.
If Sarah Rowlands, 29, has so much as a sip of wine, the rosacea that’s plagued her from the age of 14 goes into overdrive.
‘Within five minutes, I can feel my face burning up,’ explains Sarah, a business development manager for a technical company. The first time Sarah, from London, noticed the problem was during her final year studying languages at Oxford University.
‘My friends and I drank a lot of wine to calm our nerves as we revised for our final exams,’ she says.
‘My skin was particularly problematic at the time and there was barely a day when the redness and sore lumps weren’t raging but I didn’t connect the two things at the time.
‘Then, when I started work, I quickly got into the habit of having a glass of wine to unwind at the end of the day, only for my skin to flare up dramatically. I’d also feel nauseous after a couple of mouthfuls.’
Lack of research: Despite the problem being a common one no one knows why wine has this effect on so many women and there is no cure
It was only when she sought help from specialists a few years ago that wine was diagnosed to be the cause of her problems.
‘I’ve seen many skin experts and the one thing they all agree on is that wine exacerbates rosacea considerably, possibly as a result of the amount of refined sugar it contains,’ she says. Sarah now sticks to vodka and soda as it doesn’t irritate her skin.
Consultant dermatologist Dr Bav Shergill says: ‘You’d think spirits and other alcohol would have the same effect but there seems to be something about wine, and red wine in particular, that many rosacea sufferers report as causing a big flare-up.
‘This could be down to some of the additives in the wine or the fermentation process, such as the tannins, sulphites or colourants used.
‘We don’t currently understand why, but we do know that alcohol dilates the capillaries in the face and therefore the circulation.
‘This could be responsible for exacerbating flare-ups in rosacea sufferers as well as those with psoriasis and eczema who find their skin condition becomes almost instantly inflamed and itchy.
Again, we don’t know exactly why, but it could be linked to alcohol dehydrating the body and skin.’
Maybe this is why wine sales have dropped three per cent in the past year while those of spirits and liqueurs have soared by up to 20 per cent. Or it could be because wine can stop you from sleeping too. Natasha Collins-Daniel, 30, gave up her favourite tipple, white wine, after suffering from severe insomnia — as well as a racing heart — every time she indulged.
The first time it happened was in her early 20s, when she found she couldn’t sleep after drinking even one glass. After many similar experiences over the years, Natasha, a manager for the Soil Association, realised wine was causing the problem.
‘It was the only rational explanation as the sleeplessness and racing heart only ever happened when
I drank white wine,’ explains Natasha, who lives in Bristol with husband James and their five-month-old baby, Nina.
‘I now stick to gin and tonic but at a friend’s wedding recently, I forgot myself and had a glass of wine.’
Scared: Laura-Jane initially thought she had an undetected heart problem
That night, she couldn’t sleep and found herself standing outside in the early hours with raging insomnia. Dr Yousef explains that although many women drink wine in the evening to help them unwind in the belief it will encourage restful sleep, wine — and alcohol in general — is a well-known cause of sleeplessness.
‘The human body produces an essential amino acid called glutamine which is a natural stimulant, almost like your own in-built caffeine, but alcohol suppresses its production,’ he explains.
‘So when you first go to bed after a few drinks, the alcohol may have a sedative effect, but then there is what’s called “rebound awakening”, where the amount of glutamine being produced suddenly increases, stimulating you to such a degree that you simply cannot sleep.’
Dr Sarah Jarvis, a GP and medical adviser to Drinkaware, says that perhaps we need to call time on the culture of ‘wine o’clock’.
‘The great irony is that wine has become the drink of choice for women in the belief that a few glasses will help them to relax, and feel more sociable,’ says Dr Jarvis.
‘But actually it’s leading to a rise in those women suffering health problems such as palpitations, insomnia and exacerbation of skin conditions, although many of them have yet to make the link between the two.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2642019/Sleeplessness-eczema-heart-palpitations-The-woman-dont-realise-theyre-WINE-INTOLERANT.html#ixzz339DsYoSb
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