Answer from gastroenterologist : – Simply put, alcohol irritates your gut. Regular drinking can cause alcoholic gastritis, which includes symptoms like stomach ache, abdominal pain, hiccups, indigestion, loss of appetite, bloating and nausea. Alcoholic gastritis can be chronic or short-lived.
- Keep a drink log. Write down the day, time, type of drink and number consumed in a journal or on your phone. Tracking your drinking habits can help you pinpoint likely triggers or when you use alcohol to cope.
- Avoid alcohol-infused environments. It’s hard to avoid drinking when you’re hanging out at a bar. Suggest meeting for coffee or ice cream instead.
- Replace alcoholic drinks with booze-free alternatives. Sparkling water, soda, kombucha and juice are all better for your gut than alcohol. You can also find nonalcoholic beer and spirits online.
Alcohol use can cause lasting damage to your gut. Sometimes lifelong management is required, including medications, reparative surgery and avoiding certain irritating foods.
- Call for an appointment
: You asked, we answered: How can I stop stomach aches from alcohol gastritis?
Contents
Why does my stomach hurt when I drink alcohol?
Alcohol and the stomach – Your stomach is one part of the gastrointestinal tract system that digests food, taking the nutrition your body needs and getting rid of the waste. By adding acid and enzymes to food and drink you consume, your stomach breaks them down before they carry on their journey through your gut.
Drinking alcohol is associated with acid rising up from your stomach into your throat (known as acid reflux), or causing heartburn.1 Some evidence suggests alcoholic drinks can make your stomach produce more acid than usual, which can gradually wear away your stomach lining and make it inflamed and painful (gastritis).2 Over weeks or months, this could mean you develop painful ulcers in your stomach lining.
Want to drink less? Find out how
How long does gastritis take to heal?
Acute gastritis – With acute gastritis, pain usually comes on suddenly but is temporary, sometimes described as acute attacks or “flares”. Generally, acute gastritis lasts anywhere from 2-10 days and can be greatly improved with symptomatic treatment. People usually recover from acute gastritis without complications or need for further medical intervention.
How long does gastritis last?
Gastritis occurs when the lining of the stomach becomes inflamed or swollen. Gastritis may last for only a short time (acute gastritis) or it may linger for months to years (chronic gastritis). 
The esophagus, stomach, large and small intestine, aided by the liver, gallbladder and pancreas convert the nutritive components of food into energy and break down the non-nutritive components into waste to be excreted. 
The stomach connects the esophagus to the small intestines and is where the majority of food digestion takes place.
Why am I so sensitive to alcohol now?
Causes – Alcohol intolerance occurs when your body doesn’t have the proper enzymes to break down (metabolize) the toxins in alcohol. This is caused by inherited (genetic) traits most often found in Asians. Other ingredients commonly found in alcoholic beverages, especially in beer or wine, can cause intolerance reactions. These include:
Sulfites or other preservatives Chemicals, grains or other ingredients Histamine, a byproduct of fermentation or brewing
In some cases, reactions can be triggered by a true allergy to a grain such as corn, wheat or rye or to another substance in alcoholic beverages. Rarely, severe pain after drinking alcohol is a sign of a more serious disorder, such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Why do I get so sensitive when drunk?
Dulling the feelings – The numbing effect of alcohol, while not necessarily pleasant, can feel like a welcome escape from sesnsitivity. Switching off from feeling overwhelmed is important; unfortunately, alcohol is among the fastest ways to do this. One of the ways that alcohol works is by causing our brains to release GABA.
- GABA is a chemical that causes us to relax and lower our inhibitions.
- This allows a sensitive person to switch off from a lot of the information that is coming in.
- They can be slightly more affected by alcohol as well, meaning that the dopamine rush is more significant and pronounced.
- Some members of the Hello Sunday Morning program,, admit that they are feeling overwhelmed by life.
Alcohol is one of those things that makes it better in the moment when it feels as if things are getting to be too much. Life can be a heartbreaking, sad, and overwhelming experience. If you are highly sensitive to your environment, it is likely that when things are bad, they will feel really bad.
