Back Pain Only When Drinking Alcohol (Page 1)

You are never too young for kindey stones. You really should go and get an ultra-sound of your kidneys and bladder done to make sure you don't have small stones forming.

I have never had one but I watched one of the toughest people I have ever met go from standing and laughing and having a good time to instantly laying on the floor and scream and crying. He spent 3 days as an inpatient in glens falls hospital until they passed.

It is truly amazing, they looked like pieces of sand they were so small, yet they cause plenty of pain!

I'm a 21 year old female and have the EXACT same problem!
I've looked all over the internet trying to figure out what's the problem and haven't found any solutions or even a hint of what it may be.
I drank a lot my freshman year of college, like 2-3 times a week, and never had this kind of pain. I stopped drinking completely for a few months and then when I started agian, I had intense pain pain between my shoulder blades that shot all the way through to the front of my chest.
At first I would only get the pain if I had a lot to drink (6-10 shots), then I began to have the pain no matter how much a drank.
This new years eve I had 2 shots of rum and the pain was so intense I made myself sick just to get it out of my system.

The only things I can find on the internet is for lower, abdominal pain associated with drinking or constant pain in the upper back associated with gallstones.

I would love some info if anyone has any ideas on what may be causing this (besides the alcohol, lol)

I have these symptoms too! And after many years of random searching on the internet and asking doctors i to no avail i am very happy to hear that at least i am not the only one with these symptoms.

It started for me when i began drinking at 18 in nightclubs and would have mixed drinks containing spirits. It would happen most nights and could happen after only half a glass or after a few. First i would feel the pain in my back or upper arms and it would continue to spread through my back and lastly around to my chest. I guess it feels like cramping maybe, but i'm not sure. The pain would be pretty bad that i would always remove myself from whatever situation i was in, to be on my own grinning and bearing the pain. It would usually be about 15 or 20 minutes, and when it started to subside it actually disapeared within only a few minutes or so. I am now 33 years old, and have since been a wine drinker and have had no problems with this at all, even beer is fine. But even now i find that if i have the odd spirt it will happen again. So i usually avoid spirits but from what i can remember, it will always happen with Midori, sometimes with Bourbons, but i seem to be ok with vodkas and whiskys. I have often thought that given my differing experiences with different alcohol, that it might not actually be related to the alcohol itself, but possibly something else in the drink. Maybe preservatives? I've intended to compare the ingredients with Midori and a Bourbon for similar ingredients but i haven't done as yet, and quite frankly didn't want to take drink Bourbon just for the sake of the experiment

To the guys who have posted above, with what alcohol have you experienced this pain with? And also let me know if you also find any info.

Thanks!

I am 50 yrs old and can drink only a 1/2 of a margarita and have severe chest pain on the left side of my chest for at least 20 minutes.what could this be? im not a drinker at all.

I am 20. The same thing happens to me, though it seens to happen more randomly. I have been able to pin a few causes, hoiwever. I think you're on to something with te preservatives because flavored spirits like coconut rum and whipped vodka do it for me sometimes and every time I've had Sunny D in the past few years i have experienced this as well. My pain also radiates up into my neck.

What you need is a thorough physical exam. Tell the doctor exactly what is going on and let him/her properly diagnose you.

What I would suspect each of you have is not kidney stones but rather GERD, otherwise known as gastro esophageal reflux disease, also known as acid reflux.

If that is suspected, then you will need tests to confirm he diagnosis. It is not something to play around with or laugh about. It is not simple heartburn or indigestion.
It is a serious disease that can be the precursor to esophogeal cancer if not treated properly and monitored by doctors.

Continued reflux from this can erode away the lining of the esophagus, and cause what is called Barretts esophagus, which leads into esophageal cancer.

In the meant time, till you do see a physician for proper medical diagnosis and treatment, you need to refrain from drinking any alcohol.
Obviously it causes extreme pain for you, but it also creates further havoc if your problem is GERD.

As to what specific alcohol is causing the pain, it would and/or could be an individual problem and not necessarily the same with everyone. Either way, the worst things you can be doing is drinking alcohol of any kind and not seeking medical care to determine what is exactly causing your pain.

Fran

Hi Guys I Am 17 Years Old & Have Pains In My Back And Righ Hip Expecially When I Have Been Out With The Girls Around Town On A Weekend The Pain Sometimes Gets Unbarable I Have Been To The Doctor And She Was Ignorant & No Help To Me She Just Gave Me Some Tablets To relaz The Muscles... I hav also had a wee test and its not a wee infection does anone no what this could posibly be its scaring me now !!!!!

Jade x

don't know how old this post is, but you all are word for word describing my symptoms. 25 year old white male, athletic, moderate drinker, healthy otherwise. right upper internal pain under ribcage, followed by lower back, all after drinking on occasions. let me know please if anyone finds anything.

Alex

J1234,

Find another primary doctor to see. Could be many different things that is going on.


The pain following drinking sounds like acid reflux. Alcohol will make it worse.

suggest you see a gastroenterologist to determine if it is acid reflux and be treated for the problem also known as GERD.

In the meantime the intelligent thing to do would to stop the activity that is causing the problem.

In other words, STOP DRINKING ALCOHOL.

Fran

I am a 33 year old female, drink about once a month and have the exact same problems and I agree, it is frustrating when no one has an answer. Starts in the mid back, shoulder blades and comes around the bottom of the ribcage. Very intense, hold your breath kind of pain. Lasts for about 20 min and then goes away suddenly. If anyone get's a diagnosis for this please post. I have to wait until May to see the gastroenterologist and if the problem is GERD that is fine, but if it is something more serious I would like to stay on top of this.

Hi. I have the same problem and was wondering if you heard anything helpful from the doctor. Please let me know something if you get this message. Thank you.

Hi. I was wondering what the doctor said. I would really appreciate the info. Thank you.

i also have middle backpain,that travels through to my ribs and chest area, the first time it started wen i was sleeping after a night out on the drink, the pain slowly got worse,no position made it easier for me apart from standing, it lasted a few hours! it feels like sum1 crushing yr spine,and its very uncomforable!! the second time it happened i was also sleeping, and i ended up having to walk around,as the pain was alot worse lying down,and the pain lasted for 12 hours.i would be gratefull for any info regarding this sort of backpain, thanks again! amanda(32)

So the condition that you guys are talking about is most likely known as Sciatica. In short, you just really have to hydrate before, during, and after you drink alcohol.

Hope that helps!

Sciatica deals with pain in the leg caused by damage to the sciatic nerve... not back or chest pain

I am 28 and I have the exact same symptoms! I have been having lower back pain and pain in my right hip every time I drink alcohol or if I eat hot/spicy foods.
This started for me after I had a kidney infection which was caused by kidney stones trying to move which have been too big to pass the tube from the kidney to the gall bladder.
I have been searching the internet and all kinds of other resources and the results are only the worst. I visit all the physicians regularly from my OB-Gyn to you name it, but none have given me any info why this is happening.
Would be great if someone with knowledge about these symptoms would stop by and answer these posts

I am 41 and have never been a heavy drinker mainly because when i drink 9 out of 10 times i experience this excruciating pain across my shoulders and mainly in my right shoulder causeingme to feel crippled for about 15 min it starts out moderate peakes and then slowly diosappears and i am able to drink and have a otherwise great time there after. i liek wine and mixed fruity drinks nothing heavy i stay away from brown and white liquor as a matter of fact im drinking a premade mudslide (not alot of alchohol) while typing this and just expereinced this feeling which prompted me to finally do an internet search if anyone every finds out what causes this please write me. thanks in advance

The pain I experience is best described as a persistent cramp. I've noticed I can count on feeling this ache after a glass of red wine.

I've also found that even non-alcoholic beverages, like cranberry or grape juice can bring on the ache.

For me, it seems to be associated with the deep, red drinks... Odd, huh?

But I'll get the ache shortly after drinking (or even while drinking). It sometimes subsides, but it's rather uncomfortable and will occasionally return the following day and even a few days later if the offending night was a real party.

I've been feeling this ache for years. I am 41 and can say I've been feeling this symptom for at least 10 years. I mentioned to a doctor friend who happens to be a Nephrologist because I was convinced I was nursing either kidney stones or some sort of kidney related thing. He said he felt it was more likely intramuscular - but it's very odd that the only time I feel it (and I do feel it!) is after drinking booze (mostly wine) or really dark fruit juice.

Thoughts?

I am 45 and have had this for years - but I really only notice it when I drink alcohol mixed with mixers. I think it is the extreme sugar (sweeteners). I get it pretty quickly and it causes pain in my upper back and feels like a weight pressing on my chest making it hard to breathe for a few minutes. Usually if I drink a good bit of water, it dilutes it enough to go away after about 15-30 min. Very strange.

I am on the phone with my daugher as we speak and she asked me about this, as she is not a big drinker but has this horrible pain whenever she drinks. She drinks mixed fruity sweet drinks, not with me of course.

Anyway, I explained to her that I had this 3 times in the past. The last time was about 7 years ago. I had drank Southern Comfort mixed with Coke. The other two times I was drinking a cooler. The pain was paralyzing. I thought I was dying. I later found out that I have a hiatal hernia. Interestingly enough, I drink quite often but not mixed drinks. I have not had the problem since I quite drinking the mixed, sweet drinks.

Jbomb,

Your description of the pain matches mine exactly. I too described it as pain that makes me hold my breath. I am 23 and drink once or twice a month. Usually I am at bar having 2-3 drinks BUT the 3 times I have had this pain I was at a restaurant having only 1 drink. Usually a fruity frozen margarita.
Pain starts across my back in a very even 'line' then this 'line' continues just under my rib cage. Seconds later it moves to my right shoulder. My frontal pain ends rather quickly but the back and shoulder continues for 20-30 min. I cannot move my arm and even have to unhook my bra to try to relieve the pain, it doesn't work though.

I see that you are going to a specialist next month. Please post your findings, this is very scary.

I have exactly the same pain described at the start of this by 'hatbashar'. Very occasional but starts mid back, is left sided and through from front to back - feels like I have been skewered with a kebab stick. Extrememly painful and tender. I literally roll on the floor until the painkillers and wheatbag do their work - then I dont get it again for weeks or months sometimes.

I'm tee-total though. Usually happens later in the evening after a meal or occasionally during the night but cant attach to any particular food. Have been scanned for kidney stones, infections and gall bladder. No evident problems.

Hi All,

I was looking for this myself. I too have this problem. When I drink sweet alcoholic drinks like wine coolers, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Midori, Vodka with energy drinks other than redbull, etc. It is a pain in my back, dull but extreme in the middle of my back below my shoulder blade and next to spine. The pain will radiate from there to surround my torso if I continue drinking the drinks. It seems to subside after about 15 to 20 minutes if I stop drinking. I have no GI issues, I went to my doctor and got tons of bloodwork: Kidney and liver function tests, complete blood tests, etc. I got an upper GI exam and it is NOT GERD. It is NOT kidney stones. I am a healthy 36 year old male. I have been having this problem only for the last 4 years. Its as though the sweetened alcoholic drink goes down into my stomach and pushes on the sciatic nerve. Weird but thats what it feeld like. The doctor I saw said he had heard this from one other person, he had no answers, esp. after all my labwork came back. Every 2 years, I get a BLood Chem Panel 24 along with several other tests just because, I figure I have the insurance, might as well use it.

Anyone else have an answer other than what I verified that it is NOT, please let me know.

I have the same type of pain, mostly when drinking malt beverages. I feel like my spine is on fire and it is absolutely excruciating. I'm not a big drinker, and this has happened from one drink. My doctor told me a few years ago that I probably have a hiatal hernia. He said that what happens is that the carbonation from the drink gets into the area of herniation, causing pressure on nerves causing the pain. This does make sense, but I have now had this pain from drinking red wine. I am going to consult with a doctor again, though, because I also have other symptoms day to day (I have nausea and belch constantly). I also have started to notice that I'm having some reflux. Once I get more information, I will repost.

I'm a 21 year old male, physically active up until about 3-4 months ago and drink 1-2 days a week up until this pain started. I've been drinking since I turned 14 maybe once a week if even, but I drink heavily when I do drink. I pretty much only drink beer (lite beer at that) and straight hard alcohol. The pains started a few months ago after an all day drinking binge in which I consumed a case of beer over a 12 hour period consuming nothing else in between. Ever since then I get the same thing though, sometimes it will start when I'm drinking I'll feel a deep pain in my right mid/lower back that almost feels like I need to poop (tried this it does not help) or stomp or run, or just simply cry. More times than not though I will not notice the pain until a day or two after drinking, and I mean drinking heavily. It feels like pressure built up in my liver area, almost as if it is going to explode. After drinking I can not sleep on the right side of my body for several days and any pressure but on the part of my back is extremely uncomfortable. Unfortunately I have no health insurance at the moment so I have no way of seeing a doctor. I had quit drinking for 2 months to be sure that this was the cause of the problem and sure enough the pains went away within the first couple of weeks. Then to test it I had a couple beers with a friend after exactly two months and the pain was non-existent while drinking. The next day I had a slight pain in my back but I wrote it off as dehydration from the 6 pack I had consumed. Then after a personal falling out I drank nearly an entire fifth of Jack Daniels this past weekend (second weekend/time drinking after abstaining for 2 months) and sure as day the pain was back in my right side and has been for several days. An interesting note though is that when I put on my knee brace the pain in my side/back almost instantly goes away, placebo effect probably. I've had bouts of panic attacks since I turned nineteen and wondered if maybe this was an all in the head type of problem but now that I see others have it I guess it's not. I sure hope the only solution to this problem is not to stop drinking completely.