I have the same sounding problem as phatbashar, Lilly75, jbomb, mazzy32 & Kamiyla_Diem - a pain that comes on after drinking spirits. It generally starts as a back pain (mid back) and then quickly turns into chest pains as well - hard to describe. Almost feels like someone is squeezing my rib cage. I have no problems breathing but the pain is very intense and I can't find any position or way of making it feel better. After about 20-30 minutes the chest pain dies down and I'm left with some back pain for another couple of hours. I've realised this only comes with drinking spirits (scotch/whiskey, vodka, cocktails) but it doesn't seem to matter how much I've drunk - the other night I had just one drink before it happened... I guess I'm going to have to stop drinking spirits, even though they are my favorite drink.

I too have been getting pain in my upper back that travels down to my spine. The only alcohol that causes this problem is when I drink anything containing rum. I have been experiencing this for at least 4 years. I am a 38 year old woman in good health. I was experiencing this pain as a teen. Come to find out I had to have my gallbladder removed at age 17 due to a condition called billary dysconesia. Not sure if I spelled that right, but oh well. Anyway, I want to find out what it is. In the mean time I guess I just need to stay away from rum.

Kristen

Just one question to all of you.

If drinking various alcoholic beverages cause you to suffer in pain, why in the world do you continue to drink them?

Since no doctors or anyone seems to know what is causing the pain, just stop drinking and you won't have the problem.

Believe me when I say, life is just as wonderful without any alcohol in your life and you can enjoy life with out drinking.

Fran

what happens to me is.. i can drink usually ANY drink atall.. and it dosen't hurt but then if i've been drinking vodka Lemonade all night, i'll start aching in the middle of my back between the lower parts of my shoulder blades.

it's like the muscle around the spine aches and i gotta, Press it with my thumbs as if im guna' click my own back! i always say my back aches when ever i drink vodka - and people don't believe me! just caus they don't experiance the same feeling.

I thought it was vodka absorbing all my back fluids lol and making it sore and ache! hmmm.. i dunno!

Hi everyone

Really pleased to find this forum, as I thought I was the only one with this problem. Have had what has been described above since I was around 17 - am now 53. After have a very small amount of alcohol, various types, I get this pain, which usually starts within minutes of consumption, starting between my shoulder blades and spreading down my back. Makes me feel quite sick and I tend to have to double up and rock to relieve the feeling. Only lasts about 20 minutes then I'm back to normal and can continue drinking. Very occassionally it happens after having a fruit juice. It doesn't happen after every drink, but one thing I've found is that if I eat a fair bit before drinking it rarely happens. If I've not eaten recently it more than likely happens. My husband even wondered if I was making it up at one stage, and put a little alcohol in a drink which I thought was non alcoholic, and of course I got the bad reaction. I mentioned it to my Dr but he said he'd never heard of anything like it!!
Really would be grateful if anyone has any ideas.
Thanks

ive found too have these pains as well, im 18 and im having them right this min. but only when i drink. i know alot about the human body alot of people in my family are doctors. my pain is around the upper/middle left side, which is where your liver is located. i would hate too find out my liver would be damaged or infected this early in my life. but i would think you all get checked for damage. good luck to you all

I'm so glad I stumbled onto this forum. I have been experiencing mid back pain with certain types of alcohol for years (like 20 years!) I can't figure out what drinks cause it, but after reading some of the posts I do think it's more often the fruity drinks. Once I took one sip, just one sip of my husband's wine cooler and it happened. Yesterday I had a marguarita and I was fine, mid way through the second one it happened. It's not lower back pain, it doesn't feel like reflux, it's just intense mid back pain. I quickly stopped drinking the marguarita and drank water. Within 10 minutes I was completely fine. All my friends think I'm nuts--I can't wait to show them this page!

my doctor told me the reason i had pain was because weekend drinking is classed the same as binge drinking..my kidneys were working overtime to break the alcohol down as well as the liver.
littleonefb has a very valid point..no alcohol and there shall be no pain. i would rather have healthy kidney,s and liver..
our doctors in uk are over stretched with kidney and liver problems due to misuse of alcohol..some can drink and not be affected and a minority are even allergic so i would advise listen to your body..
its a fine machine and works like your perfectly running car..if your car is not running properly you fix it so do the same with your body and feel what it is telling you..
this is my opinion and not having a go at party lovers..i too was one until i got the painful kidney,s and lecture from my doctor..

As I said before, if drinking results in pain, your body is telling you something.

DON'T DRINK AND YOU WON'T HAVE PAIN. HE CHOICE IS YOURS TO MAKE. EITHER SUFFER IN PAIN OR STOP DRINKING.

IMHO, IF YOU CONTINUE TO DRINK, THE PAIN COULDN'T BE THAT BAD OR YOU WOULD STOP DRINKING.

ONE CAN LIVE QUITE NICELY WITHOUT HAVING TO SWALLOW ALCOHOL. IT IS NOT A VITAL NECESSITY IN LIFE.

ONE WOULD THINK THAT YOU WOULD PREFER TO LIVE PAIN FREE THAN CONTINUE TO DRINK AND SUFFER.

FRAN

Check out sulfite sensitivity and asthma. might help some for those who are still in need of an answer.

I too get very intense lower back pain radiating from my left side towards my spine. It comes on strong when standing for periods of time. It helps to lay down on the floor and bring my knees to my chest for a few minutes.

I also beleive it comes from drinking alcohol, which I generally only do on the weekends. Most of the time it's Rum & Coke's, Fruity Malt beverages such as Mike's lemonde, also I drink dark beers, and Red wine.

The pain is feels like a pulled muscle and is very achey. It last for 2-3 days usually. Running excercises seem to help, although they can agrevate the back as well.

No idea why. I agree that perhaps giving up alcoholic drinks might be the only way to resolve the problem, but I assume for many of us it is a habbit of life that will take some work to stop doing. Not impossible I guess.

I have this pain every so often when I drink alcohol.. severe pain in neck and shoulders..Its like a body cramp. An alka seltzer helps.. However I just read an article about this strang pain.. the lady in the article found out she had Hodgkins disease.. That this pain was a very rare sympton was Hodgins.

What are the symptoms of Hodgkin's lymphoma?
Swollen lymph nodes
The most common early symptom is to develop one or more swollen lymph nodes in one area of the body - most commonly the side of the neck, the armpit or the groin. The swollen lymph nodes tend to be painless and gradually get bigger. (A symptom which occurs in about 1 in 10 cases is pain in the affected lymph glands after drinking alcohol.) If the affected lymph nodes are in the chest or abdomen, you will not be aware of them swelling in the early stages of the disease

Hi there..

i think you all should stop drinking, cause it just make you health get more pain.

I get the same pain. I am an 18 year old female and Ive been having this pain for the last 4 years. I only experience it when I am drinking malt beer for some odd reason. The pain starts in my lower back and spreads to my abdomen, and in some cases my arms too. Sometimes the pain becomes unbearable to where Im just crawled up in a ball cryig. But it only lasts for about 15 minutes and subsides and then is completey gone. Im glad im not the only one experiencing this I was starting to worry. I wonder what it could be?

Yet another person experiencing the same thing - I'm a 19 year old female, in good health. I usually drink no more than 10 times a year, & that's a little extreme for me even. This has only happened to me three times in the past year or two, but it's excruciating when it does. It has happened from mixed drinks (I want to say Crown & Coke, or maybe it was something with vodka) & Smirnoff Ice ... But I have no idea if it's a specific sort of thing. I never drink beer (can't stand the taste), so I have no clue if it would happen with that too. It always happens after only a drink or two - But especially if I drink those few very quickly. Other times I have gone many times drinking slower over a few hours and nothing has happened at all. My pain comes in my upper-back, between my shoulder blades & right in the middle of my ribs. Feels like the pain is shooting straight through from the front to the back. I get sharp, sharp pain. Unlike some of you guys who say it lasts 20 mins or so, I actually don't know if that's the case for me, 'cause usually I've had such problems dealing with the pain that I'll go make myself sick within 5 mins, which gets rid of the pain almost immediately. I'd really love to know what the deal is, seems like it could be a lot of things from what I read here ...

Also, to Fran: Honestly, relax. Yes, I agree that if the pain is that bad for some people, they should just stop, & that you can live a good, fun life without alcohol. But these people aren't here to ask how to stop it, they're asking why it happened in the first place. For all you know, many people here might already have stopped drinking because of it. Or, they're like me - It very rarely happens & they rarely drink to begin with, so yes, they take the chance and continue to drink every once in a while, because it typically turns out to be a great night. It's their lives, & you can advise them all you want but it's their decision. There's no reason to make multiple posts reprimanding people you don't know when they're simply trying to find out what caused it. Geez.

I have the same thing! I am a 21 yr old female with two young children and hve recently started having these pains, the only thing the same is both times iv had wine with tea then i go to bed and come 3am im sick of rolling around in pain so i have to get up! I have been a normal teenager and had many a night of endless boozing and now i think back iv had these pains occasionally then but now i don't drink at all! even a glass of wine is rare and both times iv only had a few sips before i get the pain! iv looked it up alot now and all i can put it down to is gallstones as they run in my family and pregnancy can trigger them or prancreatitis, which can be caused by alcohol abuse and has these painful symptoms..im due to have my bloods done tomorrow so will hopefully get to the bottom of it!