Constantly getting drunk even if you don’t drink a drop of alcohol

The body produces its own beer, making it drunk after taking… antibiotics

This rare case was published in the journal BMJ Open Gastroenterology. Specifically, this 46-year-old man after going to the doctor was diagnosed with “automatic brewery” syndrome (ABS).

This is a condition that causes bacteria in the gut to convert carbohydrates into alcohol (ethanol). For people with ABS, when they eat sugary or high-carb foods and drinks, the body produces more alcohol and causes them to fall into a drunken state as if they had drunk too much beer.

The man’s symptoms appeared after he had treated a complicated injury to his thumb with antibiotics years earlier.

Experts said that it was possible that the antibiotics had affected the intestinal microflora, leading to this condition of the patient.

“No one believed him, when this man said he didn’t drink,” the author of the article shared.

Unjustly arrested for “self-drunk” while driving

ABS syndrome also causes this patient a lot of trouble in life. Occasionally, he exhibits unusually aggressive behavior like a drunkard. He was even arrested once for driving while intoxicated. At that time, the man’s blood alcohol level was more than double the legal limit, but he insisted he did not drink alcohol.

After this arrest, an aunt of this man saw a report describing a patient in Ohio (USA) being treated with a similar condition. After that, the two of them went to the clinic in Ohio for a checkup. Here, doctors discovered strains of the yeast Saccharomyces boulardii and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as brewer’s yeast, in the patient’s stool samples. At this point, they suspect the man has ABS syndrome.

To be more certain of this conjecture, doctors asked patients to eat foods high in carbohydrates. Eight hours later, the man’s blood alcohol level spiked to more than 0.05%. This confirmed his diagnosis of ABS syndrome.

Despite anti-fungal treatment and a no-carb diet, this man still “gets drunk” from time to time. He went to internists, psychiatrists, neurologists, and gastroenterologists to try to control his spontaneous hangover.

He then continued treatment at the University of Richmond Medical Center in Staten Island, New York. There, doctors gave him antibiotics and watched him closely for about two months.

The therapy successfully eliminated the brewing microorganisms in the patient’s intestines. The patient is then prescribed oral probiotics to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut. Gradually, the man was able to incorporate carbohydrates into his diet.

A year and a half after the treatment, this man was able to enjoy a slice of pizza without fear of getting drunk or alcohol-induced liver damage.

Woman whose bladder is a “brewery”

Another disease even rarer than ABS is the condition in which the bladder produces its own beer.

According to a report published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, a 61-year-old woman was examined for a liver transplant because of cirrhosis, when doctors suddenly discovered that her urine was constantly showing positive results. test positive for alcohol (ethanol). Meanwhile, she said she did not drink alcohol.

After further examination, doctors discovered that bacteria in the woman’s bladder were fermenting glucose (sugar) into alcohol.

This woman’s condition resembles ABS syndrome. However, people with ABS can get intoxicated just from eating starches, while for this woman, the fermentation takes place in the bladder. Alcohol doesn’t get from the bladder into the bloodstream, so this woman isn’t intoxicated either.

The woman’s condition is so rare that it has not even been named. Doctors directly involved in the treatment suggest calling it “urinary auto-brewery syndrome” or “fermentation bladder syndrome”.