This happens to me from time to time if I have more than a couple of glasses of wine in relatively quick succession; all of a sudden my lower back starts to ache deeply, much akin to what can occur during your menstrual cycle.
So, in the interest to hopefully get a fuller answer, I am indeed female and I don’t drink wine all that often (like maybe that much once every couple of months). Oh, and it’s the hyper, hyper cheap stuff. Hee, we’re talkin’ Boones Farms here!
Anyone experience this or have a theory? I’ve tried searching GQ for something even remotely related, but came up empty. That’s when I turn to y’all.
Thanks in advance for any help.
I dunno Mumio. It’s never happened with anything else and as far as I know I don’t have any kidney problems. But maybe Kneepants (love your name, by the way!) and I just don’t need to have more than one drink of anything at a time.
I get a similar thing with rapid alcohol consumption, but it’s not inevitable, and it’s my neck/shoulder area. Mostly neck, and very, very painful. It’s almost enough to make a girl put off drinking! Or at least sip. Sip. That’s the ticket.
I’ve never had any kidney problems before or since, but on a trip to Wisconsin a few years ago I suffered excrutiating pains in my lower back. I thought I was dying or something, so I went to the doctor as soon as I got back to Chicago. He did determine that it was kidney-related and was convinced it was a result of eating too much cheese in Wisconsin. (Which is like, the whole POINT of going to Wisconsin in the first place, hello?!) But by this time the pain was already subsiding so he didn’t even give me any drugs.
So, based on my experience, a change in diet can result in kidney problems, even in someone who’s never had them before.
It can be related to the diuretic effect of several glasses of alcohol taxing the kidneys and ureters.
Here’s one article describing the phenomenon as it relates to people with actual obstructions in their kidneys. They don’t just get pain, they get sick, too.
I have experienced it, so I switched to drinking stronger drinks (less liquid) and spacing a bit.
Well, it definitely sounds like copious amounts of alcohol and cheese should be avoided.
Thanks for the cite Apricot. That definitely helps me to understand that it’s a diuretic issue. Now I see why I limit this to such infrequency besides me just being cheap.
faithfool and Savannah, how long has this been happening? If it’s a relatively new phenomenon for you, and you didn’t used to get it, please e-mail me - what I have to say is probably better kept private.
By the way, Apricot, I can’t open the link. Did it say that this diuretic-induced pain happens to everyone, or just those with kidney obstruction? I ask this because I have never seen even potent diuretics (a lot stronger than alcohol) cause this in people without obstruction. And, I’d estimate that I’ve witnessed hundreds, maybe even over a thousand, people receive acute intravenous treatment with potent diuretics (and, of course, many, many more receiving it chronically by mouth).
Hi KarlGauss, in the article (actually a case study) it relates a case of a woman with pain after binge drinking and goes on to discuss partial obstructions. I would guess (dangerous thing, that guessing) that you are correct that there must be some type of obstruction or spasm occurring and that those affected should discuss it with their doctor before assuming it’s normal for them.
I get something like that, too, only it’s usually the morning (actually, somewhat later in the day) after – things will be fine when I wake up, and then I’ll develop a feeling of dislocation in the neck area, as if something were physically out of order; this usually goes in line with a considerable headache (and hurts very much itself, too). I’ve never been able to puzzle out what that’s supposed to be, or exactly what causes it to occur – I can drink heavily and be completely fine the next day, or just have a few beers and spend an afternoon in pain (though it does seem to be connected to consuming alcoholic beverages of higher proof – I’ll usually be fine when I stick to beer). I’ve been relatively free of it lately, but then came New Year’s Eve and all that brought with it, and yesterday it hit me again, not terribly bad, but it didn’t feel good either. I’d be much obliged to anybody who can shed some light on this thing.
Hi there. I had these symptoms about 10 years ago. In my case the cause was a cancer - Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Alcohol induced back pain is one of the clear cut symptoms. That said, Hodgkin’s is very rare, and everything the other posters have said may also cause your symptoms. There are many other symptoms of Hodgkin’s as well, so if you don’t have any of those it’s unlikely you’ve got it.
My advice is to get yourself to a doctor and get this investigated ASAP if only to put your mind at rest.
BTW - Hodgkin’s responds very well to treatment. I went in to remission in 2000, have been clear ever since and my oncologist regards me as cured.
Alcohol-induced pain as a manifestation of Hodgkin’s Disease was what I was thinking about when I asked Apricot and faithfool (the two people who said they experience alcohol-induced pain of some sort) to e-mail me. It’s the type of thing that may be better handled on a one-to-one basis.
For me, it’s happened occasionally since at least 1993. It’s definitely associated with alcohol consumption for me, but it’s a rare occurrence. It’s neck and upper shoulders, never lower back.
I checked the symptoms associated with Hodgkin’s and I have none of them.
The low quality of the wine might could be a factor. I remember friends and I long ago commiserating about what we (at a guess) referred to as kidney pain on the rare occasions we were stupid enough to down a bottle or two of Mad Dog or Boone’s. Whatever is in cheap wine that isn’t in real wine (more sulfites? sugar? horse urine?) seemed at the time to cause a dull ache in the lower back.
If this is indeed what menstrual cramps feel like, then I can safely say “sure I do!”, when people say “you have no idea what this feels like”.
For me, it occurs perhaps 1 out of every 5 times I drink alcohol. It’s a nagging pain, and sitting down alleviates it almost completely. Walking home drunk is annoying when this flares up.
On my honeymoon I had excruciating pain in my foot. I thought I had broken my toe playing volleyball in the sand, but a trip to the emergency room revealed no break. I spent the rest of the honeymoon in agony on the bed, watching TNT movies while Pepper Mill snorkeled (fortunately, this was at the end of the honeymoon). A long time later we realized that this was my first gout attack.
Alcohol sometimes triggers an attack (which it did that week, I’m certain – we’d been drinking a lot on that trip, understandably), which affects specific joints – in my case, toes, ankles, and knees. It is no laughing matter, even in the toe. I know of other people who are affected in upper-body joints.
Is it possible that you have a case of gout, that for some reason decided to localize in your spinal joints? Ask your doctor. It’s easy enough to do blood and urine tests. If it does turn out to be gout, there are several medications you can take.
