Severe intolerance to honey, also alcoholic beverages (any kinds)?

Question
Hello,

I am so very grateful for your willingness to answer questions, especially
because my issues are rather specialized. My questions about intolerances are
not urgent and are certainly not life-threatening, so please feel free to take
your time.

Any time I ingest any quality of honey, even the tiniest amount, no matter
wether it is clover honey or any other kind, I get very bad stomach upset and
queasiness. I do not want to be melodramatic, but the effect seems to take
only a few moments before it begins, and is so bad that for about half an
hour, I wish I were dead or could exchange my stomach for the stomach of
somebody else. I have had this since I was little. I wonder if there is
treatment, or a genetic marker for it, or if perhaps the trouble comes from
the pollen in the honey. After all, I do have environmental allergies to
naturally occurring pollens and other stuff floating in the air. These can get
very severe, I have two different prescriptions taken in  combination for these
environmental allergen problems To be clear, I do not have any ulcers or
underlying stomach problems. Periodic physicals and blood tests show health
that is very good. I have no diabetes, nothing strange about how I process
glucose, no anemia of any kind. Interestingly, I do have an an unusual kind
of learning disability, and I also have cerebral palsy, which is a kind of
organic mobility impairment that is caused by fetal oxygen shortage. I
suppose this is irrelevant,  but just want to be complete in my report of the
issue.

I have never seen a shred of evidence that I have fructose intolerance. If I did,
wouldn't I know?

What seems really strange to me is that I also have the exact same kind of
symptoms of intolerance if I happen to be stupid enough to consume even a
tiny amount of any kind of alcohol, this also has been the case for as long as
I can remember. The symptoms are just the same as with honey. It occurs to
me that I might have the genetic intolerance for ethanol.

Obviously, the solution I have used since I was little is never to drink alcohol,
and never to consume honey. But clearly, the trouble is that I don't always
know if things have honey in them. And what is going on, anyway? Who ever
heard of a person who has trouble with HONEY? For most most people, honey
RELIEVES severe stomach upset, no? Can you suppose anything that might
shed more light on these issues?  They seem bewildering and confusing to
me. I apologize if this is not in your field, but could you say  what field it is, if
not yours? I asked the allexperts food allergy expert, who pointedly told me
she was not comfortable answering, Thank you very much. Is this a  matter
for a specialist in genetics or neurology or... ::makes an understanding sound
of mutual frustration::

Thank you very much

Answer
Julian,

This isn't my Allexperts area, but as a physician in training it's not too hard to take a stab at. Sounds like you're allergic to honey. It's not one of the more common food allergies, but it does happen. Allergy to alcohol can either be aquired, just like environmental allergies, or genetic. Usually, genetic intolerance to alcohol causes the drinker's face to turn beet red, and they don't experience any of alcohol's pleasantness.

The good news is there's definitely hope for you. You'll need to be evaluated by an allergist (an MD or DO with special training in allergy and immunology) but they may be able to give you a series of desensitizing injections that will reduce the severity of your reaction to honey.

Good luck!
Melissa

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