White wine!

Hi, I`m new to the forum and wondered if anyone has the same problem as me and has any advice.

I enjoy a couple of glasses of wine (not every night!) but find that my chest is really tight in the morning, my peak flow is worse than usual and my husband says I`ve been coughing at night.

Any ideas `cos I don`t want to stop the wine!!

Thanks

Mary xx

[KateMoss]

Some white wines contain sulphites which can trigger asthma in some people who are sensitive to it.

Try a wine that is sulphite free? I think good organic ones may be?

Or it may be another chemical in the wine that is triggering your asthma.

I am OK with white but not red wine.

kate

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white wine

Thanks Kate for your advice.

I need to try some red wine and see if the same thing happens but will definately look out for Organic wines. There`s nothing like a glass of wine after a 12 and a half hour shift at work!!

[KateMoss]

Thats OK, I don't blame you for wanting a wee slurp after your work! Just looked at your profile.

The Co-op do good labeling on bottles of plonk - will see if they have one.

Take care

Kate

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Hi

Same thing happened to me. White wine was the problem, I changed to red and have had no further problems

Truly

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Mary, I often find that more expensive wines have less sulphites in them. I can cope with a small amount sadly none of the labels say how much sulphite. Also might be worth seeing if there is a local vine yard around or contacting on of the UK ones they will be able to help you how much sulphite (used as a preservative) they put in theirs.

Bex

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a quick contribution to this thrd as i'm sure patientline won't let me say all i want.

first off, organic wine does not guarantee sulphite-free wine. i haven't yet found an organic wine that is free of sulphites.

secondly, any wine bottled before november 2006 does not have to label sulphite content as it was only after this date that the law came into effect, so be wary. the company celticwines.co.uk use absolutely minimal sulphites in their wines (which are wonderful though they no longer make their own grape wine. however, their gooseberry wine is similar to a pinot grigiot). i have severe allergy to sulphites, but the amounts used by celtic wines are such that levels are virtually zero 3 weeks after bottling, and even i have been okay with them. they are a small firm based in south west wales and are ever so, ever so helpful whenever i speak to them, and i'd thoroughly recommend them.

if you are sensitive to sulphites then steer clear of red wines full stop.

sainsbury's at present have one of their own white wines that is sulphite free. its a chardonnay, but i'm afraid i forget which one. it isn't labelled as sulphite-free, but is the only 1 not to be labelled as containing sulphites.

stowells wines now all contain sulphites.

you may find the occasional blossom hill white wine that doesnt contain sulphites, particularly a 2004 reserve, but careful scrutiny is needed.

i hope this helps.

becky.

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Thanks everyone for your help!

Will try red wine instead.

Am just going to go on google (hubby`s idea) and search for Sulphite free wine.

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It's worth being aware that sulphites are not the full story with wine allergy. You may well be allergic to one of the natural moulds or yeasts that grows on the surface of the grape. The problem with this is that the exact moulds present varies from batch to batch and potentially even from bunch to bunch, and won't be labelled on the bottle. It's perfectly possible, then, to react to a particular wine on one occasion and to be fine on another occasion. This makes it pretty much impossible to determine which wines are 'safe' for you to drink.

Organic wines may possibly be worse in this context as they won't have been treated with any of the chemicals that might potentially keep the development of moulds and yeasts to a minimum. The moulds and yeasts are actually an essential component of the brewing process so you would be unlikely to find a brand of wine where they have tried to minimise these.

I had a generalised allergic reaction to a very cheap white wine a few months back but have been fine with small amounts of other white and red wines since; it's probably worth asking your doctor about allergy testing, but cautious experimentation, if your symptoms are not so bad as to make that unsafe, is probably really the only way to unravel what you can tolerate. Expensive wines seem like a good place to start!

Take care

Em