Alcohol use during a flare

I have drank lots both while in remission and while in a flare, and to be honest it still really confuses me sometimes. I find that while i am in remission alcohol actually did not bother me at all, i never had a flare or any worse conditions as a result of drinking. While flaring though i have had extremely mixed results. Some nights i have started drinking and i actually feel amazing because of it, no increased washroom issues really and i actually don't feel very bad the next day. To be honest more then a few times i have actually felt better the next day. I believe this might have something to do with the alcohol thinning the blood and actually decreasing swelling. However, i have also had a few times where i start to drink and within an hour i start to feel worse or get cramping and stop. If you have problems with gas and such causing pain, i would suggest trying out something like vodka or rum mixed with fruit juice, i usually find that the easiest, however sometimes i find light beer doesn't bother me overly much. Im not really sure how alcohol mixes with those medications, but i was told i could drink while on remicade and have drank on prednisone as well. If you are on anything else i would suggest you ask your doctor, and then test the waters slowly and see how alcohol effects you, as is quite obvious with this disease, everyone reacts differently to different things.

Its actually really weird, it might have something to do with what i eat with the alcohol or the food i have in my stomach at the time of drinking. For example last week i went up to my trailer and had about 8 cans of Coors light, felt great throughout the whole night, pains were gone, wasnt going to the washroom overly much, and actually felt really good. The next day i didn't really have any problems at all (other then the normal ones i have every day), however later the next night i started drinking another beer and it just didnt feel like it was sitting well at all so i stopped immediately. I think this has something to do with how the carbonation in the beer decides to sit with me, im not really sure. But as for other types of alcohol ive found that things like vodka or rum mixed with fruit juice (or vodka and gatorade) usually sit pretty well, i dont exactly feel up to drinking a whole lot because im just generally tired and weak, but i find that a couple drinks 2-3 can actually make me feel better for a little while, depending on the night. I usually just start really slow, see how it feels, and decide where to go from there.

We've had this topic occasionally over the 2.5 years I've been posting here and the results are always: it's different for different people! (What else is new!).

For me, alcohol was public enemy number 1 when I was flaring.