#shithoused

This Guy Is Drunk All the Time Because His Body Brews Its Own Alcohol

Imagine if your body produced its own alcohol—that'd be pretty great, right? You'd always have a buzz on and you'd never have to pay for a drink. Well, that's what happens when you're a victim of auto-brewery syndrome, a.k.a. gut fermentation syndrome—excesses of yeast trapped in sufferers' small intestines create alcohol that gets absorbed directly into their bloodstreams. Sadly, this isn't a 24/7 party, as this leads to those with the syndrome being hungover constantly.

Matthew Hogg has been a sufferer of the syndrome for almost 20 years. Every time he eats sugar or carbohydrates, his body converts them into ethanol and he ends up either tipsy or hungover. I gave him a call to chat about what it's like being a walking human brewery.  

Matthew lying sick in bed as a child, before his syndrome was diagnosed.

VICE: When did you first realize that your gut creates its own alcohol? Matthew Hogg: I suffered from digestive upsets throughout my childhood. I was initially diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, but in my teens I experienced a severe worsening of symptoms, like bloating and gas after meals—so much so that I could feel the bubbling of fermentation occurring in my lower abdomen. More worryingly, I developed new, quite frightening symptoms. I would feel intoxicated, as well as a long list of whole-body symptoms, including chronic fatigue, muscular aches and pains, chronic headaches, mental impairment, mood disturbances, and so on.

Did you feel hungover afterwards? Yeah, by my late teens I was experiencing severe alcoholic hangovers that would usually be at their worst the morning after eating a high carbohydrate meal. I'd get pounding headaches, severe nausea, occasional vomiting, dehydration, dry mouth, cold sweats, and shaky hands. It was as if I'd been out the previous night and drunk the bar dry, but I hadn't consumed any alcohol.

Jesus, that sounds terrible. So when were you actually diagnosed with auto-brewery syndrome? Eventually I was referred to a specialist in London, the late Dr. Keith Eaton. His test confirmed that my gut was producing large amounts of ethanol from yeast, as well as significant amounts of other alcohols associated with the metabolism of various bacteria. Dr. Eaton diagnosed me with auto-brewery syndrome, and this diagnosis has been confirmed by other doctors specializing in unusual and unrecognized chronic illnesses.