Acetaldehyde Poisoning After a Meal?

Hello Reddit,

I love my drinks and have been drinking occasionally after work, roughly 30-38cl of spirits (usually absolut vodka) each time.

Recently I noticed I’ve been getting plenty of acetaldehyde stuff going on when drinking (redness, sweats, nausea, very strong heartbeat, very fast heartrate, etc) to the point where it’s unbearable chest discomfort. It’s happened before here and there, but I noticed that it might be because of food.

Due to the nature of my work and lack of appetite, I usually drink on an empty stomach once I reach home, and I can get very drunk.

Recently though, I’ve noticed that I cannot get even a little high before all the shitty symptoms pop in, if I have just eaten or if it’s been less than ~6-8 hours from my last meal. This causes me to have to chicken out from and avoid alcohol entirely after a dinner with friends or some social gathering.

Anyone goes through something similar? Am I the only one who feels like that? Also I’m only suspecting it’s triggered by food, I haven’t really nailed down the exact cause. Any insight would be good, thank you 🙂