Alcohol Allergy? Intolerance? What’s going on??

Reaching out to the Reddit community to see if anyone has experienced similar symptoms or may know what’s going on.

A little over a year ago, I was prescribed Topiramate (Topamax) off-label for weight loss. It is also used off-label for alcohol use disorder, and I quickly found this out as it made my stomach sick (nausea, diarrhea) every time I had a drink. So, I did not drink for the ~ 3 months I was on the medication. Once off the medication, I didn’t drink for probably another 3 months.

After about 6 months off from drinking, I tried it again. I never have more than 2 drinks, but on every occasion, I would be woken up at 3AM shaking, needing to use the bathroom 3 times before the shaking would stop. This is regardless of the alcohol or percentage (a White Claw, glass of wine, cocktail, etc.) and I always made sure to eat after drinking.

I began to have these episodes more often, even without drinking, and eventually was sent to the ER for potential abdominal bleeding. Luckily no bleeding, but I was given a diagnosis of IBS-D. With the diagnosis, I was prescribed daily Pepcid for a month.

Now feeling much better with IBS under control, I take Pepcid before I have a drink or two at a social event. I am not woken up at 3AM shaking anymore, but I always feel awful and I’m in the bathroom the whole next morning.

Has anyone had a similar experience with drinking? Would this be an alcohol allergy or intolerance? Any remedies? It would suck to give up social drinking, but I’m willing to if this continues.