Didn’t drink but alcohol was in my system

Hi @tre858. How frustrating for you to not be taken seriously about your blood results. The reaction from the medical staff seemed pretty insulting and not helpful if there was a medical issue that really needed to be evaluated.

For some reason your blood test showed alcohol in your blood even though you hadn’t been drinking. There can be other factors which cause ethanol-like compounds to register in the body. Interestingly enough, exposure to hand sanitizers, products containing alcohol such as after-shave lotions, perfumes and certain foods, even some medications. Underlying medical conditions, such as uncontrolled diabetes can cause false positive alcohol tests.

Were you in the hospital for an emergency?

Hello, thank you for replying, i fainted that’s why i was in hospital, I was trying to explain the weird symptoms I have had in the past few weeks, I never had before, for example cough with mucus, pain in stomach (not period cramps) and many other issues but they wouldn’t listen because they believed I was just a drunk

Hello @tre858, I would like to add my welcome to Connect along with @loribmt and others. There is a condition that sounds similar to what you have described.

"Auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), also known as gut fermentation syndrome, describes the condition in which the concentration of ethanol increases to a noticeable level in the setting of little or no alcohol consumption [2]. It is a rare condition that is more prevalent in patients with underlying gut problems."
--- Auto-Brewery Syndrome: A Clinical Dilemma: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7667719/.

You might want to discuss the condition with your doctor to see if they can help.

Well, it’s just really sad to hear you were treated like that and no one bothered to really check into your symptoms.
I’m just wondering, do you have a primary care physician? If you’re still having these symptoms, that might be a good place to start at this point.
Don’t let this go because of what happened in the ER. You have to be your own advocate…and know your body better than anyone. So if you feel something isn’t right, then you have every right to keep trying to find an answer.

Before your appointment, write down what you’re experiencing, including fainting, when the symptoms started, anything that makes them worse or helps, etc.. Your doctor may order another set of labs to check your blood.

Do you have a primary care physician?

I had the same thing once and the same reaction from the MD I was seeing at the time. Very tough to handle from several perspectives.

This recently happened to me a few weeks ago. I was at work and coworkers noticed my speech was slurring. They were concerned as well as my family who said I sounded "drunk" and the words I was saying didn't make any sense. My fiancee (at the time) picked me up and took me to the emergency room for testing. CT was normal but the lab work showed both an ethanol level of 10, my glucose was at 259 and my blood pressure was really high that day as well. Unfortunately, I do not remember any of this. Since then, my fiancee has broken up with me as he doesn't understand how I could have tested positive for alcohol when I clearly hadn't been drinking. I've had an MRI and that also came back normal. I recently had more blood work done as well as my first of 2 EEGs. Some at work say I was walking normally according to footage while others say I wasn't. My ex wants to go to the police and file a report thinking maybe somebody slipped me something. The only problem with that is that I lost memory before a supposed guest came up to my work station. My family is afraid I will lose my job if I go to the police and see if they can get the security footage as my neurologist even wants to see it to make a better diagnosis yet they refuse saying it's against company policy. My whole world has been turned upside down. I've lost my finace. I feel like I will lose my job if I go to the police or an attorney about this situation. I'm trying to get to the bottom of this medically but for some reason that's not good enough for him. Could a high sugar level cause memory loss and someone appear drunk when they haven't been drinking? I've looked into auto brewery syndrome and am waiting the results of another blood test. I just don't know who or what to believe anymore. I'm constantly questioning everything and everyone I love including the man who broke my heart by leaving me in my time of dire need. If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

Don't know about other conditions causing false positive results for alcohol, but I grew up with a sister who had Type I diabetes and she regularly had reactions in which speech was slurred & she appeared drunk. One more observation is that even if you were "just a drunk" you are entitled to compassionate & knowledgeable care. Sorry your caregivers did not understand this basic tenet of medical practice.

@rogue19

This sounds very similar to what my wife has been going through for the past few years. It has been incredibly frustrating for her, for me, and for our adult kids, as this happens at least 3 times per week, typically starting mid-late afternoon. Her symptoms present nearly identically to diabetic ketoacidosis (so I have read); her breath has a sweetish-ethanol smell, she acts like she is drunk, and I have measured her BAC as high as 0.031 when she has an "episode". She is retired and I work out of my home office and see her all day. She does not drink alcohol, and I can literally just watch it happen over the course of an hour or two. I have measured her glucose, ketones, and measure her BAC using a breathalyzer to try to gather data to present to her doctor, all baselined in the morning when her BAC is zero. Glucose and Ketones barely change, so we are thinking it must be Auto Brewers. However, we have approached her doctor as well as a gastroenterologist and they have been little to no help- it is mind-blowingly frustrating. She is in good shape and has a low-carb, low sugar diet. @rogue19, were you able to determine what caused your issue? Has anyone else experienced this?

It is possible for alcohol to show up in lab tests even if you didn’t drink, but it depends on which test the hospital used and what else was going on with your body at the time. A few explanations that doctors sometimes overlook:

1. Your body can produce alcohol internally (auto-brewery syndrome) — rare but real.

In very rare cases, yeast or bacteria in the gut ferment sugars and create ethanol.
People with this condition can test positive even when they don’t drink.
It’s more common if someone recently used antibiotics, has diabetes, or has undiagnosed GI issues.

2. Some medical conditions can cause false positives:

Uncontrolled diabetes (high ketones).

Severe liver disease.

Certain metabolic disorders.

These can interfere with certain testing methods and make alcohol readings look positive.

3. Some tests pick up other alcohols, not just drinking alcohol:

Hospitals sometimes measure:

Isopropyl alcohol (from hand sanitizers or inhalation).

Methanol.

Ethylene glycol.

These are different substances but can be detected depending on the method used.

4. Some medications or products may contain alcohol:

Not common, but things like:

Liquid medications.

Cough syrups.

Some mouthwashes

Herbal tinctures.

Certain foods (fermented, extracts like vanilla).

These usually don’t raise levels very high, but they can show a positive depending on the test.

5. Timing and method of the test:

A breath test is more prone to error.
A blood ethanol test is more specific but still has rare false positives, especially if the blood sample wasn’t handled correctly (fermentation in the tube).

What you can do:

If it happens again, it’s reasonable to ask:

What type of alcohol test was used?

What was the exact level?

Could fermentation in the tube or elevated ketones have affected it?

You’re not crazy — there are legitimate medical explanations when someone tests positive despite not drinking.

My brother-in-law, who has not had a drink in many years, developed Auto Brewery syndrome and he occasionally uses a breathalyzer. He, too, went through disbelief and scoffing by medical people before this very difficult diagnosis was made. If medical personnel do not recognize such a condition then they are not properly educated or trained.