Obviously like most, alcohol is a huge trigger for me, but I've been reading a couple of things that say white wine is doable... Is there a consensus of sorts on this, or am I reaching?

Mase

We have never "voted" on the question here but I have regularly reported on a European study which said:

distilled spirits, red wine, beer, are a killer; white wine appears to not trigger attacks.

Not much data, to be sure, but all we have....

I'm chronic & when in a high cycle I go on the dry, in the low cycle I can drink stout, white wine & scotch, yet if I have one beer or red wine I will start shadowing heavily within 20 minutes.
I've never been able to figure why; stout is basically a beer & the difference between red & white wine is the colour.

Cheers
Barry

Don't give me the "has" to do the social drinking with co-workers thing. 

I have regional Reps come into town all the time and I've yet to accept the social dinner and drinks invitations while they are in town.  Yes, they write it off as a business expense, but I have other demands on my time out side of my work hours, so I gracefully decline, stating that I have prior commitments.

Barry_T_Coles wrote on Feb 5^th, 2010 at 8:55pm:


Alcohol is metabolized quicker and more efficiently with sugars -  stout is given body with lots of starch and sugar.  Many  stouts also contain licorice root extract, which has some action similar to corticosteroids. And because stouts are full bodied, they often get more hops than piss colored weak or mild beers. Hops are loaded with active chemicals, some of which hit the melatonin receptors:
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Red wine does contain more color, and these colors (anthocyanins) have powerful effects on blood vessels, causing initial dilation and release of nitric oxides (=>trigger!!). In a normal person, red wine is much healthier for the heart and blood vessels than other types of alcohol; clusterheads-in-cycle are abnormally sensitive to what is otherwise beneficial (as well as being susceptible to intense exercise and heat, which do the same thing to blood vessels).  Red wines also contain lots of colorless polyphenols in much higher amounts than whites. Reds are commonly oaked (increasing tanin levels), while whites are seldom oaked.

I agree completely with Barb. You don't have to make excuses- what you drink is what you drink and not anyone elses business. There are a lot of people that go out on a regular basis and don't imbibe. Good luck to you!

If you're worrying about what other people think of you, your head is in the wrong place.

Each of us encounters only a handful of people throughout the course of our lives that make us want to be a better human being. We hang onto those relationships for dear life. Screw the rest of them.

YOU'RE the one who has to look at that mug in the mirror every day.

Here's a completely different take on it. Like Barry I can get away with stout (Guiness) and some of the purer beers. Red wine, for some daft reason, is usually ok but let me touch a glass of white......

I'm so dopey on Topamax that I can't wait for the weekend... I feel so much better when I'm hanging out with my friends in a bar and they've all had a few beers!