What if your body produced its own alcohol, that would be great wouldnt it? Dont be silly some of you are thinking how rediculous an idea is that! Well believe it or not that's what happens when you're a victim of "auto-brewery syndrome" also known as "gut fermentation syndrome".
Matthew Hogg who is 34 has had the syndrome for almost 20 years. Every time he eats sugar or carbohydrates, his body converts them into ethanol (pure alcohol), and he ends up either tipsy or hungover (as an example a slice of pizza to him is like doing several shots). Imagine if you ate a hamburger which makes you drunk and then the next day you are nursing a hangover. It makes it extremely hard to hold down a relationship, job or even drive a car.
Matthew was always tired and disoriented as a teenager before he was diagnosed. Once a straight A student and Athlete, he found himself exhausted after few jogs and lost focus during exams. $80,000 is all it took for Hog to be diagnosed with the auto-brewery disorder by a Mexican doctor. He now follows a strict diet to manage his condition.
His chronic fatigue affects him in many ways and it becomes hard to sometimes hold a full time job. He runs the Environmental Illness Resource website that’s about disorders like his for income. He lives with his girlfriend Mandy who is a teacher.
“Stubborn disbelief” from those around him is one of the difficult things Hogg has to deal with. "I'm constantly reading messages from visitors to my website who suffer from the condition, saying their doctor, boss, co-workers, and even friends, family and partners, just don't understand, People think we're just making this condition up."
www.vice.com
Picture Source: www.people.com
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