Jane, a busy teacher and mother of two, was struggling with unshakable fatigue that forced her to nap daily and rely on sugar and caffeine to function.
Her husband grew concerned when she began slurring her words after just half a glass of wine, prompting her to quit alcohol entirely, but soon, high-carb snacks like a cupcake surprisingly had the same intoxicating effect.
The crisis culminated after a course of antibiotics and acid reflux medicine, when she was arrested for drunk driving following a high-carb meal, despite being sober.
Jane, whose last name has been withheld, was suffering from Auto-Brewery Syndrome (ABS), a disorder where an overgrowth of gut yeast ferments carbohydrates into ethanol, a type of alcohol. It is considered extremely rare, with its true incidence unknown because it is often misdiagnosed or overlooked.
This doesn’t just trick a breathalyzer. Fermenting yeast, typically Candida albicans, creates real alcohol in the bloodstream, leading to the same stumbling, slurring and mental impairment as if Jane had been drinking.
Dr Dean Mitchell, a prominent New York City immunologist who works with ABS patients, told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s quite powerful to have somebody that literally didn’t take a drink of alcohol and is failing a breathalyzer test.’
Dr Mitchell pointed to a clear pattern in his auto-brewery syndrome patients. Every single one had recently taken antibiotics, which are known to disrupt the gut’s natural balance of bacteria.
After taking antibiotics and acid reflux medicine, teacher and mother Jane began fermenting carbs into alcohol in her gut. This condition caused her to fail breathalyzer tests twice while completely sober (stock)
Antibiotics wipe out both harmful and beneficial gut bacteria, creating a void that allows Candida yeast to proliferate unchecked.
One day, after grabbing a cupcake to eat on her way home, a quick burst of sugar to carry her through dinner time, Jane soon felt bloated in her stomach and her concentration had become cloudy. Before she knew it, she had run a red light.
A police officer pulled her over, suspecting she was drunk.
Despite her denial, a breathalyzer test confirmed his suspicion, leading to a citation and a court summons for a DUI.
After a second, equally baffling incident in which a police officer pulled her over, she was desperate for a medical explanation.
It would be weeks before Jane’s doctor could issue and explain the diagnosis, auto-brewery syndrome.
A specific yeast in her gut, Candida, was fermenting the carbohydrates in her food, effectively brewing alcohol inside her own body.
And it all may have stemmed from antibiotic use.
Once she was diagnosed with ABS, Jane finally had an explanation for her crippling fatigue, her brain fog and slurred speech, especially after eating carb-heavy foods (stock)
Dr Dean Mitchell, a prominent New York City immunologist, told the Daily Mail that nearly all of his patients with Candida overgrowth have a history of long-term antibiotic use
Dr Mitchell told the Daily Mail that widespread over-prescription of antibiotics ‘is a little bit heartbreaking.’
He said: ‘I see a lot of young people who’ve been on tetracycline for six months for acne, or I see people for chronic Lyme disease, the chronic sinus and bronchitis patients and the urinary tract patients. I’m not a believer that long-term antibiotics help those patients.’
Patients journey to his New York City clinic reporting the same core symptoms: stubborn fatigue, brain fog, and bloating.
For some, this progresses to full-scale intoxication, including dizziness, slurred speech, and blood alcohol levels sufficient to fail a breathalyzer test despite complete sobriety.
He first rules out conditions like anemia. If standard tests are normal and the patient has a history of triggers like antibiotics or acid blockers, he uses a 15-questionnaire to help confirm a diagnosis of Candida overgrowth.
He categorizes the condition into four stages. It typically begins with digestive issues like bloating after high-carb meals, then progresses to localized problems such as chronic sinusitis, vaginitis and unexplained rashes.
Dr Mitchell said: ‘Patients that I would see with chronic sinusitis and sometimes the other symptoms, like the GI symptoms, they’re like, oh my god, I’ve seen an [ear, nose and throat doctor] for two years. He keeps on giving me antibiotics, he gives me steroids and I’ve had two operations.
‘And then all of a sudden, I treat them for the Candida overgrowth and their sinuses get better and their fatigue gets better.’
Candida albicans, the yeast that causes ABS, is now a WHO “priority pathogen” because of its drug resistance. Though normally harmless in the gut, it becomes dangerous in immunocompromised individuals
The third stage involves debilitating neurological symptoms, such as severe brain fog that can be so intense that patients have had to leave their jobs.
Dr Mitchell added: ‘I have these 20-year-olds say, ‘I have to leave my job. I’m working in finance and I can’t do the rigors of what I need to do,’ and I work with them and they get better.’
The most severe stage encompasses systemic illness, including profound chronic fatigue and body-wide pain similar to fibromyalgia.
Dr Mitchell’s treatment begins with antifungal medication and a strict 30-day, low-carb diet to starve the yeast.
He then repairs the gut using targeted vitamins and nutrients to reduce inflammation and repopulate the microbiome with beneficial bacteria.
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