t have to drink to get these. There can be other causes.
Esophageal varices develop when normal blood flow to the liver is blocked. The blood then backs up into smaller, more fragile blood vessels in the esophagus, and sometimes in the stomach or rectum, causing the vessels to swell. So if there's any form of scar tissue, blood flow problems (clotting issues, etc), and some diseases, varices develop. The GI doc will be able to determine what's going on probably with some more testing.