Hangovers getting worse: age or just drinking more?

Dudess

I regularly hear people in their 20s and 30s saying "Oh my hangovers are so much worse than they used to be when I was younger - I'm getting old" etc. Now I don't get bad hangovers, if at all, but considering a two-litre of cider between me and a mate would have had us almost comatose when we were 16, I'm more inclined to believe these worsening hangovers are due to the fact that we drink more as we get older. What about those auld fellas in rural areas who can drink people half their age under the table? And they can stomach the likes of poitin?

So any idea which it could be? Or does it depend more on the individual?

AlmightyCushion

Well the sore head is mainly due to dehydration. So if you're drinking more (to get to the same level of drunkenness) then it would likely be that it's just us becoming more immune to alcohol and therefore needing to drink more to get drunk.

brianthebard

A lot of those old lads would go off drink for lent and november:this would give their livers a bit of time to recover.Plus they would've gradually built up a resistance,as opposed to drinking as much as you can pay for.Maybe thats the main reason people have worse hangovers as they get older,they can afford more booze!

kaimera

dammit Dudess.

I was expecting juicy gossip about summet you did

Fo'shame on you; shame indeed.

I find the opposite actually; hangovers are no where near as bad as 7-8 years ago.

bills

well i think i drink less as i get older & seem to get drunk quicker as i no longer go out every weekend or want to!

Terry

Depends on what I've eaten, how fast I've drank the beer and how much sleep I've had.
Sometimes I'll drink 10 or 12 pints and just be dehydrated for a couple of hours.
Other days, I can be totally ****ed after 8 pints.
I haven't noticed much change over the last few years.

Wibbs

Maybe its accumulated damage with age. I didn't drink for most of my twenties and compared to my mates now that did, I rarely get hangovers and can drink far more compared to back then when I was a serious lightweight(cheaper though ).

jellie

id say its drinking more. when i was younger id have 3 or 4 drinks & be drunk, & of course be fine the next day. id have 3 or 4 drinks now, might be a bit tipsy if i havent eaten or im tired or something, but generally be ok. i definitely drink much more than i did when i was younger (im only 24 now so its not like it was years & years ago). but i have more money to spend now too.

AckwelFoley

You may be up the duff.
If its a boy please cal him snyper

stovelid

My worst hangovers were always when I had to get up and go to work or college when I was still fcuked up. I tend not to drink loads on week nights these days, so my hangovers are usually weekend affairs which means you can sleep them off. The odd time I have to get up early on one, I think it's the worst ever, so maybe that's where it comes from.

Dudess

Oh the going on the piss, getting up for work at 7.30 thing - could never do it.

jellie

i could do it years ago when i wasnt drinking much. i attempted to do it this week on wed - bad bad bad idea. i didnt get out of bed until 11. luckily id arranged to work at home for the day

javaboy

Dudess wrote: »

getting up for work at 7.30 thing - could never do it.

FYP

brianthebard

Dudess wrote: »

Oh the going on the piss, getting up for work at 7.30 thing - could never do it.

it works best if you wake up still drunk/buzzing on the red bull.

ntlbell

My hangovers have gotten better over the years and I drink a lot more now.

I think I got a bit more sensible I'll time my meal better if I know I'm going on a serious session and usually drink a lot of water during that day before I go out, I'll have a few pints of water and something to eat when I come in no matter how drunk I am it's almost routeen and I very rarley get _bad_ hangovers.

People who get older might not be going out as often as they used to and drink as much or more as they did so the tolerence isn't there and hence the hangover gets bad

if I haven't drank for a month or so the first hangover does be a little bit more rough than usuall.

Like terry I used to have 6/7 pints and could of been in a bundle and sometimes i of had 12/13 and wake up not a bother

Seems to be a very individual thing

Dudess

javaboy wrote: »

FYP

Well that's actually true too.

brianthebard wrote: »

it works best if you wake up still drunk/buzzing on the red bull.

Yeah, I'll grant you that... but then at around 11.00, death starts to kick in...

JC 2K3

Well I presume it'd be because as you get older (presuming you drink regularly), your body gets more tolerant to the effects of alcohol and you start to drink more to get to the same state. But tolerance to the effects isn't going to reduce it's diuretic effect, which means you'll be much more dehydrated. And there's also the fact that there's going to be a hell of a lot more ethanal floating around your body the next day.

Jigsaw

Hangovers are just different these days I find. A hangover used to be illness, headache, puking etc. These days it is more about having severe fatigue whilst still having to get up and do something, combined with a bad mental issue if paranoia, momentary depression and self loathing etc etc.

Dudess

Yeah, I get the severe tiredness all right, and I was feeling agitated tonight - had to go for a drive instead of going straight to bed. Small price to pay if it's the alternative to nausea, vomiting and a throbbing headache though...

Xavi6

Dudess wrote: »

Oh the going on the piss, getting up for work at 7.30 thing - could never do it.

I've just done that

One of the lads on my team is headin home to England this week so we went for a few scoops after our game yesterday. A few turned into a few too many and I'm feeling a little ropey this morning. Not good.

flanum

*i like to shoot small animals and eat them when im hungover. if i cant shoot any then ill go to the river and catch them be rod and line and eat them.

me man!


*this is actually true!




(edit to add, i hunt and fish all the time, not just when im hungover, but a good day out in the fresh air on a sunday morning after a night on the razz ,and then home to cook what you caught/killed, seriously replenishes the soul/body!).

Jigsaw

These days mushroom soup and Haribo Tangfastic after a hangover ftw.

gazzer

I never really get headaches after drinking and in my 20's I did a hell of a lot of drinking. Usually Thurs - Sun. Since I hit my 30's I only go out probably every other Friday but I find that I am so tired the next day. For instance I went out last Friday.. now granted it was a long session (6.30pm - 2.30am). I was so tired on Saturday. I got up at 10am, went back to bed at 3pm, up at 7pm and back to bed at 11pm. I was still tired yesterday.

eirebhoy

ntlbell wrote: »

Like terry I used to have 6/7 pints and could of been in a bundle and sometimes i of had 12/13 and wake up not a bother

Same here. I had about 10 pints and 2 vodka's yesterday after a 5-a-side and there wasn't a bother on me. I didn't eat much at all and was fine this morning (I was in bed for half 12 last night). Not to mention the fact that I drank on a hangover yesterday. Another time I could have 6 pints and be in a heap the next day. I actually wonder if the hour of football has anything to do with it.

I never get headaches either. I think I'd be straight to the doctor if I ever got a headache.

Steve_o

Well i'm only 22 so I don't get hangovers any worse than I did when I was 18 but I do find it takes a wee bit longer to recover from them these days...

Shortips

same here...

pickarooney

Dudess wrote: »

Yeah, I get the severe tiredness all right, and I was feeling agitated tonight - had to go for a drive instead of going straight to bed. Small price to pay if it's the alternative to nausea, vomiting and a throbbing headache though...

Driving when drunk/exhausted? Small price indeed.

I find I can only drink small amounts in the summertime without getting an oul' tineas ceann.

Dudess

Yeah I was driving drunk all right - that's totally what I said...

lorweld

I find the hangovers are getting worse with age I'm 29. But I find that the 2nd day hangover is never as bad, i.e going out drinking two nights in a row. Anyone else find this? I wonder why it isn't.

Wertz

A decade or more ago when I used drink one hell of a lot more than I do now, I didn't get anywhere near the severity or duration of hangover I get now...I always put this down to the decreased ability of the aging (yes even in our youth) body to bounce back from continued attacks on the system by what is fundamentally a poison, a decrease in the ability and function of the liver and kidneys to remove the poison from the system effectively, of the stomach to recover from having drink and chemicals poured into it and of the brain and nervous system to deal with the pain and dehydration it causes. I also think that smoking can double the severity and longevity of the hangover...the smoking ban was a blessing in this respect as it means that (for me anyway) I smoke less and do so in clean fresh air...

+1 on smoking and hangovers. don't smoke anymore and have noticed a difference.

truecrippler

I'm only 20 and started drinking properly a year and a half ago. When I first started I used to be dying in the morning after a few pints. Now I just get fatigued yet feel so hyper the morning after. But when I over do it, usually at a house party and when I start drinking everything under the sun, the hangovers can be a killer.

It really depends on how well you keep your body hydrated. A good meaty meal is also great for preventing hangovers. I learned this when drinking with some Polish work mates, they gave me some meaty Polish cuisine, followed by the drinking of Lech and Tyskie and multiple vodkas... in all fairness now, at that point in my life I was a drinking-virgin but still didn't end up with a hangover.

Sherifu

Those auld lads have years of practice. Drink plenty of water and don't mix your drinks, should help keep the hangover at bay.

boneless

I have noticed that it takes me longer to recover from a session these days. I have entered my fifth decade though...:P

Flamed Diving

Switch to spirits, and hangovers will be a thing of the past.

boneless

Flamed Diving wrote: »

Switch to spirits, and hangovers will be a thing of the past.

Or just stay drunk.

Dudess

Flamed Diving wrote: »

Switch to spirits, and hangovers will be a thing of the past.

Yeah, as a vodka drinker, I don't suffer much at all in the hangover department.
Wine though - that drink, in excess, is a bastard!

Flamed Diving

I drink port, baileys and rum on a night out (not mixed!) and I feel fine the next morning. I avoid wine and beer because they tear my stomach to bits!

Dudess

I can't understand how anyone could drink cider - I mean, a pint or two, fair enough. But all night? My stomach's in bits at the mere thought...

Flamed Diving

Cider... isn't that what we all used to vomit out when we were fifteen?

Dudess

Yup. But some adults drink it.

Tar.Aldarion

I think it is age, I have never gotten a hangover, I can drink more than an alco for days and feel fresh as a daisy at 8am. When I get older I imagine my body wouldn't take it as well. I've been told people like me start to get them, it won't be through drinking more anway.

*memories of falling flat on my face getting out of the taxi*
That was the taxi into town to start the night.

jellie

Dudess wrote: »

Wine though - that drink, in excess, is a bastard!

Wine is EVIL. yet i never learn. its the only drink thats made me black out since i was about 18 & went a bit mad on the vodka one night. there is no headache quite like the pounding in your head the morning after too much wine.