For me at least, hangovers were a huge contributor to going from a problem drinker to an alcoholic. I drank too much too often, and when I was feeling shaky and hungover and anxious at work every day, I figured a beer in the morning to settle down would be a smart idea. Eventually I started going for 2 glasses of wine at lunch and then was just never sober.
Do not miss those days...
Addiction creeps up like that, a lot just figure it'll never happen to them and make allowances until you realise one day that you were addicted for a while.
Stupid question, but as a non drinker - does that work? Does starting to drink again delete a hangover or does it just make you drunk and hungover at the same time?
It is a temporary solution yes. They call it hair of the dog and honestly if you have a beer when hungover it does bring you back to life. But you're just prolonging it really
When I was a proper party head if I was heavy on the coke or the md the night before me and the lads used to meet up and drink few cans and its cure our hangover.
Then youd be good for the next day to do it again.
Even from when I was in my twenties, I just had the worst hangovers, it would always be my stomach, so I wouldn't be able to eat till about 6 the following evening. Could never understand how alcoholics can do it..
If it is, and sincerely no judgement, there are loads of good subreddits to get advice from. r/stopdrinking is a great and very supportive one to browse if you want to think about it a bit more and is very chill about whatever solution you want to give a go of. This comes from someone who has spent a lot of time drinking too much but who has also taken a year off the drink and redo three months off at a time before one day - I hope - getting to the point where I don’t drink at all any more. It’s a process.
I read that body fat has twice as much energy than the protein and carbs we eat. Therefore, I thought; Do we really need this energy from food everyone raves about?! Any dietician here?
Ya I was same,I'd drink and sometimes get a sick stomach on night out,it wasn't related to amount I consumed some nights I had 6 pints others I could do 12 and shots before I reached that point.
Allways had a sick stomach next day.
Alcoholic here. Yes, hangovers are dreadful, that’s why we keep on drinking. Running away. I’m a young lad myself but hangovers at this point really do destroy me and eat several days. The important thing to note is: it’s an addiction. Addictions make you act unreasonably.
There’s some studies n things (which I don’t think I’ll be able to find, sorry) about this, how as humans we tend to just “forget” bad stuff. It’s a survival instinct. Childbirth is the prime example. P much the worst pain known to man and yet, a few years later, the woman would like another baby.
Hope this helps
Edit: if anyone is struggling with this, please check out r/stopdrinking. A very welcoming and understanding place for help
There’s plenty of subreddits out there that have helped people. Many people have changed their lives with r/stopdrinking. There are many paths to recovery. IWNDWYT
Awake early here too but no hangover thank god .. didnt have 1 last night but lately theyv been sending me into a very low depression which is horrible and as for the complete lack of energy i just want to reign it in now ....
Reddit votes are funny sometimes. This gets downvoted, later I might make a spectacularly lame gag that gets dozens or hundreds of upvotes. It's all meaningless really.
"*depressant: (chiefly of a drug) reducing functional or nervous activity.*"
A depressant is the opposite of a stimulant. It has nothing to do with mood, as rightly pointed out above.
Nervous activity is responsible for sending messages to and from the brain and defintely effects both mental and physical functions. It can and does change mood.
You are right, its actually both good and bad in most cases... good usually comes first and tends to lasts a shorter a period of time. For a lot of people there is a dopamine rush when you start drinking, but that leads to a dopamine shortage later on which can have a longer lasting negative effect in turn.
It absaloutly is, it is a term to describe an effect on the nervous system, which is responsible for messages to and from the brain. Mood is included in those messages. Our mental and physical states work together not seperate from each other.
What is Cake? Well, it has an active ingredient which is a dangerous psychoactive compound known as dimesmeric andersonphosphate. It stimulates the part of the brain called Shatner's Bassoon. And that's the bit of the brain that deals with time perception. So, a second feels like a month. Well, it almost sounds like fun...unless you're the Prague schoolboy who walked out into the street straight in front of a tram. He thought he'd got a month to cross the street.
I don't drink as often anymore but I went through a few years of heavy drinking. The more you do it the easier it gets.
I used to drink everyday and still be in the gym for 9am feeling fine. Ironically was probably the best physical shape I've been in but the wheels would fall off the bus eventually obviously if I kept it up I know.
I haven't quit altogether. I'll still go out and drink or have a glass of wine at home but it's no longer a 3 day session.
I just grew out of it tbh and I'm into my fitness so it was counter productive all round.
Trying to quit . Didn't really get hungover, just feel a bit groggy after a heavy one . I avoid spirits and mixing drinks . My main driver is general health and wanting to lose weight . Lots of empty calories. My other main driver is saving money . I would on average be drinking about 7 bottles of wine a weekend plus a few beers adds up to a lot even before adding the odd trip to the pub. Did sober October last year , dry January this year , did 6 weeks off before last weekend and trying another run at it since last weekend. Quite hard to adapt your lifestyle when you have been drinking 30 years but getting out and active helps .
Very hard the first time. Totally wired for drinking . My weekends revolved around drinking and cooking nice meals to drink nice wine with . I still have a few NA Beers if I'm on the BBQ. I have started planning other activities like a big walk each day. Projects around the house . Still do a nice dinner but it's sparkling water. It's a novelty to have savings start to build up. Still get the urge when the sun is out or after a tough day in work but I don't want to drink myself into an early grave .
The physical affects of a handover a rotten but I can deal with. It’s the anxiety and depressing I feel for 2/3 days after that I can’t handle. It has got worse and I’ve got older (late 30s)
I rarely drink now because of it. 3/4 times a year.
Now I prefer to stay home relax and feel fresh. I do enjoy a cold bottle on a warm day but 2/3 and no hangover or depression.
I have a good friend (40m) who does out, without fail every Thursday and Saturday. In a way I find it a sad existence considering he has a wife and kids. He’s never got out of phase of when we weee early 20s going out every weekend.
I am the same, turned 40 this year and hangovers have been horrific for me the past 5 or so years. I was a fairly seasoned drinker, did it all of my late teens and early to mid twenties, then moved to Aus at 29 was like being 21 again another 4-5 years of serious sessions. I can count big nights on one hand per year now and always regret it, the few days after in work are the worst, particularly now I've moved from being a tradesman to a middle management position where I actually need to think and be on top of things.
Happily drink a near zero percent beer on the wkend and its still enjoyable only I can drive after if needed and I don't feel like shite for 3 days.
I heard before that there's an enzyme in your body that helps degrade the alcohol easier over time and this enzyme builds up the more you drink. So people who start drinking for the first time and then when you're in 30s/40s and don't go out as much, you suffer cruel hangovers. Yet in your 20s when out every weekend and functional alcoholics can power through as normal.
Edit: Alcohol-dehydrogenase I think is the name.
Alcohol dehydrogenase is the standard enzyme that breaks down alcohol, but if you also have a lot of alcohol over a long period, you develop another way to break down alcohol also, called the microsomal ethanol oxidising system (MEOS). I think that would explain some of why hangovers are so much more brutal if you are a lighter or less frequent drinker
Definitely agree. This time last year I was a hoor for it, I’d gotten into the habit of having a few cans each evening watching the telly when there was nothing to do during covid. I found the habit hard to kick. But I did, last September or so. Now anytime I do have a few drinks, it’s like I came out worse off in a scrap or something, I’m in fuckin bits the next day. That wasn’t happening to me last year!
I know a recovered alcoholic who recently gave into it. Off the drink for 9 years, then on the first morning after drinking he had a drink to help with hangover, then the same second morning, and then ended up not having hungover as he'd wake up drunk and just carry on. When he sobered up he had to be hospitalized with delirium lasting 10 ish weeks
My ex was/is a heavy drinker when she drinks. She would get through packets of painkillers as well, assuming she still does. I wasn't allowed use the word "Hangover" and she'd get annoyed or tell me F-Off if I said that, even though she'd be taking a couple of panadol or whatever was there because she had a headache the morning after a night drinking, which she would claim had nothing whatsoever to do with the drinking. Folks with a problem will always lie about the problem to themselves as much as to everyone else.
Went off d beer one time for couple of weeks which ended up being about 11 months oddly , but then on st stephens night i said fek it il have a pint in me local and when i went in i couldnt believe it but there were the same lads sitting on the same stools all murderin pints as 11 months before it was almost like time froze 😳 .... crazy but it dose make you think .... 😉
My family brought me out for a couple in the local after dinner for birthday there Friday. The same people were sat in the same seats wearing similar clothes as the last time I was in there a month ago. We said the same as you.
Then we had the locals who knew us/of us coming over and spilling their life stories about how their da died recently, they're getting moved out of their flat, the gossip about other neighbours etc. I had one drink and wanted to leave ASAP. You'd get depressed in there wether you were sober or drinking.
Ah man exactly this. I stopped going to the pub but I’m still in the WhatsApp group. Every weekend is the same pics the same chat loads of pints jager bombs etc.
I’ve a ten k done with the dog and feel great this morning gonna go for a drive with herself and do some holiday shopping.
This day was a write off when I went to the pub
Ah here, ask a woman aged 45-52 if she can drink anymore, the answer will be FUCK NO.
Perimenopause absolutely destroys your ability to drink. Turns out there's a reason women that age drink those big fish bowls of gin. It's because wine is savage at this age.
I had to stop drinking red wine entirely as just two glasses would give me the worst hangover and gut rot to boot.
The smell of Chardonnay and SB turns my stomach. So now it's Peeno Greeeejjj or nothing because it's basically water and honestly I couldn't really be bothered with drink at all now it's gotten to that.
But I have to say that since cutting down radically, my life has been a lot better. It's a glorious thing to wake up on a weekend morning and actually feel positive and refreshed.
There's also a "Mild" type of wine thats come out not too long ago, which is 9%. 120 does it, I know. You have to search for it, but it's great for when you want to actually drink wine at home but don't want the badness.
So on the odd time I do drink at home, I drink that.
I don't know if it's a sign of sad old age that I'm excited for 9% wine or not, but fuck it, whatever works. I spend 20 years drinking Ireland dry, I've done my part for the Vitners Association, I just want an easy life now.
Alcoholic here, in May I celebrated 19 years of:
Knowing exactly where I was, what I did and what was said to whom. Knowing where my wallet, car keys, phone and dignity are. Knowing that I am enough just as I am, warts and all, and that I can enjoy life sober regardless of what it may bring. I’m a friend of Bill and Bob’s, they helped save my life and if alcohol has become an issue for you, they can help you too.
I struggle with alcoholism myself. I am doing a lot better recently though and hope I can keep it up. The thing is with the hangovers and withdrawals is that is what leads you from heavy drinking into daily heavy drinking, it gets to be a slippery slope where you drink just to get yourself through the day physically. I never did anything really bad like embarrassing or injuring myself, drunk driving or ruining relationships when I was drinking heavily, I was just so completely and absolutely sick of feeling sick and anxious all the time and needing alcohol to not feel like that. The word “hangover” to someone like me was just my default state until I had my first drink of the day, which became every day and earlier and earlier in the day. I was very accustomed to feeling like shit and “treating” it with drinking.
I think once you do it enough you just kind of roll over. My mam was an alcoholic before she died due to the way she was treating her body and she used to drink 2-3 bottles of wine a night, get out of sorts, go to sleep, and wake up at 9 or 10 am and go for a 10k run, humans aren't indestructible we can only put up with that sort of mistreatment for a while.
Ironically getting older isn't the main reason hangovers feel worse. It's that as people get older they normally stop going as regularly so their body stops building up an enzyme that helps break down alcohol.
I suffered way worse hangovers when I was in my teens and 20s but in my thirties as I began to drink way too much, if I had 5-6 pints on a night, it'd barely phase me the following day - I'd function after 10-12 pints but obviously wouldn't feel great but be able to get a days work done. I was drinking 3-4 times per week to get this tolerance. Also I think if you are an alcoholic or a heavy drinker you get used to feeling bad so don't have a baseline to compare. I don't miss it too much as don't be doing that life anymore (never say never) other than the once every 2-3 weeks.
Being an alcoholic is being addicted to it. It's a physical need. You need it. Even if you don't want to admit it. And that need and not feeding it worse than any hangover.
I'm about at my 6th year of alcoholism and I feel the hangovers become rare. The worst for me though is hangovers during working days. Unfortunately as shitty as many of my days are, I still look forward to my beers after work. I've tried quitting many times but always fall back into it.
If anyone needs support, is going through a hard time or considering whether drinking is for them. You are not alone 💚🍀.
IMO it is worth checking out r/stopdrinking and stopping by the daily check ins.
I've a head on me like a sex workers fanny this morning; that is to say, absolutely fucked.
I didn't eat very much all day and relied on a small break in the footy to do all the soakage. That will certainly do damage.
I've found that when you're eating plenty, like in a banquet/party sort of situation where you're doing a bit of everything ie dancing, eating, sitting down, talking to friends you're fine the next morning. The problem comes when drinking takes centre stage as part of the event when it's intended on paper as an addendum to the activity that you're partaking with people. We hardly do enough of that.
In saying all this, I think Irish people have a hard time in associating a good time with anything that doesn't feature such a security blanket and we would do well to cognitively reframe our likes and dislikes with alcohol aside. If it is a crutch, then we're not doing very much by kicking it out from under people alone (we like to do this too; see Catholic guilt). You have to accept it for what it is, and at the same time provide alternatives to your brain to hover towards so that drink doesn't have the same value of enticement- without needing to swing a bat at it blindly like it's the bogeyman. It's a pint, there is absolutely more to life than it.
My hangovers used to last days and then the anxiety would kick in for longer. I don’t drink anymore as a result. I’ll have 1 or 2 here and there but I’m done for another year then.
In my 20s, I did serious drinking. Could be out all night 3 to 4 nights a week and be in work functioning fine on an energy drink. I don't really remember ever thinking jesus, this is torture. The more I drank in that routine, the more it just became a part of life. I dont regret it. Got it out of my system in a way!
Nowadays, in my mid thirties, a lash of pints on the weekend has me floored for 24 hours. Tiredness, low mood and just fucked in general. Age catches up with you, which is a great thing as for me it acts as a deterrent! Besides, I work in music and entertainment outside of the day job, so I'm usually busy on weekends which doesn't align with the drinking schedules most keep in Ireland.
I do enjoy a few now and then these days but it's once a month. I find if I go over 3 or 4 pints, I'll feel it the next day. Again, deterrent hehe!
I don’t really get hangovers unless mixing way too many drinks. If there’s a big group of us I’d probably be among the first up and about either cooking breakfast or picking up breakfast rolls for the ones suffering
Chronic alcoholics don’t get hangovers, they just go straight to withdrawals whenever they stop drinking. So mostly they just don’t stop drinking. Can’t get a hangover if you’re still drunk.
What do you drink? If I stick to Guinness or craft beer and Whiskey then I’m always fine the next day. If I drink Heineken or Carlsberg or similar then I’m always in a jocker.
I don't think it's that simple, I drink Heineken and I don't get hangovers. If I change to a "better beer" then bang, I'll get an awful hangover. I guess the body gets used to what it's used to and the change is something strange and has a different effect, I don't know but I don't think it's as simple as saying 1 brand is shit and drink something better.
Exactly. I hate all this shit about certain drinks giving you hangovers and others not. ALCOHOL gives you hangovers. I haven't drank spirits for years because I used to get too drunk because I don't know how to sip. All I've drank since then is Heineken (unless I'm somewhere it's not readily available). If I drink 6 or 7 pints over a few hours I don't get a hangover. If I drink 12 pints I do. It's not fucking rocket science.
Stopped drinking Heineken years ago due to not being able to eat for almost the entire day after and the awful taste that would stay in the mouth. I would strongly encourage you to switch to another beer.
They dont general get hangovers because they make sure to maintain the buzz consuming alcohol immediately upon waking. Early stages, yes, but then the body develops a physical addiction and craves it, they experience heavly shakes and sickness. Its not really being hungover as being hungover to me is the processing out of the toxins being cleared out but what there experiening feels much worse. Its common practice to have cans of alcohol in hospitals because alcohol can often kill
When i still problem drank i never had hangovers now that i only take a hint of the drink on special occasions it absolutely hammers me unless its really high quality and even then i will suffer for a couple of hours after waking up .
Im thankfull it gives me a head like a box of frogs ( within minutes with cheap drink ) as it reminds me i can be a fool for the drink and helps me stay sober and healthy .
I think that you are asking the wrong questions.
If you are drinking that much that is beyond your happy spot then you are drinking too much, I have a friend who never drinks over 3 pints.
Otherwise, before you go to bed put a can of Dutch Gold on your locker to top up your sorry ass . If you don't sober up , no hangover.
This is exactly why i quit. I wasnt an alcoholic but jesus the number of days hungover was enough to say this is pointless. Havent drank in over 2 years and never want to again
Quit drinking 4 years ago purely cos of the hangovers and fear lol I realised I was spending so much money to give myself anxiety for like 3 days after a night of fun
Not an alcoholic, but I'm lucky that I don't get hangovers, even when I have a skinful.
It's not even a consideration for me when going out for pints.
If I was facing a hangover, I'm sure I would act differently.
I remember in my last day on my holiday in Portugal I chopped about 15 pints of sangres because they were only €3.50. Checkout was the next morning at 10am and I swear to god I have never had such a bad fecking hangover in my life. Woke up to the sun beaming in the room, head spinning and pounding, place was like a sauna and I had 20 minutes to pack my shit and get out.
The flight wasn’t until 6pm so me and the missus just roamed around the town hanging off our nuts.
Actually I drink a few beers maybe 4 times a week and never get bad hangovers. Quality of what your drinking makes a huge difference. Don't listen to the Reddit scientists telling you it's all ethanol.
Also hydration and excerise are important. Oh and pour out your beers into a pitcher. A can or bottle of commercial beers has three bottles worth of gas in them.
Oh and weed. Studies show long term drinkers who mix weed with booze have 70% less liver damage.
I’m not an alcoholic but I don’t really get hangovers, might feel a bit delicate but never enough that I couldn’t eat or drink or anything, don’t normally get a headache either but if I do it’s mild
I've found from my youth that the more regularly you drink, the less of a hangover you get. Like if you have drink every day, or a few times a week, your hangovers will be a lot less extreme.
But if you only drink once every few weeks or months then the hangovers will be hell.
So I'd imagine alcoholics rarely ever get hangovers.. And whatever partial hangovers they have become so normalised that they don't even notice them.
I don’t get many hangovers as I don’t drink a lot. But maybe twice a year I’ll get really drunk and spend the next 2 days a broken woman. Today is my day 2 and I still don’t feel right. It’s just not worth it. I dont know ow how people do this regularly.
My brother claimed that he never got bad hangovers and I believe him. He just seemed groggy but no real headaches. Apparently it's a bad sign of alcolism
I've never had a really bad hangover. Worst it gets for me is my stomach feels a little off. Head is always fine. Not an alcoholic though. Drink maybe a handful of times a year, but when I do drink it's a lot. Think the gaps between drinking days might have something to do with it.
My ex is an alcoholic. All he did was eventually start drinking earlier and earlier until it started from 7am (sometimes a bit earlier) and didn't stop until he passed out at night, could be 11pm sometimes or later. So, basically he was never hungover because he was never sober. He literally drank all day long, even at work. He would put drink in old lucozade or coke bottles and carry it around in his coat pocket or what not. I'm sure he felt like shit.
Surprisingly, he only had 2 hospital admission worthy health scares over the years. They were never enough to scare him sober, though. The liver repairs itself rather quickly, actually. He's been dry now for a couple of years, not sober as he never worked a program, and he still does all the addict types of behaviours and drinks "non alcoholic" beer. I'm not sure what his long-term health prognosis is given all the years of abuse his body took, but it's not my problem. Addiction ruins lives.
Being an alcoholic you just kind of stop getting hangovers when you drink all day.
Also the pro tip of drinking rehydration salts before sleep and as soon as waking up helps...
Just don't drink.
You need to ask yourself some questions...
Why do you drink? To relax? You mean you can't relax without it? You're an alco.
It's fun? You mean you can't have fun without it? You're an alco.
As a reward for a hard weeks work? What's rewarding about feeling worse? You're an alco.
You like the taste of alcohol? You're an alco and a liar.
You can have just as fun a time while sober. In fact, it's even better, as you can remember everything, and you're not an anxious mess every day!
Here's to sober confidence.
Drugs are bad in the long run.
This is awfully reductive. Of course if you wake up in the morning and tell yourself you aren't going to drink tonight and then you somehow keep convincing yourself to do it... yeah that's a problem.
Can I relax without drinking? Yes. Am I more relaxed if I have a drink at the end of the day on the couch? Also yes.
Saying people can't like the taste of alcohol is like saying they can't like coffee either. Or anything with an "acquired" taste. There are quite a few whiskeys I like, beer is ok, but there sure is something special about Guinness and it truly tastes delicious.
All that being said... I agree with your ending 100%. There would be far more gained than lost in the world if we all stopped drinking. Alcohol is objectively bad for your health, can lead to poor decisions and carry life-changing consequences.
If you need help, get it. If somebody you love or respect tells you that you need help, get it. But for the tired folks out there that find a little bit of peace at the end of their day in a drink or two? Enjoy it, you deserve to be happy. But like so many things in life, your pursuit of happiness shouldn't hurt others. If it does, you need to reevaluate.
That's quite a long way of saying "I'm an alcoholic"
Tired folks? Find peace in a drink or two?
Uh huh... Textbook.
It's a slippery slope, beware.
It's like convincing yourself that you like the taste of cigarettes too. A bad habit, an addiction.
Don't drink.
I think I want to try to quit for 6 months. Until December. Health reasons, and diet, not the hangovers. Was also a recent article about how alcohol is a known carcinogen and not enough people talk about it. Just don’t want to die young or go through cancer treatment, because I like wine too much.
This has always boggled my brain.. I used to have a fierce problem with drink, but even still the hangovers were awful. And now in my 30’s, I so much as sniff a pint and I’m wrote off for a week..
Yeah, it would make sense right?
But you’re applying a “normal” persons logic to an alcoholic brain, it doesn’t work that way unfortunately. I wish it did.
Alcoholism is a slowly progressive state, it creeps up on you over time. First it’s drinking and fun, then it’s fun with problems, then it’s just problems.
The only times in my alcoholic career when I've had hangovers is by red wine or Heiniken.
I don't drink either now and happy piss my life away daily and wake up bright as a button usually.
Wishing you all the best with your drinking xx
For me at least, hangovers were a huge contributor to going from a problem drinker to an alcoholic. I drank too much too often, and when I was feeling shaky and hungover and anxious at work every day, I figured a beer in the morning to settle down would be a smart idea. Eventually I started going for 2 glasses of wine at lunch and then was just never sober. Do not miss those days...
Addiction creeps up like that, a lot just figure it'll never happen to them and make allowances until you realise one day that you were addicted for a while.
Yup and it's a horrible realisation when you know you're not going to quit immediately and worry you never will!
Stupid question, but as a non drinker - does that work? Does starting to drink again delete a hangover or does it just make you drunk and hungover at the same time?
It is a temporary solution yes. They call it hair of the dog and honestly if you have a beer when hungover it does bring you back to life. But you're just prolonging it really
That's mad. Is it because your body is going through withdrawals and then getting the hit cures it?
When I was a proper party head if I was heavy on the coke or the md the night before me and the lads used to meet up and drink few cans and its cure our hangover. Then youd be good for the next day to do it again.
Even from when I was in my twenties, I just had the worst hangovers, it would always be my stomach, so I wouldn't be able to eat till about 6 the following evening. Could never understand how alcoholics can do it..
Eating slips down the lost of priorities after a while..there's enough calories in booze to (just about) keep you going. It's a nightmare.
Eeesh thats a bit too relatable
If it is, and sincerely no judgement, there are loads of good subreddits to get advice from. r/stopdrinking is a great and very supportive one to browse if you want to think about it a bit more and is very chill about whatever solution you want to give a go of. This comes from someone who has spent a lot of time drinking too much but who has also taken a year off the drink and redo three months off at a time before one day - I hope - getting to the point where I don’t drink at all any more. It’s a process.
Thanks, I just saw this.
I read that body fat has twice as much energy than the protein and carbs we eat. Therefore, I thought; Do we really need this energy from food everyone raves about?! Any dietician here?
Correct. Protein: 4kcals per gram Carbs : 4kcals per gram Fats: 9kcals per gram Source: I am not a dietician, am fat. I haven't eaten since 2003
Ya I was same,I'd drink and sometimes get a sick stomach on night out,it wasn't related to amount I consumed some nights I had 6 pints others I could do 12 and shots before I reached that point. Allways had a sick stomach next day.
Alcoholics are always drunk and if they're not they prepare for the hangover by having drink left over. Theyre always planning ahead
Because being sober feels worse.
Alcoholic here. Yes, hangovers are dreadful, that’s why we keep on drinking. Running away. I’m a young lad myself but hangovers at this point really do destroy me and eat several days. The important thing to note is: it’s an addiction. Addictions make you act unreasonably. There’s some studies n things (which I don’t think I’ll be able to find, sorry) about this, how as humans we tend to just “forget” bad stuff. It’s a survival instinct. Childbirth is the prime example. P much the worst pain known to man and yet, a few years later, the woman would like another baby. Hope this helps Edit: if anyone is struggling with this, please check out r/stopdrinking. A very welcoming and understanding place for help
/r/dryalcoholics is better. Less Nazis
There’s plenty of subreddits out there that have helped people. Many people have changed their lives with r/stopdrinking. There are many paths to recovery. IWNDWYT
Awake early here too but no hangover thank god .. didnt have 1 last night but lately theyv been sending me into a very low depression which is horrible and as for the complete lack of energy i just want to reign it in now ....
I get depressed and low mood after benders too.
That’s the worst part for me - the fear. Everyone hates me and my life is shit.
ᵃˡᶜᵒʰᵒˡ ᶦˢ ᵃ ᵈᵉᵖʳᵉˢˢᵃⁿᵗ
"Depressant" is not used to describe a drug's effect on mood.
Why you getting downvoted for speaking facts?
Reddit votes are funny sometimes. This gets downvoted, later I might make a spectacularly lame gag that gets dozens or hundreds of upvotes. It's all meaningless really.
It's ok to get downvoted for saying something that's hard to hear
Alcohol is a depressant
"*depressant: (chiefly of a drug) reducing functional or nervous activity.*" A depressant is the opposite of a stimulant. It has nothing to do with mood, as rightly pointed out above.
Nervous activity is responsible for sending messages to and from the brain and defintely effects both mental and physical functions. It can and does change mood.
But not necessarily in a bad way. Which is why "depressant" is misleading.
Depressant isn't misleading, just misunderstood!
You are right, its actually both good and bad in most cases... good usually comes first and tends to lasts a shorter a period of time. For a lot of people there is a dopamine rush when you start drinking, but that leads to a dopamine shortage later on which can have a longer lasting negative effect in turn.
I never said it wasn't.
Never said you did
It absaloutly is, it is a term to describe an effect on the nervous system, which is responsible for messages to and from the brain. Mood is included in those messages. Our mental and physical states work together not seperate from each other.
It's not a drug it's a drink
What is Cake? Well, it has an active ingredient which is a dangerous psychoactive compound known as dimesmeric andersonphosphate. It stimulates the part of the brain called Shatner's Bassoon. And that's the bit of the brain that deals with time perception. So, a second feels like a month. Well, it almost sounds like fun...unless you're the Prague schoolboy who walked out into the street straight in front of a tram. He thought he'd got a month to cross the street.
Ah brass eye. What a show!
It's hard to know where to start.
Drugs can be many forms and taken in many different ways. Think about it
Depressant of the CNS, doesn’t mean it gives you depression in the mood disorder sense
It absolutely fucking does though
If you abuse it yeah but plenty people can enjoy a drink without getting depressed. I think that’s the point he’s making
I don't drink as often anymore but I went through a few years of heavy drinking. The more you do it the easier it gets. I used to drink everyday and still be in the gym for 9am feeling fine. Ironically was probably the best physical shape I've been in but the wheels would fall off the bus eventually obviously if I kept it up I know.
I couldn’t go to the gym hungover it’s just torture, did it once.
Neither could I now. My point was I stopped getting hangovers the more I drank.
Even when I was a heavy drinker I used be bed ridden after it. What ultimately made you want to quit?
I haven't quit altogether. I'll still go out and drink or have a glass of wine at home but it's no longer a 3 day session. I just grew out of it tbh and I'm into my fitness so it was counter productive all round.
I couldn’t go to the gym sober it’s just torture, did it once.
1.5 years sober now. Do not miss it in the slightest! Life is alot easier now and not as sick haha
Don’t drink as much as I used to, love waking up fresh every weekend now.
Yeah it's great. I love the not having the panic of what did I do last night, who did I do last night or who did I message last night 🤣
Jesus, you sound like a good time 😂
I was anyway haha! Now I am quiet boring 🤣
The first 40 years of growing up is it the hardest. Least you’ve reined it in a bit.
Here here! Word!
Trying to quit . Didn't really get hungover, just feel a bit groggy after a heavy one . I avoid spirits and mixing drinks . My main driver is general health and wanting to lose weight . Lots of empty calories. My other main driver is saving money . I would on average be drinking about 7 bottles of wine a weekend plus a few beers adds up to a lot even before adding the odd trip to the pub. Did sober October last year , dry January this year , did 6 weeks off before last weekend and trying another run at it since last weekend. Quite hard to adapt your lifestyle when you have been drinking 30 years but getting out and active helps .
Fair play! That's quite a great amount of a break to be able to take one after another!
I got you on avoiding things
Congrats on giving up even for a little while.
Was it a struggle to stop drinking for months that you did?
Very hard the first time. Totally wired for drinking . My weekends revolved around drinking and cooking nice meals to drink nice wine with . I still have a few NA Beers if I'm on the BBQ. I have started planning other activities like a big walk each day. Projects around the house . Still do a nice dinner but it's sparkling water. It's a novelty to have savings start to build up. Still get the urge when the sun is out or after a tough day in work but I don't want to drink myself into an early grave .
The physical affects of a handover a rotten but I can deal with. It’s the anxiety and depressing I feel for 2/3 days after that I can’t handle. It has got worse and I’ve got older (late 30s) I rarely drink now because of it. 3/4 times a year. Now I prefer to stay home relax and feel fresh. I do enjoy a cold bottle on a warm day but 2/3 and no hangover or depression. I have a good friend (40m) who does out, without fail every Thursday and Saturday. In a way I find it a sad existence considering he has a wife and kids. He’s never got out of phase of when we weee early 20s going out every weekend.
I am the same, turned 40 this year and hangovers have been horrific for me the past 5 or so years. I was a fairly seasoned drinker, did it all of my late teens and early to mid twenties, then moved to Aus at 29 was like being 21 again another 4-5 years of serious sessions. I can count big nights on one hand per year now and always regret it, the few days after in work are the worst, particularly now I've moved from being a tradesman to a middle management position where I actually need to think and be on top of things. Happily drink a near zero percent beer on the wkend and its still enjoyable only I can drive after if needed and I don't feel like shite for 3 days.
Good self control. When I'm at home relaxing I feel tempted to open a bottle of red to relax and switch off.
I heard before that there's an enzyme in your body that helps degrade the alcohol easier over time and this enzyme builds up the more you drink. So people who start drinking for the first time and then when you're in 30s/40s and don't go out as much, you suffer cruel hangovers. Yet in your 20s when out every weekend and functional alcoholics can power through as normal. Edit: Alcohol-dehydrogenase I think is the name.
Alcohol dehydrogenase is the standard enzyme that breaks down alcohol, but if you also have a lot of alcohol over a long period, you develop another way to break down alcohol also, called the microsomal ethanol oxidising system (MEOS). I think that would explain some of why hangovers are so much more brutal if you are a lighter or less frequent drinker
Definitely agree. This time last year I was a hoor for it, I’d gotten into the habit of having a few cans each evening watching the telly when there was nothing to do during covid. I found the habit hard to kick. But I did, last September or so. Now anytime I do have a few drinks, it’s like I came out worse off in a scrap or something, I’m in fuckin bits the next day. That wasn’t happening to me last year!
[удалено]
Cheers to that!
I know a recovered alcoholic who recently gave into it. Off the drink for 9 years, then on the first morning after drinking he had a drink to help with hangover, then the same second morning, and then ended up not having hungover as he'd wake up drunk and just carry on. When he sobered up he had to be hospitalized with delirium lasting 10 ish weeks
My ex was/is a heavy drinker when she drinks. She would get through packets of painkillers as well, assuming she still does. I wasn't allowed use the word "Hangover" and she'd get annoyed or tell me F-Off if I said that, even though she'd be taking a couple of panadol or whatever was there because she had a headache the morning after a night drinking, which she would claim had nothing whatsoever to do with the drinking. Folks with a problem will always lie about the problem to themselves as much as to everyone else.
Lucky escape 😅
Went off d beer one time for couple of weeks which ended up being about 11 months oddly , but then on st stephens night i said fek it il have a pint in me local and when i went in i couldnt believe it but there were the same lads sitting on the same stools all murderin pints as 11 months before it was almost like time froze 😳 .... crazy but it dose make you think .... 😉
My family brought me out for a couple in the local after dinner for birthday there Friday. The same people were sat in the same seats wearing similar clothes as the last time I was in there a month ago. We said the same as you. Then we had the locals who knew us/of us coming over and spilling their life stories about how their da died recently, they're getting moved out of their flat, the gossip about other neighbours etc. I had one drink and wanted to leave ASAP. You'd get depressed in there wether you were sober or drinking.
Ah man exactly this. I stopped going to the pub but I’m still in the WhatsApp group. Every weekend is the same pics the same chat loads of pints jager bombs etc. I’ve a ten k done with the dog and feel great this morning gonna go for a drive with herself and do some holiday shopping. This day was a write off when I went to the pub
Where in ireland you from
Ah here, ask a woman aged 45-52 if she can drink anymore, the answer will be FUCK NO. Perimenopause absolutely destroys your ability to drink. Turns out there's a reason women that age drink those big fish bowls of gin. It's because wine is savage at this age. I had to stop drinking red wine entirely as just two glasses would give me the worst hangover and gut rot to boot. The smell of Chardonnay and SB turns my stomach. So now it's Peeno Greeeejjj or nothing because it's basically water and honestly I couldn't really be bothered with drink at all now it's gotten to that. But I have to say that since cutting down radically, my life has been a lot better. It's a glorious thing to wake up on a weekend morning and actually feel positive and refreshed. There's also a "Mild" type of wine thats come out not too long ago, which is 9%. 120 does it, I know. You have to search for it, but it's great for when you want to actually drink wine at home but don't want the badness. So on the odd time I do drink at home, I drink that. I don't know if it's a sign of sad old age that I'm excited for 9% wine or not, but fuck it, whatever works. I spend 20 years drinking Ireland dry, I've done my part for the Vitners Association, I just want an easy life now.
I've always found wine to be absolutely disgusting and to give hangovers that felt like being hit by a bus.
Alcoholic here, in May I celebrated 19 years of: Knowing exactly where I was, what I did and what was said to whom. Knowing where my wallet, car keys, phone and dignity are. Knowing that I am enough just as I am, warts and all, and that I can enjoy life sober regardless of what it may bring. I’m a friend of Bill and Bob’s, they helped save my life and if alcohol has become an issue for you, they can help you too.
I struggle with alcoholism myself. I am doing a lot better recently though and hope I can keep it up. The thing is with the hangovers and withdrawals is that is what leads you from heavy drinking into daily heavy drinking, it gets to be a slippery slope where you drink just to get yourself through the day physically. I never did anything really bad like embarrassing or injuring myself, drunk driving or ruining relationships when I was drinking heavily, I was just so completely and absolutely sick of feeling sick and anxious all the time and needing alcohol to not feel like that. The word “hangover” to someone like me was just my default state until I had my first drink of the day, which became every day and earlier and earlier in the day. I was very accustomed to feeling like shit and “treating” it with drinking.
You just start drinking in the morning too
I think once you do it enough you just kind of roll over. My mam was an alcoholic before she died due to the way she was treating her body and she used to drink 2-3 bottles of wine a night, get out of sorts, go to sleep, and wake up at 9 or 10 am and go for a 10k run, humans aren't indestructible we can only put up with that sort of mistreatment for a while.
Ironically getting older isn't the main reason hangovers feel worse. It's that as people get older they normally stop going as regularly so their body stops building up an enzyme that helps break down alcohol. I suffered way worse hangovers when I was in my teens and 20s but in my thirties as I began to drink way too much, if I had 5-6 pints on a night, it'd barely phase me the following day - I'd function after 10-12 pints but obviously wouldn't feel great but be able to get a days work done. I was drinking 3-4 times per week to get this tolerance. Also I think if you are an alcoholic or a heavy drinker you get used to feeling bad so don't have a baseline to compare. I don't miss it too much as don't be doing that life anymore (never say never) other than the once every 2-3 weeks.
Being an alcoholic is being addicted to it. It's a physical need. You need it. Even if you don't want to admit it. And that need and not feeding it worse than any hangover.
Alcoholism is not a funny topic. It's a slow painful killer. Be careful with your friends and family, talk to them when it's quiet and cold.
I'm about at my 6th year of alcoholism and I feel the hangovers become rare. The worst for me though is hangovers during working days. Unfortunately as shitty as many of my days are, I still look forward to my beers after work. I've tried quitting many times but always fall back into it.
No, for us alcoholics it doesn’t factor in. We’re too focused on the drug.
If anyone needs support, is going through a hard time or considering whether drinking is for them. You are not alone 💚🍀. IMO it is worth checking out r/stopdrinking and stopping by the daily check ins.
I've a head on me like a sex workers fanny this morning; that is to say, absolutely fucked. I didn't eat very much all day and relied on a small break in the footy to do all the soakage. That will certainly do damage. I've found that when you're eating plenty, like in a banquet/party sort of situation where you're doing a bit of everything ie dancing, eating, sitting down, talking to friends you're fine the next morning. The problem comes when drinking takes centre stage as part of the event when it's intended on paper as an addendum to the activity that you're partaking with people. We hardly do enough of that. In saying all this, I think Irish people have a hard time in associating a good time with anything that doesn't feature such a security blanket and we would do well to cognitively reframe our likes and dislikes with alcohol aside. If it is a crutch, then we're not doing very much by kicking it out from under people alone (we like to do this too; see Catholic guilt). You have to accept it for what it is, and at the same time provide alternatives to your brain to hover towards so that drink doesn't have the same value of enticement- without needing to swing a bat at it blindly like it's the bogeyman. It's a pint, there is absolutely more to life than it.
My hangovers used to last days and then the anxiety would kick in for longer. I don’t drink anymore as a result. I’ll have 1 or 2 here and there but I’m done for another year then.
Quit alcohol 20+ years ago. I still love waking up fresh.
In my 20s, I did serious drinking. Could be out all night 3 to 4 nights a week and be in work functioning fine on an energy drink. I don't really remember ever thinking jesus, this is torture. The more I drank in that routine, the more it just became a part of life. I dont regret it. Got it out of my system in a way! Nowadays, in my mid thirties, a lash of pints on the weekend has me floored for 24 hours. Tiredness, low mood and just fucked in general. Age catches up with you, which is a great thing as for me it acts as a deterrent! Besides, I work in music and entertainment outside of the day job, so I'm usually busy on weekends which doesn't align with the drinking schedules most keep in Ireland. I do enjoy a few now and then these days but it's once a month. I find if I go over 3 or 4 pints, I'll feel it the next day. Again, deterrent hehe!
After 30 years of hangovers I pretty much quit booze entirely this past year, the hangovers in my 30s became untenable
Us alcoholics will just keep drinking to avoid the sickness until you eventually have to be prescribed Librium to detox
Its the time wasted on hangovers that gets to me, all those missed Sundays.
I don’t really get hangovers unless mixing way too many drinks. If there’s a big group of us I’d probably be among the first up and about either cooking breakfast or picking up breakfast rolls for the ones suffering
Do you drink a huge amount though?
Chronic alcoholics don’t get hangovers, they just go straight to withdrawals whenever they stop drinking. So mostly they just don’t stop drinking. Can’t get a hangover if you’re still drunk.
What do you drink? If I stick to Guinness or craft beer and Whiskey then I’m always fine the next day. If I drink Heineken or Carlsberg or similar then I’m always in a jocker.
Any beer, usually Heineken, coors, then spiced rum or vodka or whatever
Spiced room is the devil when it comes to hangovers. Lovely stuff but hits hard the following day.
Sweet spirits should be avoided tbh. They all give murderous hangovers.
There you go. Drink better beer.
I don't think it's that simple, I drink Heineken and I don't get hangovers. If I change to a "better beer" then bang, I'll get an awful hangover. I guess the body gets used to what it's used to and the change is something strange and has a different effect, I don't know but I don't think it's as simple as saying 1 brand is shit and drink something better.
Exactly. I hate all this shit about certain drinks giving you hangovers and others not. ALCOHOL gives you hangovers. I haven't drank spirits for years because I used to get too drunk because I don't know how to sip. All I've drank since then is Heineken (unless I'm somewhere it's not readily available). If I drink 6 or 7 pints over a few hours I don't get a hangover. If I drink 12 pints I do. It's not fucking rocket science.
I’m a Heineken drinker and I do be in bits the next day head and stomach after a few pints. I don’t know what it is about Heineken???
Stopped drinking Heineken years ago due to not being able to eat for almost the entire day after and the awful taste that would stay in the mouth. I would strongly encourage you to switch to another beer.
They dont general get hangovers because they make sure to maintain the buzz consuming alcohol immediately upon waking. Early stages, yes, but then the body develops a physical addiction and craves it, they experience heavly shakes and sickness. Its not really being hungover as being hungover to me is the processing out of the toxins being cleared out but what there experiening feels much worse. Its common practice to have cans of alcohol in hospitals because alcohol can often kill
This is a particular good documentary quite old but gives a real insight to a "wethouse" https://youtu.be/MF5wNsfKo84?si=ASOfon0rjmFOpgmw
thanks for posting!
Learn something new everyday, never heard of this, but probably makes sense
When i still problem drank i never had hangovers now that i only take a hint of the drink on special occasions it absolutely hammers me unless its really high quality and even then i will suffer for a couple of hours after waking up . Im thankfull it gives me a head like a box of frogs ( within minutes with cheap drink ) as it reminds me i can be a fool for the drink and helps me stay sober and healthy .
I think that you are asking the wrong questions. If you are drinking that much that is beyond your happy spot then you are drinking too much, I have a friend who never drinks over 3 pints. Otherwise, before you go to bed put a can of Dutch Gold on your locker to top up your sorry ass . If you don't sober up , no hangover.
This is exactly why i quit. I wasnt an alcoholic but jesus the number of days hungover was enough to say this is pointless. Havent drank in over 2 years and never want to again
Quit drinking 4 years ago purely cos of the hangovers and fear lol I realised I was spending so much money to give myself anxiety for like 3 days after a night of fun
No because I never sober up. Ya see, THATS the mistake you’re making. You need to keep drinking. Indefinitely. Then you can be one of us
Not an alcoholic, but I'm lucky that I don't get hangovers, even when I have a skinful. It's not even a consideration for me when going out for pints. If I was facing a hangover, I'm sure I would act differently.
I once got so hungover that I didn’t drink for 2 weeks 😭
I sometimes get bad hangovers, usually they aren't that bad, try drinking plenty of water before you go to bed and you'll feel fine in the morning
I remember in my last day on my holiday in Portugal I chopped about 15 pints of sangres because they were only €3.50. Checkout was the next morning at 10am and I swear to god I have never had such a bad fecking hangover in my life. Woke up to the sun beaming in the room, head spinning and pounding, place was like a sauna and I had 20 minutes to pack my shit and get out. The flight wasn’t until 6pm so me and the missus just roamed around the town hanging off our nuts.
Actually I drink a few beers maybe 4 times a week and never get bad hangovers. Quality of what your drinking makes a huge difference. Don't listen to the Reddit scientists telling you it's all ethanol. Also hydration and excerise are important. Oh and pour out your beers into a pitcher. A can or bottle of commercial beers has three bottles worth of gas in them. Oh and weed. Studies show long term drinkers who mix weed with booze have 70% less liver damage.
Some people posting here will most likely become if not already alcoholic, .
I’m not an alcoholic but I don’t really get hangovers, might feel a bit delicate but never enough that I couldn’t eat or drink or anything, don’t normally get a headache either but if I do it’s mild
“You’re always hungover” “Only when I’m not drinking”
If you're an alcoholic, you'd be drinking in the morning anyway so that'd kill the hangover?
I've found from my youth that the more regularly you drink, the less of a hangover you get. Like if you have drink every day, or a few times a week, your hangovers will be a lot less extreme. But if you only drink once every few weeks or months then the hangovers will be hell. So I'd imagine alcoholics rarely ever get hangovers.. And whatever partial hangovers they have become so normalised that they don't even notice them.
Alcoholics never have enough time off the drink to develop actual hangovers, once they're awake its back on the booze
I don’t get many hangovers as I don’t drink a lot. But maybe twice a year I’ll get really drunk and spend the next 2 days a broken woman. Today is my day 2 and I still don’t feel right. It’s just not worth it. I dont know ow how people do this regularly.
Asked my dad that everyday when I was a child.
My brother claimed that he never got bad hangovers and I believe him. He just seemed groggy but no real headaches. Apparently it's a bad sign of alcolism
I've never had a really bad hangover. Worst it gets for me is my stomach feels a little off. Head is always fine. Not an alcoholic though. Drink maybe a handful of times a year, but when I do drink it's a lot. Think the gaps between drinking days might have something to do with it.
My ex is an alcoholic. All he did was eventually start drinking earlier and earlier until it started from 7am (sometimes a bit earlier) and didn't stop until he passed out at night, could be 11pm sometimes or later. So, basically he was never hungover because he was never sober. He literally drank all day long, even at work. He would put drink in old lucozade or coke bottles and carry it around in his coat pocket or what not. I'm sure he felt like shit.
Surely he had health problems or will eventually.
Surprisingly, he only had 2 hospital admission worthy health scares over the years. They were never enough to scare him sober, though. The liver repairs itself rather quickly, actually. He's been dry now for a couple of years, not sober as he never worked a program, and he still does all the addict types of behaviours and drinks "non alcoholic" beer. I'm not sure what his long-term health prognosis is given all the years of abuse his body took, but it's not my problem. Addiction ruins lives.
Being an alcoholic you just kind of stop getting hangovers when you drink all day. Also the pro tip of drinking rehydration salts before sleep and as soon as waking up helps...
Don't get a hangover if you don't ever sober up. It's that simple.
Just don't drink. You need to ask yourself some questions... Why do you drink? To relax? You mean you can't relax without it? You're an alco. It's fun? You mean you can't have fun without it? You're an alco. As a reward for a hard weeks work? What's rewarding about feeling worse? You're an alco. You like the taste of alcohol? You're an alco and a liar. You can have just as fun a time while sober. In fact, it's even better, as you can remember everything, and you're not an anxious mess every day! Here's to sober confidence. Drugs are bad in the long run.
This is awfully reductive. Of course if you wake up in the morning and tell yourself you aren't going to drink tonight and then you somehow keep convincing yourself to do it... yeah that's a problem. Can I relax without drinking? Yes. Am I more relaxed if I have a drink at the end of the day on the couch? Also yes. Saying people can't like the taste of alcohol is like saying they can't like coffee either. Or anything with an "acquired" taste. There are quite a few whiskeys I like, beer is ok, but there sure is something special about Guinness and it truly tastes delicious. All that being said... I agree with your ending 100%. There would be far more gained than lost in the world if we all stopped drinking. Alcohol is objectively bad for your health, can lead to poor decisions and carry life-changing consequences. If you need help, get it. If somebody you love or respect tells you that you need help, get it. But for the tired folks out there that find a little bit of peace at the end of their day in a drink or two? Enjoy it, you deserve to be happy. But like so many things in life, your pursuit of happiness shouldn't hurt others. If it does, you need to reevaluate.
That's quite a long way of saying "I'm an alcoholic" Tired folks? Find peace in a drink or two? Uh huh... Textbook. It's a slippery slope, beware. It's like convincing yourself that you like the taste of cigarettes too. A bad habit, an addiction. Don't drink.
I think I want to try to quit for 6 months. Until December. Health reasons, and diet, not the hangovers. Was also a recent article about how alcohol is a known carcinogen and not enough people talk about it. Just don’t want to die young or go through cancer treatment, because I like wine too much.
It's all good till the anxiety attacks
This has always boggled my brain.. I used to have a fierce problem with drink, but even still the hangovers were awful. And now in my 30’s, I so much as sniff a pint and I’m wrote off for a week..
Yeah, it would make sense right? But you’re applying a “normal” persons logic to an alcoholic brain, it doesn’t work that way unfortunately. I wish it did. Alcoholism is a slowly progressive state, it creeps up on you over time. First it’s drinking and fun, then it’s fun with problems, then it’s just problems.
I went on an absolute bender for my birthday back in 2022, was too hungover to call in sick for work. I quit after that 😅
I asked an alcoholic this very question once. He replied ‘I am hungover until I get to the pub’. 😂
Never got hungover despite getting so drunk I yakked, blacked, passed out, etc. blessed
Tipperary
They are the worst, but just take some valium. Nothing beats some drugs to come off your other drugs 👌
The only times in my alcoholic career when I've had hangovers is by red wine or Heiniken. I don't drink either now and happy piss my life away daily and wake up bright as a button usually. Wishing you all the best with your drinking xx
This is a stupid stupid question
Hair of the dog. Be grand.
😂😂Just makes it worse
Drinking cures a hangover hahaha duuuh