Hangovers worse with age?
 

Folks.

Does the bodies ability to process alcohol reduce with age? (or illness:ooh:).

Or is it just that the feeling of being hungover persists for longer now that I'm older? (50).

Two examples.

1. After a hearty slurp, say two bottles of decent plonk, I have a hangover on the next day (as you would expect). But, the day after 'hangover day', I still feel a bit ****ty.
Surely the alc. must be gone from my system (36 hours elapsed from start of drinking), so is it just that ****ty feeling or could I still be over the flying limit?

Two bottles of wine could be 16 units- So after 16 hours, I should be ok- but certainly I don't think I am. But after 36 hours? .. surely!

2. Drank two bottles of ordinary strength beer between 2000 and 2200. Nect day, 0900 report, still aware of having had alc. the night before and not feeling 100%. Feeling persists til about 1600.

Two beers is not enough to be illegal to drive. So after 13 hours I ought to be ok?

Is this: normal? or normal only with age, or abnormal?

When younger, I never had 'two day' hangovers. Or felt rough after two beers the night before.

What's going on. Am I ill?

At this rate I'll need to pack up having a gargle even when off the next day.

Well I'm 23 now and used to drink quite alot in my younger days ie 15 and up. But now the hangovers are way worse even though i can and sometimes do still drink the same. It drags into the 2nd day for me also after a heavy night

Irish

Sounds like you might be interested in the answer to my question too.

I know plenty of others who agree that hangovers are worse and/ or last longer as you get older. So it's not unusual, as Tom Jones might have said.

But, I want to know if the alcohol is still in there- ie you need to leave it longer before reaching the same safe level, before working.

Or, if you just 'feel' worse.

Sadly, I suspect the former!:{

Its your liver needing a rest and time to recuperate.

I used to get quite bad hangovers then I did 6 months in a dry country and stopped having them.

The feeling crap after one I think is more down to fatigue issues. Even one beer effects your sleep and anything which knocks you back even slightly if your at the edge of fatigue makes you feel it 10 worse than when your at normal levels of rest.

I know folk that swear by liver salts making a difference along with a huge dose of cod liver oil everyday.

Hi,

how worse you feel while having or after having a hangover depends largely on two factors:

Your liver's ability to cope with the by products of your intoxication

Your rate of hydration.

Younger persons generally have a better level of hydration plus they are experiencing more activity thus having a higher metabolic rate.

Try:
- Having at least 30 min of fast walking on the day before booze
- Having NO coffee at least 24 hours before booze
- Drinking loads of water while booze
- Sleeping without snore after booze: on your side at least that is

On the day after booze, try:
- Electrolyts en masse, say: drink gatorade, then water, then gatorade till you drop
- NO coffee, if you're low on blood pressure, drink Coke

If you're not afraid of needles and you have a medical practicioner on hand, try to convince him to give you an infusion :-)

I bet even the "before booze" part will shorten your worse feeling period to a "when I was younger" amount...

Do you smoke as well? I'm just an occasional smoker now, but if I have a couple of ciders (that's all I can manage these days!) then I feel fine next day. But if I have say four smokes with those two ciders I will feel like absolute crap the next day, not sick but just achey and exhausted as well as having blocked sinuses.

Yes I reckon it is a fatigue thing too, first thing I noticed when I first quit the smokes and alcohol at the same time - couldn't enjoy one without craving the other- was that I was able to sleep right through the night for the first time in decades.

I'm sure you know this already but just in case, there's no 'cure' for a hangover, or at least neutralizing the way it feels like exercise.


20 minutes minimum of intense aerobic exercise (better 30-40) will do wonders !

I notice the same effect but have concluded that it's just that I'm out of practice. If I drank as much as I used to then the hangovers wouldn't be so bad.
So bad hangovers = healthy lifestyle :E . Feel better now?

I find as I get older I never get hangovers. Reason, I can't drink enough to qualify for one, I fall asleep!

As stated above, water is the answer. Whether you are drining alcohol or not, drink half a pint of water last thing at night. Every morning, drink one pint of water first thing, then do not eat or drink anything for one hour. Seems to work.

Well, there's a few good points there for sure.

1. Fatigue: I'm sure this plays a part in feeling ****ty even after the alcohol should be gone. I'm working like a dog.

2. Water: I'm not a fan. I prefer to take my water as tea. Or orange juice or with lime cordial in it, or with Barley water mixed in (or better still made into beer!).

3. Smoking: I'm not a smoker, never have been.

4. Exercise: Hmm. Maybe I should start!

Really though, could not one of our Doctors who frequent these fora comment on the livers ability with age?

My understanding is that One UK Unit of alcohol is equal to the amount of alc. that the UK Standard liver can do away with in an hour.

Does that change with age? Also my livers' had plenty of practice over the years. It should be more efficient than an unaclimatised one, unless it's shot to hell!

I've been looking for some answer to an odd illness for years now. Following a vicious anaphylactic reaction to something at age 62ish, I then descended into felling crap until mid day the next day for some years.

Nothing too bad mind, just not wanting to paint the house.

Anaphylaxis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Now, having gone through all kinds of investigations, I'm pretty sure I can't have anything with wheat in it, or even touch washing-up liquid type soap.

So, it might be the stuff they spray on wheat that's causing the problem.

Shortly after getting home last summer, I went to the local and had a pint of real ale. It felt like acid running through my veins. If I'd been in the UK more, I'd have pushed for more details, but nothing was found in multiple blood tests. The doc - half my age - said most of my bits were working better than his. However, I'm in the land of million $ per month medicine, so I just don't touch anything but girly soap, and don't touch anything that's even related to wheat. Most days I feel fine...in fact, better than I've done for years.

The point about this is think laterally. Don't assume one thing is getting you. You should start the day feeling just as you did at 30, if not younger. If you don't, something is wrong, and the stuff in the food and the even very air of this modern world has a lot to answer for.

BTW, I drink about 60% of a bottle of wine every evening. I have noticed drinking cheap wine does tally with feeling not too good the next day. A reasonable wine, has little or no effect at these quantities.

Giggle Dr Nose, for the $1,000,000 per month medicine man.

At the age of 56 I concluded that I really wasn't enjoying alcohol anymore, drinking (sometimes too much) was a habit. I have now virtually given up, and feel much better for it (2+ years now). It has got to the stage where I am now apprehensive of the effect of 'one too many' might have on me.

I occasionally get blinding headaches from 1/2 glass of wine whereas other times I can drink a bottle without the same problems.

I narrowed it down to the additives and generally will only drink LOCAL wines.
Sulphite content is the key.

Wine that is shipped 1/2 way across the globe has generally a higher sulphite content to preserve it than that bottled at source..

BB the answers to your questions:

1) You're probably feeling down due to alcohol withdrawal, which may be a sign that it's time to think about your drinking habits.

2) It's unlikely that the alcohol is making you feel rough, could it be a digestive issue?

anyway, time for a Pinot:)

Post script-just been in the Co-op for a can of stout, (for my beef stew) and had to wait 5 minutes to be served, apparently illegal to sell it me before 8am !!

Update.

I've now given up drinking entirely when at work (ie on night stops).

The 'Daily Mail' reported on the UK Govs reduced recomendations during the week. 11 units max for an old codger (50) like me.

They cited the reduced ability of the older offal to process alc. as I suspected in my original post.

Please. Could a quack speak!

From your first post
"Two beers is not enough to be illegal to drive. So after 13 hours I ought to be ok?"

I would check that if I were you, I think two beers is over the limit now.

Two beers
 

The '2 beers, I'm safe to drive idea' is a myth. The level of alcohol absorption into your bloodstream depends on a long list of variables. These include : hydration, diet, blood sugar levels, fatigue, fitness, strength of the alcohol e.g. 1 pint of 5.2% Stella on an empty stomach is highly likely to put you over the limit.