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Original poster

I don’t think alcohol agrees with me

13 replies

80sstyle · 27/12/2019 22:15

I don’t know why but it’s taken me about 30 years to come to the conclusion that alcohol doesn’t agree with me.

I used to be a regular social drinker and I would drink wine a few evenings a week at home. I always suffered awful hangovers after a night out.

Post children I haven’t drunk much at all as they have always been early risers and I need a clear head in the mornings.

They are a bit older now and I have been looking forward to enjoying the odd drink. I bought myself wine and a bottle of baileys for the Christmas period but I feel so rough after it with headaches and sleeplessness that I have finally decided it’s not worth drinking at all. That’s after even one glass.

I have friends who drink wine every evening and they don’t suffer hangovers and they get up for work the next day completely fine.

Why is that? How can some people drink with no ill effects and others are really sensitive to it?

OP posts:

PomBearWithAnOFRS · 27/12/2019 22:17

It's often a sensitivity to sulphites in wine.

Northernsoullover · 27/12/2019 22:20

I used to drink wine daily and trust me I did feel rubbish. I would drink enough to disturb my sleep but not enough to feel dreadful so I could get to work and perform ok. I just felt low level shit on a daily basis. Of course if I went out out I'd really hammer them back and have awful hangovers.
The point I am trying to make is that your friends may just be used to feeling below par.
Its only since giving up completely that I realise how bad I actually felt.

Original poster

80sstyle · 27/12/2019 22:29

Yes I know what you mean about getting used to feeling below par.

I had got so used to a Sunday hangover that I would expect one and get up feeling lethargic and then remember that I hadn’t had a drink the night before!

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ShirleyPhallus · 27/12/2019 22:31

Sulphites for me too, killer

I’m pg now and there are some great alcohol free beers and wine that’s worth a try?

LarkDescending · 27/12/2019 22:50

I also can’t cope with it at all these days, having previously enjoyed a social drink or two, and haven’t drunk any alcohol for a long time. Occasionally I accidentally consume some in a liqueur chocolate or (as happened recently) a sherry trifle and even that has unhappy consequences. Oh well - I am sure my liver with thank me for the enforced abstinence

flippinehh · 27/12/2019 23:02

I'm the same as northern and stopped drinking for exactly the same reasons. It's been months now and I can honestly say I don't miss it at all. I was so over being hungover, planning my weekends around hangovers and dreading feeling jaded, feeling tired all the time.

I look and feel so much younger. It's been a real life changer actually.

Northernsoullover · 27/12/2019 23:18

I wonder if age is anything to do with it? (the alarming quantities I was quaffing certainly didn't help) my life has also become much better as a consequence.
You say you aren't a big drinker so maybe time to knock it on the head completely. I know many women my age (late 40's) who have become tee total

Original poster

80sstyle · 28/12/2019 00:29

Yes I would say age is definitely a factor and I just can’t tolerate it at all.

OP posts:

YouNeedToCalmDown · 28/12/2019 00:43

Same here. I come from a family of big drinkers and my liver just can't handle it at all. I'm 43.

The only alcohol I can occasionally tolerate is organic wine. But even then I do feel queasy the next day. Just slightly less so.

One good thing - I really enjoy my early morning walk on new years day. It's so quiet and peaceful. It's nice waking up to the new year with a clear head and with energy.

Stillfunny · 28/12/2019 00:55

I have always been a lightweight with drink.Get tipsy on not a lot. And so sick and hungover if I overindulge. But persisted for years.
Turns out I don't have great liver function, due to having bad jaundice as a teenager.
Now I don't bother much , but it really seems to bother people around me.

Oliversmumsarmy · 28/12/2019 00:56

I have tried to drink in the past but I have such a sensitivity to alcohol even a tiny amount (liqueur chocolate) can have the room spinning.

I could never understand how quickly I became very drunk on 1/2 glass of wine when everyone else would have a whole glass and wouldn’t seem to be any the worse for wear.
Very quickly realised that fruit juice or lemonade was my tipple.

Someone on MN mentioned something called Asian Flush.

I am a mixed bag of nationalities so somewhere in my DNA it wouldn’t surprise me that there was a genetic link.

Kinsters · 28/12/2019 00:59

It could be genetic as well. You need a particular protein to be able to break down alcohol into non-poisonous components. In the west most of us have two copies of the gene that makes this protein but some people will only have one working copy or no working copies. My husband has no working copies and can't drink any alcohol without feeling awful.

I find my ability to drink and not feel like shit afterwards is really random so I think there are loads of factors.

BrokenWing · 28/12/2019 01:14

I feel awful after wine since I got to my 40s (now 50s) but enjoy a few vodkas or bourbons through the evening without any significant hangover unless I really over do it.

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