Anyone else’s ability to drink wine worsen with age?!

[Island67]

I had one glass of red wine last night - ONE glass. I drank it at about 7:30pm. I have a headache and a teeny bit of post-alcohol anxiety this morning.

The other week I had two large glasses of white wine at lunchtime and got a cracking headache that evening, and felt slightly off for two days after.

Do I have to quit wine?!

(I’m in my early 40s.)

Drink schloer or similar at wine time.
My tolerance reduced from pregnancies then almost completely disappeared at menopause.
I have really gone off booze now and only rarely drink and then very little.
I don't care what other people do.
I do me, and they can do them.

You need a biodynamic wine merchant. (And the patience to weed out 'natural' and organic wines from their lists.) Only the biodynamic wine is guaranteed (in my now extensive experience) to leave you free of nasty after effects.

It's the most miraculous discovery of my middle age.

I'm 40 and have only been able to drink one glass of wine with meals for a few years, and can't start the wine before the food.
I'm ok so far with a few bottles of beer or vodka and sparkling water. But I'm much more conscious of eating and drinking water before I drink alcohol now.
Most of my friends have also had to be more aware and like a pp said these are the friends I drank a bottle of wine or peach snaps with before we left the house in days gone by
Helpfully some of my younger friends have used the lockdowns to get fitter so their alcohol consumption has also slowed considerably. I'm not the odd one out at all!

Nearly 52 here, have had to cut right back on wine in recent years. Just isn’t worth the after effects.

Can't tolerate any wine now. Prosecco is the worst offender. None of my friends seem to have this problem. In fact their consumption has increased massively.

Interesting. Haven't had this myself. Wonder if some of my friends do.

Me too! 42 and although I do still drink, it is only occasionally as it seems to make me tired and lethargic for days afterwards. There are lots of good low/no alcohol alternatives to beer, aperitifs etc - DH works in booze industry and actually went to a conference about this recently, returning with some good freebies - but no decent wine replacements yet. I miss wine with dinner

I can’t tolerate Prosecco at all, one sip and my head aches.
I still drink wine but in far less quantities.
Rose is probably the best for me.

Yep. Just turned 40 here and haven’t been able to drink wine for about 5 years without a crippling hangover. I can however drink an extraordinary amount of vodka with no apparent hangover so all is not lost.

Can't drink wine at all now. G and t is ok though. Wine stops me sleeping, makes me angry and then leaves me exhausted for days, like I've been drugged. It was hard to stop though.

I'm the same. I used to drink a couple of bottles a week. Now I drink about half a glass every six months 😂

100% yes

You are definitely not alone in this! I am becoming exponentially less tolerant of alcohol with age: 3 (small) glasses of wine would trigger a headache/migraine in my 30s, now in my late-40s it’s 2, and sometimes 1 is enough. All spirits are gradually coming off the list of things that I can drink without consequences: I’ve always loved single malt whiskey but I cannot drink whiskey at all anymore, not even a small sip, without having a dreadful pounding headache next day. Weekends are so precious it’s not worth it!

I drink vodka lime and soda if I want a drink now. Wine is the devil, gives me terrible anxiety.

Me too! I’m 49 next month and suddenly can’t cope with any alcohol. DH has been off alcohol since xmas so I’ve had very little since then myself.

The other day I had a glass of wine with LUNCH and unbelievably could feel it the NEXT DAY!

A few days later and half a Pint of Peroni gave me a hangover next morning.

I could previously cope with a medium glass of wine or one bottle of beer or a three single gin measures. Also fine to drink a couple during the day.

Suddenly my ability to drink anything without hangovers has dropped hugely.

Don’t understand how I can feel fine after drinking and still fine several hours later… then terrible the next day?

Unfortunately, yes. I'm 44. I now drink non alcoholic beer (have yet to find a non alcoholic wine that isn't revolting) or tonic water. I occasionally have a small glass (last night, for example!) and always spend the next day wondering why I bothered as it gives me a headache and bloating.

Yes definitely. I'm mid thirties and have only drunk alcohol about once this year as just can't handle it any more!

I haven’t been able to drink wine at since my early 40s as it gives me a UTI, same with tea! I get sleepy if I drink beer. G & T works for me, but I never used to drink to get pissed. I know a couple of alcoholics women in their late 40s and I don’t know how their hormones are letting them keep at it.

Unfortunately not... I sometimes wish it did affect me more as then I wouldn't drink as much!

I had a bottle of white wine last night and although felt tipsy when I went to bed, I was up at 7am today and have just got in from a run. Ready to drink again tonight now although will move to prosecco to change it up a bit 🍾

Yes! I can’t get to the drunk happy level as I know that before I get there the alcohol will already give me the worst hangover. For me it’s not really a headache but a day of constant vomiting. 2 glasses of Prosecco and that’s me vomiting the next day.

My dsis ran 5 times a week at the beginning of her struggle with alcohol. I think she convinced herself that if she could go for a run, the bottle and a half of wine every night wasn't an issue.

Can only drink g&t, cider or prosecco. Anything else gives me either a raging headache after 1 glass or terrible diarrhoea within a couple of hours. If i have more than 2 glasses of any alcohol my hangover lasts for a couple of days. I'm a cheap date nowadays
Either my liver function is crap or ive developed an intolerance to something used in the alcohol refining process.
I used to LOVE a nice glass of red

Now G&T I could drink and drink with no effect, now I have one and I’m useless.
I had a few lagers the other day, again I used to be able to drink lager without impunity but no felt dreadful.
Luckily I love sparkling water, so that and a dash of lime I think it is from now on

I think it might be to do with histamine content (high in all alcohol, especially high in wine/beer)
I became very intolerant to alcohol during recovery from (long) covid. About 14 months of waking in the night with very erratic palpitations, temperatures, fatigue for days - after small quantities of alcohol.
I'm now almost recovered from this and can have a very small amount of alcohol with no ill effects. I'm mid 30s and expecting I'll need to stop drinking altogether in the coming years.
One thing that has helped me is taking DAO tablets. This is an enzyme in the gut that breaks down histamine and naturally reduces as we age. Wouldn't want to encourage drinking to excess but for those that have problems with enjoying just one glass this might help.

Yup I’m 42 and can’t more than two maybe three glasses of wine and I can be hungover and throwing up the next day. I cannot mix it say a simple vodka and lemonade at the end of the night either.

I also sometimes get night palpitations, anxiety etc if I’ve had a few drinks.

I’ve found a balance I can drink fizz like cava or Prosecco seemingly ok, spirits too. My tolerance isn’t much these days. I only drink once a week anyway. Unless on holiday.