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Original poster

Can’t understand how people can burn the candle at both ends?

28 replies

JMAngel1 · 05/11/2022 13:40

So I went out last night with four friends. We’re all around 50. We had lots of drinks (I had the least and I had 1/2 bottle of wine, 2 G&Ts and 2 shots) and left the pub at 12.40am.
I got home at 1.20am, so was 2am before I got to sleep. I woke up at 9.30am feeling like I’d been run over by a bus!
Then loads of messages this morning - one friend had been up at 6am for a swim, the other was in city centre for a 9.30am breakfast meet up and the other two were on a 9am train to go to a convention in another city.
Meanwhile, I was barely functioning and struggling to get housework jobs done before I had to ferry kids around to various activities.
Feeling wholly inadequate - how are they doing it????

OP posts:
Gud · 05/11/2022 13:44

6am swimmer was probably still drunk if you had lots to drink and hopefully didn't drive to swim. plus caffeine, different tolerances to alcohol etc

BakeSaleSunday · 05/11/2022 13:48

The more frequently you drink the higher your tolerance and they may have used hacks to sober up quickly. I always found a McDonald's, coffee and rehydration salts or berroca effective. Some swear by Lucazade. I think a huge smoothie full of anti oxidants or milk and banana milkshake are also really good. Their body may metabolise and deal with alcohol faster than yours.

AcrobaticActuary · 05/11/2022 13:52

Practice. We partied last night until 4am, got a couple of hours sleep before Parkrun at 9:00, and are now starting the day drinking in the pub with friends.

Rubbishname101 · 05/11/2022 13:53

I would be the same as you OP - a wasted day of trying to recover on that amount of alcohol and sleep 😄

Georgeskitchen · 05/11/2022 13:56

They are probably bullshitting and lying half dead in bed like you are 🤣🤣

rainbowandglitter · 05/11/2022 13:58

I'm like your friends. I don't get hangovers and am always awake early regardless of what time I go to bed. People are just made differently.

ImEasyLikeSundayMorning · 05/11/2022 14:02

It's simple.

They are used to it, they do it more often.

Original poster
JMAngel1 · 05/11/2022 14:06

It’s true that I rarely go out these days. But I do drink maybe 1 and a half bottles of wine per week at home so I’m not a complete lightweight - I also have quite a demanding job so usually on Friday nights I’m asleep by 9.30pm. Last night was a shock to the system.

OP posts:
Babyroobs · 05/11/2022 14:10

I'm the same, I'm exhausted just tryng to get through the week working full time in my mid fifties. A colleague offered me free theatre tickets mid week and i turned them down as i knew it would be too much ! I have a friend a similar age who is off around the country every weekend partying and I have no idea how she has the energy as well as working a demanding job and having a family. think her dh picks up a lot of the slack though. I get tired just hearing about her social life.

Original poster
JMAngel1 · 05/11/2022 14:13

@Babyroobs I’ve found my people 😂

OP posts:
MissCalamity · 05/11/2022 14:15

My mate does this, I'll be dying and she'll have been up at 6.30am to go to the gym 🤯
God knows how she does it as she puts away the same amount of alcohol I do and I'm about double the size of her!

drkpl · 05/11/2022 14:20

I would be you op. I always have been. I have a good tolerance for alcohol but I can’t cope the next day. I’m 25 and I’d rather be hit by a bus than go to the gym the next day.

toogoodforthisworld · 05/11/2022 14:23

Me and my DP - are the equivalent to you and your friends. I am you. DP is the party animal - he will then set his alarm for 7.30 the next morning - BUT and this is the big BUT- he will have to chill in the afternoon by watching stupid pointless shite on the TV for about 3 hours. I prefer to sleep til 10 - then have a nap about 15.00-16.00 - then I'm right as rain.

Thenose · 05/11/2022 14:31

I think it's probably a lot to do with them knowing they can, simply because they've done it before.

I don't sleep twice a week. Years ago, I'd have felt like I was going to drop dead from tiredness if I had to stay awake all night, now I function fine. I home-ed and have a severely disabled child; it's the only time I can plan, research properly or write letters etc.

Same with food. Years ago, if I missed lunch, I was on my knees. After doing intermittent fasting, I now know I can go a day and a half without any real suffering. It doesn't really bother me missing meals. Still fat, though.

We build resilience. Whether it's healthy or not is a different matter.

Babdoc · 05/11/2022 14:39

For starters, all of your male friends will have alcohol dehydrogenase (AD) in their stomach, so start breaking down alcohol before it even reaches their liver. Women have to rely on their liver alone.
Secondly, regular heavy drinkers are enzyme induced, so their livers have a higher concentration of AD, metabolising alcohol faster.

Thirdly, hangover depends to some extent on the level of congeners in the drink. Vodka and white wine have relatively few, whereas brandy is the worst, containing nasties such as fusel oil. So your choice of drink, or mixing drinks, makes a difference.
Fourthly, people who alternate soft drinks or take plenty of water before bed, then have sugary on waking, will suffer less from the associated dehydration/hypoglycaemic headache of a hangover.
Hth!

antelopevalley · 05/11/2022 14:40

I am in my fifties and can do this occasionally.
You slept for 7.5 hours which is fine. The issue is you drank too much and have a hangover. I never drink that much.

sorcerersapprentice · 05/11/2022 14:43

I know I burn the candle at both ends. Days are always busy and I'm almost always on the go. I'm not very good a sitting about doing nothing.
I do take the luxury of a nap after lunch at the weekend though and I bet your friends do too!!

Original poster
JMAngel1 · 05/11/2022 14:46

antelopevalley · 05/11/2022 14:40

I am in my fifties and can do this occasionally.
You slept for 7.5 hours which is fine. The issue is you drank too much and have a hangover. I never drink that much.

I don’t normally drink that much either - felt really pressured all night to have another drink. I left two G&Ts on the table! The shots were not necessary at all - we were just in a pub not out dancing but again, pressure to join in.

OP posts:
TheMorigoul · 05/11/2022 14:48

I'm really strange in that if I drink I get up early and work out/blitz the house/go for a swim. A swim and sauna is amazing for hangovers.

I then tend to die about 6pm unless I've had another drink.

ItsRainingTacos79 · 05/11/2022 17:04

Some people doesn't get hangovers at all.

JamSandle · 05/11/2022 17:12

I dont drink often but when I do I feel low and lethargic. We are all a bit different.

Abouttimemum · 05/11/2022 17:14

This is why I rarely drink - I hate wasting days feeling like shit! None of my mates would be up and at it the next morning tbh.

JamSandle · 05/11/2022 17:16

Should also add i have precarious mental health and alcohol can really ramp up depression and anxiety for me. Some people can do it. I'm not one of them 🤣

Scrambledeggsontoasted · 05/11/2022 17:17

My BIL is a functioning alcoholic. He can drink a litre of Vodka and it doesn't effect him. The more you drink, the less it effects you.

MrsJBaptiste · 05/11/2022 17:20

I like a drink but probably wouldn't drink as much on a night out if it ruined the next day for me.

As it is, I can have a bottle of wine gins and a few shots and be in the gym the next morning. As long as I get my 6-7 hours sleep then it's all good.