Hangovers over 30 - wtf? Tempted to give up altogether! 🤕🤢

[MovingHoodie]

Hi,

So I'm really hurting today. Went out with a friend for a few drinks last night, but I'm not talking a proper drinking session, I had 3 medium glasses and then dp and I had a tiny glass in the garden when I got back.

Went to bed feeling OK, but then woke up at 3am and urghhhh!!! Dear lord, what on earth?! I've never had a headache like it. Thankfully, it's just started easing after a paracetamol ibuprofen mix, but I still feel utterly awful. Feel like I've drunk two bottles, not a few glasses!

I'm late 30's and whereas this seems like the most unjustified hangover yet, they've definitely been getting worse over the past few years.

Seriously considering going teetotal. Or maybe that's just the monster hangover talking ....

I guess this is a thing?

You need to drink water.

A big glass before bed really stops a hangover in its tracks.

Also, have something to eat before bed. I don't get a hangover if I do this.

Yep, this is a thing.

I no longer drink really - because the hangovers are awful and because even beofre they kick in, even a couple of glasses of wine leaves me feeling sick.

@ToBeOrNotToBee actually I normally would do, but I think because I didn't even really feel tipsy, I forgot. I'm wondering actually if that glass I had with dp was off. If it's the bottle I think it is, it's been in the fridge for a couple of weeks 😒 I'm not sure that would increase a hangover though.

@CountryStore yeah, that could have helped. I ate really early and not very much.

@FourFoxSake I'm really starting to wonder if it's worth it. As much as I love wine (although not right now 🤢) I think it might be time to really cut back or out.

I think it’s a thing. I’m 47 and hangovers are definitely getting worse and last for longer as I get older.

I get stealth hangovers these days. I wake up and feel absolutely fine, but by lunch time I end up feeling like a bag of spanners.

I had 2 cocktails while out for a meal on Saturday night and was absolutely hanging all Sunday afternoon.

I don’t drink very often so I think my tolerance is a lot lower than it used to be, so a couple of drinks is enough to leave me feeling shitty the next day

Wine gives me horrendous sore heads.

if I’ve been out drinking I come home, take 2 paracetamol and drink a pint of water, rarely have a headache the next morning.

I'm just shy of 30 and yeah this is a thing for me. The last year or so I've really noticed it.

I love a glass of red wine, but I've come to learn that beyond the one glass I just can't handle it and get really drunk quite quickly. I also really struggle with Prosecco! If either of these are involved I'm ruined the next day and it doesn't seem to matter if I drink a pint of water before bed or have something to eat. I don't seem to be as bad on spirits/cocktails.

I used to be a heavy drinker back in my uni days, would put away some serious units and not go to bed until 4 but still be up at 8 and walk into my lectures. I'd just get up, vomit, coupla paracetamol and on with my day. Now I'm useless for a whole day after a night out good job they don't happen as often - that could be the reason the hangovers get worse though

Moderation going to have to be the way forwards for me - probably not a bad thing.

When I was about 40 I had to stop drinking wine completely, it felt much worse than a hangover and apparently sulphites can make some people feel ill.

Absolutely a thing - and it gets worse! I'm late 50s and my tolerance levels are now down to a couple of units . Probably made worse by the fact I only normally drink alcohol once or twice a week - I've noticed that people who drink every day have a higher tolerance level, and mine increases eg if I'm on holiday and drinking every day .

I can't drink more than one glass of wine, unless it's a spritzer with very small wine and a lot of soda. Tend to stick to lager or long-drink cocktails if I'm out with friends .

On another thread someone has recommended some effervescent rehydration tablets for help with hangovers - I keep meaning to get some .

Definitely a thing and one of the main reasons why I rarely drink. Used to be a big drinker and always had quite bad hangovers but now I’m in my 30s they’re something else and I can’t cope with them. Nothing helps either, paracetamol does nothing, drinking extra water does nothing. Even sticking to just one or two drinks doesn’t really help much!

I am 30, and I gave up drinking 2 years ago for this exact reason.... my hangovers were awful!
I'd spend the whole next day in bed, head over the toilet, couldn't keep anything down, headache and felt completely out of whack for days following. So I simply stopped drinking. Don't miss it one bit - if there is a special occasion coming up I may decide to drink but I'll prepare to have nothing planned for the following day and fizzy usually helps settle my stomach abit. But even on my wedding day i didn't drink! Had everyone asking if I was pregnant haha ...

Another who has cut right down. One or two drinks at most these days. Clearer alcohols are less likely to give you a hangover than red wine for example.

Yep, I have been the designated driver for the last two new years eves. It's just not worth's losing two days!

I remember it well... actually almost as soon as I turned 30 it started to get bad. One night out at a colleague's house she was giving us all whisky and I wasn't used to the strength - she kept refilling glasses and I got horribly drunk - and I really hate being proper drunk. The next day I felt so bad and was throwing up and I resolved to never get drunk again. I've stuck to it except for one occasion where I had 4 glasses of wine under social pressure and that reminded me why I don't! I now have 1 glass, v occasionally 2 and then switch to alcohol free lager. It's been 20+ years and I have really enjoyed not being drunk and not having hangovers all that time. Alcohol free options are really good now too - not wine so much but the beers are good.

I gave up alcohol years ago due to feeling rough for days on end after even small amounts of alcohol. I drink alcohol free beer which feels lovely to neck half a bottle on a warm summer's evening and not worry about feeling ill. Dh and I literally bought a single bottle or can of every no alcohol beer or IPL in the supermarket and did a taste test.

I think as you get older, going for just drinks is going to give you a hangover. It's better to have a meal with any alcohol you have and drink plenty of water before bed.

I think your body just generally recovers quicker when you're younger. I'm 34 and feel like death when I've had a drink, so I rarely do.
My mom on the other hand is 30 years older than me and is like a machine !! Still up early the next day and at the shops getting stuff for Sunday lunch, don't know how she does it !

Yes, this is why I gave up 3.5 years ago. I don’t miss it. If you need encouragement have a listen to the Menace to Sobriety episode with Andy Ramage. He’s very positive about the ‘adventure’ of giving up.

I’m 45 and today I bought my first bottle of alcohol-free gin. I don’t NOT drink, I just know what it makes me feel like the next day, so I do it very rarely. Which is fine actually.

Still hanging, but starting to feel slightly less shit 😒

Cutting it out will be difficult I think, as pretty much all my friends and close family members drink and some quite heavily. I really do feel ready to seriously cut back though. I think it's become a bit mindless and that can't be good.

I turned 30 yesterday and had 3 double gins (I used to be able to sink a lot more) and spent the whole night awake feeling like I was going to vomit, finally felt a bit better at 5am and dd woke at 5:30, not even a wink of sleep!
My hangovers have never been great, spent many a Sunday curled up on the bathroom floor. But I used to not really care, the night was always worth it. Now with my dd it really really isn't! 😴

I’m 50 and I get hangovers without even getting drunk first

Yeah, this is MN where competitive non-drinking is a thing and even sniffing a thimble of sherry once a year confines you to the Victorian fainting couch for two days...

I'm 44 and rarely drink now and if I do I have a limit of 4 units - anything more and I feel shit the next day (and sometimes longer if it irritates my stomach which is often the case). I used to be able to drink a lot and not feel too bad but since I turned 40 that has gone downhill plus I work long hours now and don't like to waste any of my precious weekend feeling rubbish. I don't find going out is less fun with less booze so it makes little difference.