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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this is caused by alcohol?

71 replies

lisapumpvander · 30/08/2022 19:18

I drink every couple of weekends, usually only a couple of glasses on a Saturday night before dinner then stop drinking after I eat because I just seem to be sleepy after that.

However, on Saturday night I had a few friends over for dinner and drinks and I worked my way through 3 bottles of wine over about 10 hours (they arrived at 6 pm and didn't end up leaving until 4 am) Blush this is very unlike me or my friends but we just got carried away and acted like we were in our early twenties again.

On Sunday I was understandably very hungover. Monday I felt physically okay, but really depressed, anxious, paranoid. I had things to do yesterday (luckily no work) and did nothing but lay about feeling really really sad and hopeless. This morning I woke up feeling exactly the same and ended up sleeping half the day. I have this horrible pit in my stomach, it's like I feel homesick but am at home. I just feel so hopeless and overwhelmingly sad and once again spent today lying around with that horrid sick feeling in my stomach.

I am praying tomorrow I will feel better but is it really possible to still be feeling the effects of alcohol 3 full days later? My friends all seem to be up and getting on with their life. Whereas I'm here irritable and on the verge of tears.

AIBU to think it's the alcohol making me feel like this all these days later? If it is I honestly cannot drink that way ever again. It's horrendous.

OP posts:
Thepeopleversuswork · 30/08/2022 20:09

I have this now (aged 50). Didn’t have it in my 20s, 30s or 40s. Hangovers are a million times worse and they are also psychological instead of just physical.

It’s got to the point where I am seriously considering stopping drinking altogether. Just isn’t worth the grief.

featheryfancy · 30/08/2022 20:09

Yep, absolutely this! Only something I have started experiencing for the last year or two but is awful enough for me to completely reevaluate drinking.

FlimsySteve · 30/08/2022 20:12

Sorry if it sounds silly but you absolutely will feel better if you have a shower and some fresh food, some tasty juice, some ice cold water and some painkillers

tiredmum83 · 30/08/2022 20:15

It's nothing to do with liver function. Because the alcoholic is an anaesthetic the brain's response is to automatically pump the stress hormone cortisol into you to counter the numbness. Cortisol triggers the "fight or flight" response. Long after the effects of the alcohol subside the effects of the stress hormone remain.

After 3 bottles your body will have released a whole lot of cortisol so it will take a while to subside. But it will, don't worry.

ClumpingBambooIsALie · 30/08/2022 20:17

Your body switched to Middle-Aged Alcohol Processing Mode when you weren't looking. Mine did it some time around 30. At least, I think it was around then. It was at some point shortly before I decided to go back to school then do a degree, which involved socialising with lots of vivacious, efficient young livers and their associated humans. That was a shock to the system.

BTW the phrase "alcohol is a depressant" refers to its central nervous system effects; the effects on emotions and mood are a lot more complex.

Jeds55 · 30/08/2022 20:21

As others have said it will pass, just got to ride it out and tell yourself the way you feel isn't the reality but it is grim.
I uses to drink so much in my 20s and up until had kid at 36. Now (40) I get such a bad hangover and as pp said its less physical but more psychological. I can't sleep, play awful scenarios over and over in my mind, feel jittery and so down, anxious and guilty. Rarely drink more than a couple anymore, it's just not worth it 😕

ButterstheCat · 30/08/2022 20:23

Yep that's normal if you drink a lot after age 35.

3 bottles is an absolute shitload though, no wonder you feel so bad! Id have fallen asleep after 1.5.

Minikievs · 30/08/2022 20:33

It's the BeerFears.
Completely normal once you get to a certain age.
My anxiety after drinking is way worse than the physical hangover nowadays.
You'll feel better tomorrow

Beautiful3 · 30/08/2022 20:38

I gave up alcohol because it has that affect on me too.

HangOnToYourself · 30/08/2022 20:39

Yep this happens to me since I hit my 30s, if I know I'm drinking I try and book a few days off work because I know a Saturday drinking evening will make me feel like this until weds/thurs. As you can imagine I do it a lot less these days!

GarlandsinGreece · 30/08/2022 20:42

Yep. I get really depressed for a few days after drinking. Always have done, but it’s worse as I’ve gotten older. Which is why I no longer drink.

WhatNoReally · 30/08/2022 20:45

It's hangxiety. I only started getting it as I started to become perimenopausal. Can't drink even a fraction of what I used to be able to as I don't want to risk the feeling.

FrizzledFrazzle · 30/08/2022 20:46

Yeah, this happens to me even afyer just 1 glass of wine (probably not for 4 days though). I basically don't drink any more, it's just not worth it!

Bloops · 30/08/2022 20:47

Sounds like a mammoth hangover with "hangxiety". Even a couple drinks can send me into having anxiety attacks for days after drinking and genuinely feeling like shit. I just don't bother any more!

whatdodos · 30/08/2022 20:49

It happened to me a month or so ago after not drinking for over a year! I dont know what came over me but I was at a wedding and didn't know many people so that didn't help. It lasted a few days then I was fine. Don't know how I managed to drink like I did when I was younger!

MintyGreenDreams · 30/08/2022 20:52

I'm 42 and get post booze anxiety if I have a lot nowadays.
It's awful.

DoItAfraid · 30/08/2022 20:56

Alchohol is a depressant. Big benders can make you feel really low.

All i can suggest is that you absolutely mainline water. Try to get out for a walk tomorrow if you can. Feel better soon.

Darhon · 30/08/2022 20:58

Alcohol is a depressant - so yes, it’s the alcohol.

alexdgr8 · 30/08/2022 21:00

this is a warning.
stop drinking alcohol.
put your health first.
good luck.

Titsywoo · 30/08/2022 21:34

I get this. The alcohol irritates my stomach lining and gives me reflux/indigestion and whenever I get one of those I get anxious and low. They do say the stomach is your second brain and stomach issues are related to MH problems.

Titsywoo · 30/08/2022 21:35

This is also why I now rarely drink. It affects me so much more now I'm older but I did sometimes get it in my 20s and 30s.

happygertie · 30/08/2022 21:36

Yup, totally normal, beer fear

OneTC · 30/08/2022 21:44

If I drank that much wine I'd be totally dead for a whole week. Wine affects me emotionally in a way that all other booze doesn't

Yamyam13 · 30/08/2022 21:52

This is all so topical and relevant to me this since about 6 months ago..have always been a fairly 'big' and regular drinker, still am though less and less, because as lots of PPs are describing so perfectly, hangovers have become more psychological than physical. That's actually been a comfort to hear today as I feel so heard and not alone! I'm a constant ball of nerves and anxiety and also experience big impact on my stomach/digestion as other PP's have described.
Time to pack it in.

Feel better OP - you'll be ok. It's just physical and a case of letting it leave your system.

allboysherebutme · 30/08/2022 21:56

Alcohol is a depressant. X