In my early 20s, I could stay out until 3 AM, sleep for four hours, grab a bagel, and be at work by 9 AM without a problem. Now, in my 30s, if I even look at a tequila shot, I’m out of commission the whole next day. The headaches are brutal, the fatigue is crushing, and I swear my brain feels foggy until the next afternoon. I’ve read about things like dehydration and slower metabolism with age, but it really feels like the universe just decided drinking isn’t fun anymore. Do hangovers actually get worse as you get older, or is it just that our bodies stop bouncing back as easily? If so, are there strategies that actually make them more manageable?
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Because your liver doesn’t filter in the same optimal way as it did in the past. It ages, it’s been punished and also our body doesn’t regenerate itself at the fast pace as it did in the past. Time runs.
Yeah I quit drinking because if I didn’t it would have killed me. But then again my situation might be extreme compared to you.
Now… I work out 3 to 4 days a week, I eat right and I feel amazing. Might be something you want to do.
I was starting to get two day hangovers in my late twenties. Two things were huge for me. One is 95% of the food that goes in my mouth is single ingredient foods. Beef, broccoli, pineapple, etc.
The other is I switched from beers to liquor. I drink almost exclusively bourbon and water. I polished off an entire bottle last Saturday day drinking into the night. Woke up the next morning tired and nothing else.
You are slowly killing your liver (as well as every other organ), so it’s not going to function as well. Eventually it gives up and you die.
You are also damaging your arteries, which will lead to a heart attack or stroke.
If your body is telling you it is hurting, listen to it, don’t keep punishing it.
I was like you, in my teens/twenties used to be able to go out 4 nights a week until 3am, get some sleep and feel okay, albeit ropey the next day. Then rinse and repeat the following the night.
Now I feel knackered after one night out and still feel it days later. I gave up alcohol for a few years and recently tried it again, however I think I am done for good! Much prefer working out consistently, eating well and getting great sleep.
Some of my buddies still drink like they’re in the their 20’s. A bit sad to be honest.
Ahhh, the 20s. We thought we were invincible!
But it creeps up. My 30s? They were fine, mostly.
Things shifted after 40, though, way different.
Now it’s anxiety, trouble focusing, headaches, low energy, and my patience wearing thin.
That’s where the real trouble starts.
it amazes me that people still use that caveman drug, like we have so many great drugs to choose from yet ppl pay high prices for a health destroying drug that often involves domestic abuse, car accidents etc. The power of tradition, cultural acceptance and powerful branding.
The same reason your whole body hurts when you get older.
Stuff just doesn’t work as well as it did when it is newer.
Gotta stop drinking dude, it’s a literal poison. Once you stop, eat right and live healthily you feel a lot better
You’re in your 30s 😂
I am 47, the ability to absorb a hangover is a lot better as you get older.
This is my scenario. I used to party in college and get bad hangovers but it was heavy drinking nights. So I chalked it up to that. Fast forward twenty years and I would get bad hangovers after drinking like 2-4 beers. Chalked it up to being older. I then went over a friend’s house who is a former Alcoholic who had non alcoholic beer and he let me try one. I still got a massive hangover from it. I realized I must have an allergy to something in the beer. I have switched to just shots of Crown Royal when I drink and I wake up with no hangover or whatsoever. I have tested it out by having like ten plus shots and again no hangover. If you enjoy responsible drinking try experimenting with different types of alcohol as you may be allergic to something.
NAC and Glutathione and milk thistle every day, not just before you drink with plenty of water before bed, and you will be fine, still going at 57,
Maybe it’s because I never really set out to get black out drunk, but I can drink more now at 36 than I ever could before.
But I’ve always just stuck with beer. Never really got into shots or hard alcohol, and I usually know when to slow down before making a fool of myself.
I’m in my mid-fifties and don’t really struggle, but because I work in sales I get a lot of practice. I can be out with customers until 2 or 3 it still in the office at 9, and when I’m on the road I could have to do this three or four times a week.
I think part of the issue is that as you get older you have more responsibilities, so you get fewer big nights out, and you aren’t used to it.
I have not gotten a Hangover since I was 19 . I grew up and realised that alcohol is stupid
The more you drink the greater your all around tolerance to it becomes. In effect you become good at drinking. As you start to drink less, your tolerance falls and the side-effects peak.
I’m 43, have yet to run into this phenomenon. Of course I don’t drink as hard or often as I did in my 20s but still, had like 5 beers and a couple shots a week ago, got home at 1:00 AM and was fine waking up at 5:30AM for work.
Your body is giving you clear signals that you are poisoning it, and you want advice on how you can keep poisoning it?
Quit the drinking and your problems will disappear.
Rehydrating while drinking makes a big difference for me. If i just drink beer all night with no water or electrolytes.. i wake up feeling like shit. If i go to bed hydrated ill wake up without a hangover and just be a bit cloudy headed
Liver damage.
Because alcohol can permanently mess up your liver. So you probably did a number on it over the years. Some people have ridiculous liver strength others use supplements to speed up liver healing to avoid over permanent damage.
I highly suggest to stay away from liquor. If u absolutely want to drink or let loose responsibly, drink imported beer (European), it’s cleaner and goes down better. Look at Europe, old men drink German beer and swim in the pond and do it again the next day. Not kidding.
In Italy, they sell organic wine. Wow, cleanest shit I’ve ever drank in my life.
I don’t drink anymore. But if u wish to keep drinking, at inform yourself of what’s best for your body. If you pay attention to Europe, alcohol is made for all ages.
I mostly stopped drinking when I hit my 40’s, not just because of hangovers, but alcohol literally isn’t hitting right anymore.
That euphoria I used to get from alcohol just isn’t there anymore.
I imagine it has to do with a slower metabolism. My wife’s friends once referred to me as a Functioning alcoholic and one day I quit drinking because I got tired of waking up Saturday Morning and not feeling good until Monday Morning.I never needed booze just enjoyed it…I haven’t had more than a couple glasses of wine in the last 6 or 7 months and those I nursed all night and never finished
Hangovers are a result of willingly drinking liquid poisons
Keep in mind your liver has other functions , so your overall diet in addition to drinking is tasking it.
There have been cases of fatty liver due to poor diet.
My tactic is to only drink beer now. I can’t handle alcohol as well anyway and I know where to have fun now that I m older, so I don’t need to be that drunk to go bananas.
And it’s VERY difficult to get properly drunk with beer.
Why does your car not run as good as it used to?
Decades of destruction finally catching up… time for new hobbies 😜
Has it even occurred to you to stop drinking so much? That’s the cure.
To answer your question more directly, there’s a reason athletes across virtually all sports retire in their 30s. Our bodies just can’t handle what they used to when we reach a certain age.
Honestly, I never quite understood people that say that they would drink & party all night with no consequences. I always needed a nap before going out and definitely would sleep a good chunk of the next day away (in my 20s) lol
I would say that it is a little worse in my 30s, but nothing significantly different though. I also think that people don’t factor in how late they are drinking and being out. When I drink and return home by 1, I’m good to go the next day. When I get home at 4/5, I’m dragging the next day (even if I drunk less).
Hangovers definitely get worse as you age. At some point you realize that the only way to avoid them is to drink less and hydrate more.
I can’t see myself ever cutting out drinking completely. I love a nice cocktail, or a beer at a ballgame, but I *never* do it the way I did when I was in my 20’s.