Submitted 11 months ago by counselwolf@lemmy.world to [deleted]
I Can’t Drink Now Like I Used to a Few Years Ago (26M), is that Normal?
During college and a few years after (maybe til 23/24) I drank almost weekly and don’t get drunk that easily. In terms of beers, maybe I get tipsy at about 6 and give up at 10.
But now, I drink 2 and I get tipsy, and maybe tap out at 4/5.
Is that normal?
Welcome to old.
It happens quickly.
You’re gonna love hitting 30. Good luck staying up till 1am, forget about pulling an all-nighter.
I’m 30 and do this easily enough when I drink.
It’s definitely killing me though and the next 3 days are hell.
You’re getting older. When you reach your 30’s, you’ll feel tired the next day because you had s couple of beers. You’ll feel like crap for a couple of days if you get drunk.
41 here. Getting drunk on a Friday wipes me out for a long weekend. It's touch and go whether I'll be capable of work on Tuesday.
You’ll feel shitty just from staying up “too long”. Getting older sucks, and I’m not even close to 40.
Wait until you hit the “feeling shitty and ruining your entire day by sleeping too long” stage. Its a really fucking treat… At some point, you’ll realize you can cheat by getting up and then taking a nap or 2 later (not too long though, they have to be short naps). But then you will slowly enter the next stage which is “I can lose consciousness during the day at any point, and often do involuntarily, but once the clock hits 8pm, I am wide fucking awake and likely to stay that way until 5am.”
Not even 30 yet myself and I get tired round 9pm. Couldn’t even stay up to 1-4am if I wanted too now.
Enjoy it. A night out is now cheaper.
Just wait until the 30s when you start feeling the hangover effects BEFORE you go to bed.
You’re gonna love your 40s…
Yup. Drinking gets harder as you get older. UNLESS you continue to drink at an unsustainable rate.
I’ve met plenty of people who continue to drink like they are still in their twenties, but you’d be better off with a few bad hangovers than what THOSE people have going on in their lives.
I’m 5 years down the road and… Well let me tell ya, it gets worse
I’m 40 this year. More than 2 beers and I get a hangover before I even go to bed and insomnia the next day.
Aged 18/19 I could slam 12 beers and a few shots and wake up feeling nothing.
Time is a cruel mistress.
I can’t drink anymore. The hangovers are just too severe. I would rather be sober and deal with all the boringness that comes with it than get hungover. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.
I’m 40, and I maybe have 2 drinks a month. Used to be able to drink a lot more. And I consider this change a good thing. As far as I can tell it’s normal.
I’m not sure its a good thing. I’m in the same boat and all I can think is my liver is not operating as efficiently as it used to. And since its not, then drinking 2 beers is prob as harmful to a half operating liver as 4 beers would be to a fully operational one? But thats not based on any scientific investigation, just my gut (pardon the pun).
Oh, I mean it’s a good thing that I don’t try and force myself to party like I did in my 20s. I prefer this quieter lifestyle. I am sure you are 100% correct: everything deteriorates with age, and our livers are not exempted from that rule. All the more reason to drink less.
Is that normal?
Yes
Listen here kid. Wait till you hit your 30s!
Think of it as a pleasant buff you didn’t ask for. Now you can nurse a drink slowly 😀
I remember, long ago, going to breakfast with a group of people that partied HARD the night before and laughing that “we’re paying for last night” as we ate and laughed only to go do it again that night.
Now I drink two whiskeys and need 3 business days, four Xanax’s and a metric ton of Pedialyte to even raise my head from the pillow in bed. I’m in my late 30s. It’s usually better - for me at least - not to drink at all. Mileage definitely varies.
Your body builds tolerance to alcohol, which means you can drink more and not feel the effects as much.
When you stop drinking or drink less and more infrequently, your body’s tolerance lowers, so you’ll feel the effects more than when you were drinking heavily.
It look me til mid, late 30s. Had drank so heavily for so long, was getting sicker and sicker.
People fuck themselves up with the drink. No one should be drinking 4-5 in a day.
No, that’s not even a scary amount. 4-5 drinks is just the first 2-3 hours of a Sunday BBQ.
That’s literally like a heroin user bragging abt how much heroin they do but this isn’t seen as harmful for some reason
…beers? 4-5 beers over the course of a night is fine. Especially if you’re a larger person. I’m a pretty big dude and unless I’m shotgunning them I can drink 2-3 beers and barely be tipsy.
I don’t even drink often, either.
Now if it’s every night or something there might be an issue.
It is not only rare but a red flag if you can drink like a 21 year old in your 30s and 40s. If you can drink like that in your 50s you probably have ascites.
It’s fairly normal to suddenly find hangovers are a big problem as we get older… it feels like one day you’re able to go out, knock back a hideous amount of booze, then bounce back the next day ready to do it all over again… and all of a sudden those two pints of beer create the hangover from hell.
Not sure about tolerance though. What country are you in… is it easy / cost effective to get a liver test done? It might be down to lots of perfectly natural factors… if you lost weight; if you have a different diet (some foods ‘soak up’ alcohol better than others and cause it to be absorbed more gradually, if you’re drinking on a salad instead of say, pasta you’ll see a difference); you could be drinnking different beers.
Also, if you’ve had significant weight gain, this causes your liver to get fatty, which puts a strain on it; I’m not a medical professional but would think that could have an effect too.
I did gain about 15 to 20kg.
I should just tone down on drinking.
I’d say that’s significant. Your liver is probably kinda creaking under the combined strain.
Have a serious think about your drinking, as if you are actually alcoholic / addicted then it could actually be harmful to go cold turkey instead of reducing gradually. I know from experience it’s really hard to say no especially if your social life revolves around pubs / bars & clubs. But it’s certainly not impossible, you’ve got this.
It catches up with all of us eventually. One day you find you just have to start cutting back.
So yes this is normal, and it will get worse, but if you stay fit you’ll still be able to drink and stay up late, as long as you drink a lot of water.
What is "one beer"? 330ml? 500? A pint?
Tolerance would be my first guess. When you drink regularly, the liver (and/or whatever) upregulates enzymes that break down ethanol and the assorted byproducts. If you consume less for a while, there's no reason to keep producing them in such amounts.
Also, don't underestimate the effects of stomach contents etc. - alcohol hits much harder (and sometimes subjectively differently) on an empty stomach.
Wait til you hit your mid-30s and a single hoppy IPA keeps you up at night with heartburn, and an imperial means a headache in the morning.
My first two beer hangover was a real bummer. They still are, too.
Go see doctor. Changes in how your body reacts to alcohol can be serious. There was a dude who posted on reddit a few years ago that beer started giving him a big rash. It was lupus or something. You could have fatty liver or something that means you’re starting to do damage. At 26 it probably isn’t permanent yet, but either way, doctor. Get blood draw. Have liver levels check.
Do not waste the doctors time. If you start getting a rash get checked out but an increased sensitivity is not a cause for concern.
Some minor/hard-to-notice health-related things can dramatically reduce alcohol tolerance and/or give “hangovers” shortly after starting a session.
For me, inflammation is a big cause. I have (barely noticeable) cat allergies, and (obvious but hard to avoid) food intolerances & gut issues. If I don’t stay on top of avoiding triggers, my alcohol tolerance goes from multiple G&Ts giving a nice buzz, to 1-2 sips of G&T giving dizziness and headaches. Electrolyte imbalance can also cause it. I’ve found I have to add magnesium and potassium salt to my diet, or else I generally feel tired more, and my alcohol tolerance plummets. Once you start controlling these factors, you’ll start getting clear feedback from your body when you have too much or too little salt, in the form of water and food tasting different and general feelings of tension or tiredness.
My advice: try antihistamines, easily-digestible meals, and/or sports drinks for a few days before you drink. If those help your tolerance, you probably have some health stuff going on - figure it out and you’ll probably find a way to generally feel better.
It could be that you’re drinking 6-10 natty lights and now you’re an adult so you don’t buy piss water any more.
As well as the medical effects, there’s also the realisation (age varies when this happens) that going out in order to get drunk is not a good time.
Welcome to real life
Yes, I have the same thing.
I remember the days in college where I’d drink the night and then have kegs and eggs in the morning. Or drinking and then taking a bus to Philly that night and drinking for St Pattys day. It’s been a decade since and now way in hell could I do that again.
There’s some ways to counteract it. Make sure you drink a ton of water. I usually always have vodka sodas now so I’m more hydrated. Also carry liquid ivs around which helps.
Sheeple@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Drinking 10 beer in general is not normal. You got yourself pretty damaged by alcohol and now your body is suffering the wear and tear