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?
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.
I recommend cutting it down to 1 or 2. Your body will thank you.
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.
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33 here - if the staying up is enjoyable then 1-3am is fine. Hangovers are worse than when I was 23, but I’m usually back up to speed by lunchtime.
Of course this is heavily influenced by how much water I drink while I’m out. Hydration is important folks!
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Pulling an all-nighter is still doable, it just requires greater amounts of caffeine.
That’s a funny way to spell cocaine
The body is amazing at adaptation. In a high alcohol environment, prolonged over time, like college, you can adapt that situation and build a tolerance.
Now you’re a little older, you probably don’t drink as much, your physical activity may be different, you’re more in tune with how your body should feel, so you’re noticing it more.
It’s not a bad thing!
yeah, I drink like once a month at most these days. maybe that’s it.
It least getting drunk is cheaper now!
Are you in the same shape you were in college? General fitness doesn’t necessarily affect your tolerance, but it definitely affects how quickly you bounce back from a rough night.
That’s more it than most of what is said in that thread, yes getting older plays a role, but when I see people crying about staying up after 1 at 30, those are people that do not get out of their comfort zone.
Source : I work shifts, with many people the same, we’ve learned to go around schedules and usual hours of sleep because we have to get used to it. For alcohol and drugs, see addicts that do it for extended periods of time/for life.
Notice that those addicts also have a severely degraded quality of life. Your comfort zone is not something always meant to bend or break, if your body is not happy you should be considering why the alarms are sounding. Cirrhosis and COPD are not fun lifelong conditions.
Just wait until the 30s when you start feeling the hangover effects BEFORE you go to bed.
You’re gonna love your 40s…
Oh yeah, my first forties two day hangover was pretty enlightening.
The last time I had a hangover I was 35. It was on business travel in the middle of a multiple country stint with lots of jetlag. I felt like shit for 3 days.
So I learned my lesson and have never had a other hangover.
I’m a nurse, not a doctor, just gonna chime in here that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a thing:
In general, any kind of sudden changes to your normal functioning are things you should probably be discussing with a physician, even if you’re young and otherwise healthy. The really encouraging news is that, if this is indeed caused by a health problem, you’re young enough that it’s really likely you can completely reverse it and get back to 100%. And if it’s not, then no harm done by seeing a doctor and confirming that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(Also, not to scare you, but no I wouldn’t expect to see that dramatic a decrease in alcohol tolerance over the course of just a couple of years at your age. I think it’s worth talking to a doctor about this.)
Yeah, about five years ago I had an ultrasound screening for another issue and my doctor made a remark on a fat buildup on my liver. I wasn’t very overweight, I was just drinking some alcohol, lots of soda and not moving much. Have changed that a lot since then, but I’d never have done anything about it without that random discovery.
What about the increased hangover? Is that more normal?
When you’re older? Absolutely. Hangovers are a day-long event at least. Sucks. You don’t bounce back and be a little tired for half a day like when you were younger.
If you’re younger and have an abrupt change in how you handle alcohol, and have a bad relationship with alcohol and drinking, yeah…might be a problem.
Older as in after your twenties?
I noticed I couldn’t shake hang overs after 25. They ruined my whole following day so I just cut out that nonsense.
More like 40 or 50.
oh no
You’re getting older. When you reach your 30’s, you’ll feel tired the next day because you had a 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.
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.
Agree on the partying thing, although I had a night out in Sept with my other 40 something school friends and it was the best. But was probably the best because its a rare occurrence that we’re all together and can go out!
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.
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.
In my 30s here. I spent my 20s getting shit faced drunk almost every day. 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 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.
Is that normal?
Yes
