Why don't I get hangovers?

[levdrakon]

I have a strong feeling this has been asked before, but I went through eight pages of search results for "hangover" and couldn't find it.

So I'll risk boring people with this again. Why do you suppose I don't get hangovers? It's not like I don't drink enough.

The closest I come to a hangover is drinking so much and getting so little sleep that I wake up still drunk. Not the most pleasant feeling, but nothing like what I hear hangovers are supposed to be like. I wake up feeling sorta groggy & crappy everyday, alcohol or no. But I don't feel different at all after drinking too much.

I've felt dehydrated, but again, it's not particulary unpleasant. I'm just thirsty.

Sometimes I have a craving for salty, fatty foods the next day.

So why can I drink too much, get 7 hours of sleep and wake up feeling normal? Some of my friends drink the same amount and are practically useless the next day. What gives?

[bcullman]

Honestly, you many not be drinking enough to get a hangover, especially if you are just drinking beer to get drunk - most beer is fairly low in alcohol content, actually.

[doyle420]

Try tequila, then get back to us.;)

[easy e]

Or, try drinking heavily on an empty stomach on a hot summer day. It's the empty stomach part that always gets me.

[doyle420]

Yeah, and then (after sitting in the sun all day drinking) eat some garlic fries and chicken fingers with warm ranch dressing dipping sauce... Always does it for me. Oh wait, that's puking my guts out, not a hangover

[Kilt-wearin' man]

Don't complain - maybe its just the way your body works. I've only ever had one hangover (oddly enough, it was one of the few times I've gotten drunk on just beer...) and it sucked, but I'm pretty sure it was mild, too. I don't wonder why, I just thank my lucky stars...

[DMark]

I thought I was the only one....I not only have never had a hangover (though lordknows I sure have deserved a fair share), I have also never had a headache. Ever. Really.

I once asked a doctor about this and he said that there was a very small percentage of people who just never got headaches. I know I should thank my lucky stars, but I find it odd nonetheless.

[My Darn Snake Legs]

I personally hear that wine is the worst hangover ever. This is on report of my girlfriend. I'm also one of those who does not get hung over at all...though I'm not complaining!

--==the sax man==--

[Shagnasty]

I have gotten hangovers before but as I general rule I don't either. I can even drink 20+ drinks in a night and wake up with nothing more than a mild "cotton mouth" and a heavy thirst.

If you drink very often, your body will just get used to the alcohol and other components and just blow it off.

That being said, I am pretty sure that we could come up with some stuff that would give you a horrific hangover if given in sufficient quantity. I agree with the tequila choice. Tequila can be very nasty. There is this incredibly strong sugary drink called a hand grenade in New Orleans that made me so that I couldn't look at light or walk for all of the next day.

Oh, I have some more. Go for several $2 bottles of Mad dog 20-20 or even better, Night Train. That will do it. Sweet hard liquors like Southern Comfort would probably make you feel like hell too.

Make sure that you get piss drunk off of one of the above substances and them ask us why a hangover hurts so damn much.

[levdrakon]

Originally posted by doyle420
Yeah, and then (after sitting in the sun all day drinking) eat some garlic fries and chicken fingers with warm ranch dressing dipping sauce... Always does it for me. Oh wait, that's puking my guts out, not a hangover

Well yes, I think the Tequila, sun & strong foods probably would make me sick. But, I'm betting I wouldn't have a hangover the next day. I've made myself sun-sick before. I've also (in college) drank enough tequila to puke my guts out. I just don't recall having a hangover the next day.

I have gotten a few headaches in my lifetime, but they're rare. Sinus congestion headaches I can get.

Too much sun, dehydration, wine & sweet sugary drinks can give me a headache while I'm imbibing, but not the next morning. I think my body doesn't handle sugar well.

As for the Mad dog experiment - uh, no. Don't think I'll try that one. :eek:

[RealityChuck]

I don't get hangovers, either. There have been some times when I got pretty drunk (straigh Russian vodka will do that to you), but I woke up the next morning still drunk.

I have several hypotheses:

1. My metabolism. I can feel the effects of a drink very quickly, and I can feel it fading away just as quickly. Maybe my blood alcohol is still elevated; I don't know. I do know that the lightheadedness that alcohol causes never lasts more than half an hour after I stop drinking, and goes away even more quickly if I make a rest stop.

2. I don't drink to get drunk. I drink to enjoy the flavor. As such, one or two drinks are fine with me. But this doesn't explain why I never got hung over when I did drink to excess.

3. Type of alcohol. I stick with wine, liqueurs, and mixed drinks, these days. Though I used to drink straight Russian vodka and Beam's Choice (smooth).

4. I always drink something non-alcoholic before going to sleep. Alcohol dries me out (I can't imagine why people drink it to quench thirst -- that's like putting out a fire with kerosene), so I usually have some soda or orang juice before calling it a night (otherwise I wake up dying of thirst). Since a big part of the hangover is dehydration, this probably helps.

[LurkMeister]

When I was in college I never got hangovers, no matter how much I drank. It used to drive my friends nuts; we'd all be partying half the night and the next morning I'd be sitting in the cafeteria eating a hearty breakfast while they'd be trying to force down a glass of juice.
I don't remember anything particular about my drinking habits that might have explained it. I seem to recall vodka & OJ as my usual drink, and it was not uncommon for me to kill a half-pint of vodka in a single night.
I hardly ever drink now, so I can't say whether I'm still immune to hangovers.

[Qwisp]

Originally posted by LurkMeister
. I seem to recall vodka & OJ as my usual drink, and it was not uncommon for me to kill a half-pint of vodka in a single night.
I hardly ever drink now, so I can't say whether I'm still immune to hangovers. Only a half a pint? No wonder you didn't get hangovers.

[pulykamell]

I rarely get hungover, too. In fact, if I drink a lot, more than half the time I end up waking up fully awake earlier than I normally do. It's really weird. However, if I get drunk on champagne or sparkling wine, that's the end of me. Especially the sweet crap that everyone seems to have around on New Year's.

Generally, for me, it's the sweet drinks that give me headaches in the morning. That's why I stick with beer and shots. Beer very rarely gets me groggy in the morning, and clear alcohol, like vodka, slivovitz, or tequila, NEVER hangs me over.

Just be thankful. Some people just aren't that prone to it.

[yo han go]

If you are used to alcohol, you can get hangover only at greater consumation of alcohol. In my case that would be about 0,75 l of spirits. 0,5 l is OK. No hangover for me, just still drunk in the morning.

[Fern Forest]

I have the same ability as you. I once polished off a fifth of Jack Daniels by myself. Woke up fine except for a wicked case of cotton mouth. Had a good breakfast and that was it.

What exactly is a hangover? (http://www.all-about-hangovers.com/html/causes.html)
The 3rd and 4th paragraphs seem the most relavent. Your body (and mine) must just be better at getting rid of those toxins that cause the hangover in the first place.

[nightshadea]

You know I've never felt hungover either ..... Woke up drunk as hell the next day

The most wicked drunk I've ever had was when i mixed black velvet whisky and a bottle of pre mixed jose c margarita

I was drunk the next day and stumbled through a major part of town.... I spit up at my aunts house .... .I was dehyrated for almost a whole day

Nedless to say Tequilia dosent agree with me

[Hodge]

I just wanted to say, I hate you all.

cheers,
Hodge (who's suffered for his sins)

[peepthis]

My understanding is that the ability to drink to excess without getting hangovers is one of many possible genetic predispositions to alcoholism. In other words, you can drink without (outwardly) having physical repercussions, so you are not disinclined to keep doing it.

I believe the same is true for those who get "black outs" when they drink.

[Mentalist]

In my experience, the type of drink affect the nature of the hangover. Some beers contain all sorts of horrible additives which can magnify the hangover, while Red wine which is heavy in tanin can also give you a "blinder".

On average our bodies can metabolise one unit of alcohol (half a pint of normal strength beer or small glass of wine) in about an hour, so I would say this means if you drink slowly you are going to less intoxicated than if you drink quickly.

Please feel free to correct any errors in the above :)

[Mephisto]

I think I might be one of the lucky people, genetically-speaking. I used to drink like a fish and only rarely got hang-overs. Of course, I used to do a lot of other drugs as well, so perhaps sometimes I was just "medicating" myself. I also tend to drink a lot of liquid in general, so perhaps I never got as dehydrated as many people. Also, usually whenever I got extremely drunk, I'd end up sleeping most of the next day, so maybe my hang-over was just gone by the time I woke up. Sixteen or seventeen hours of sleep will cure a lot.

[EchoKitty]

Champagne is a killer hangover. As is gin. Guaranteed to hurt ya, in the right quantities.

[levdrakon]



[levdrakon]

Originally posted by peepthis
My understanding is that the ability to drink to excess without getting hangovers is one of many possible genetic predispositions to alcoholism. In other words, you can drink without (outwardly) having physical repercussions, so you are not disinclined to keep doing it.

I believe the same is true for those who get "black outs" when they drink.

I've thought there might be something to that. If you don't pay for it, you're more inclined to do it again. Can't say I've ever had a blackout though. I have had trouble remembering just what happened the night before occasionally. but I had a friend who drank himself into blackouts and I can say I've never experienced that. He'd hit a whole different personality & disappear for hours at a time, return & not know where he was or what he'd done.

Me (most of the time), I hit a point where I'm feeling whoosy & cut myself off, or I hit a point where it's like, "I have to sleep now. No, I mean NOW." Doesn't matter if it's in a booth, the bartop, or your shoulder or lap. It's like, <clunck, zzzzzzzzzzzzzz>.

But I wake up feeling fine.

[Kilvert's Pagan]

I expect you're just young. I'm in my mid-40's (which I suspect is ancient for this board) and I find it harder and harder to wake up perky after a night drinking.

Drink wine and tequila, in quantity, during the same evening and see how you do...

[Aceospades]

Just start mixing things. Go to a bar and try all those bottles that you have no idea what they are. Things like drambuie or Tia Maria, or arminac(sp). Spend more money then you can afford on these types of achole (tipping the bartender well), and what ever you do, don’t drink water. Go home and set your alarm clock real early. Now here’s the thing, you have to get up when the alarm goes off. Lying there real still and trying to go back to sleep doesn’t count. Get up and go out into the bright morning sun. It also helps if you have to go to work the next morning. In my experience the worst hangovers are the ones you have to work through. Have fun

[domesticatedjunglefowl]

from what i understand, it is the drinks with higher levels of sugar that cause the hangovers, i.e. pina coladas and daquiris.
im recovering right now from one from drinking a mix of triple sec and vodka.
my good friend cruzan 120 hasnt ever given me a hangover, but i almost always wake up tipsy (heh heh)

[chigirl87]

I have been wondering the same thing. I have always been able to out drink most of my friends, and we do not drink low quality. We also always mix up what we are drinking between beer, mixed drinks, shots, and blended drinks. They always wake up with awful hangovers or at least a headache. On normal nights, I can usually sleep from around 10-12 hours per night. When I drink, however, I wake up around 6 or 7 in the morning completely full of energy. I am unable to fall back asleep so I usually end up cleaning the mess and a variety of other things. I have "blacked out" numerous times and in the morning, still nothing short of shooting out of bed and being hyper.

[GameHat]

I personally hear that wine is the worst hangover ever

Not quite.

Cheap red wine - bad hangover.

Cheap tequila - worse hangover

Cheap whiskey - Oh God, death seems like mercy

[The Conqueror Worm]

Do zombies get hangovers? More to the point, I would have liked to have asked the responders in this thread their age and whether or not there was a history of alcoholism in their family. My experience says those are two huge determining factors.

[johnpost]

zombies because of their sweetness can lead to over consumption of that high quantity rum drink and produce a bad hangover.

[Autolycus]

In college I never got hangovers, no matter how much I had to drink. Those of you who remember my earlier days on the board know how much that was... Anyway, when I hit 25, that changed. I think something broke in my liver :(

I also get blackouts, but that's been an issue since forever. I don't mind hangovers, but blackouts kinda frighten me. Most people don't even know I'm out like a light, because by all outward appearances I'm usually fine. Ah, sorry for the hijack.

[RealityChuck]

I've never had a hangover, no matter how much I drank. At worst, I'd wake up still drunk. But then I rarely drink a lot, even in my college days.

For me, I seem to metabolize alcohol quickly; I can feel the effects within a half hour, and start feeling sober within an hour of stopping.

In addition, most of the hangover is dehydration: if you drink water before going to sleep, it should help.

[komolono]

Don't try this at home:
Lose all yor money and friends. cut some parts of your body, drink for it and voila...

[pkbites]

Go for several $2 bottles of Mad dog 20-20

Where are you getting Mad Dog for only 2 bucks? That shit has gotten pricey around here.


For a good old fashioned "I swear, I will never drink again.....!" hangover, slam (and I mean SLAM) down 3 cans of THIS (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fMhEiq7kE5A/TZob9SgKMEI/AAAAAAAAGi0/4LTs0PdbLgU/s1600/colt+45+blast.jpg) stuff. The next day you'll feel like you soaked your skull in gasoline and lit your head on fire.

While you're slamming that stuff, down some shots of THIS (http://www.missionliquor.com/Store/Qstore/uploads/fireball_orig.jpg) stuff. Not only will it add to your next day nauseous headache, your asshole will burn like a motherlover, too! Now THAT'S a hangover!!!!!!:eek:

If none of this works, we'll introduce you to an alcohol enema! First invented in Stevens Point by some college students with very little spending money.

Can't get a hangover!:rolleyes: Honestly! This may not be something to brag about, but some of you folks need to take a vacation to Wisconsin. We'll show you how to freaking drink!:D

[levdrakon]

Wow, new record zombie for me.


Can't get a hangover!:rolleyes: Honestly! This may not be something to brag about, but some of you folks need to take a vacation to Wisconsin. We'll show you how to freaking drink!:D

Wisconsin is where I grew up, and learned to drink. There's nothing else to frakkin' do there.

Quit drinking a few years back. It wasn't a big deal with counseling and AA or anything. I'm not aware of any alcoholism in the family. I am/was the biggest drinker in the bunch.

[Darth Panda]

The only cure for not getting a hangover is drinking more.

[notfrommensa]

Where are you getting Mad Dog for only 2 bucks? That shit has gotten pricey around here.

2002 zombie dollars.

[Daylate]

I am blessed in several ways, boozewise. One is that I never ever get a hangover, a headache, or an upset stomach. And this is after beer then martinis then wine. Frustrates the heck out of my friends.

The second is that I have a total inability to detect the slighest difference between the most expensive gin or vodka and the cheapest. This has saved me a lot of money over the years.

[pulykamell]

I expect you're just young. I'm in my mid-40's (which I suspect is ancient for this board) and I find it harder and harder to wake up perky after a night drinking.

Yep. Nine years after my initial post in this thread, I'm definitely not as impervious to hangovers as I used to be. (I'm turning 36 this year.)

[Shagnasty]

The second is that I have a total inability to detect the slighest difference between the most expensive gin or vodka and the cheapest. This has saved me a lot of money over the years.

I don't drink anymore but I will say that gourmet vodka is about the dumbest idea outside of enthusiast water. It is simply a chemical compound made up of alcohol and water. There isn't much you can do with that recipe especially if is mixed with something. Gin is vodka plus juniper berry flavoring. There is some nasty gin out there and I am not sure how that made it so but it does exist at the bottom of the shelf generally in large bottles. We are just talking about the extremes though. The moderately priced stuff is about the same as the high end in the fancy bottles. Vodka is a pure liquid drug diluted with water and there is no more reason to savor and relish in small flavor differences than there is in any medicine you take.

[pkbites]

2002 zombie dollars.

D'oh!!!!
:smack: I didn't notice the date of the OP!

[jtgain]

I think that age has a lot to do with it as well. When you are 19, you can drink all night, get a couple of hours of sleep and then pogo-stick out of bed with your hard dick. When you get in your mid to late 30s your body starts telling you to stop that shit.

[SciFiSam]

The only horrible hangovers I've ever had have been due to smoking as well as drinking, because I only smoke when I drink; bet that's the same for lots of people.

Yep. Nine years after my initial post in this thread, I'm definitely not as impervious to hangovers as I used to be. (I'm turning 36 this year.)

Same here, down to the age. Pretty obvious really - your body's older and less likely to be able to cope with alcohol. Particularly your liver, if you've been hammering it through all those years of 'no hangovers.'

Though I still don't really get hangovers. :D Just a bit now and then. I am from a proud lineage of alcoholics, even more than the usual Scots and English.

But when you're older you're also more likely to be drinking less frequently. You don't go through alcohol withdrawal, basically, if you're drinking every night or couple of nights.

Plus, when you're older, you're more likely to have responsible work where you really can't coast it, so you notice the hangover more, and you're more likely to have been up early the day you went out drinking, and your friends are less likely to be hungover too, etc etc. Feeling the effects of a hangover is not necessarily down to just alcohol consumption the night before.

[Lukeinva]

This thread is turning into "how to get a hangover." :p

[whiterabbit]

Southern Comfort goes down so easy if you like sweet things...but oh God the hangover.

I hadn't discovered this in 2002 but unfortunately do now.

[LouisB]

Southern Comfort goes down so easy if you like sweet things...but oh God the hangover.

I hadn't discovered this in 2002 but unfortunately do now.Back in the mid 1960s a friend of mine came into possession of a case of Southern Comfort. He, his brother, and I started on a Friday night with the intention of killing that case which we did at some point on Saturday. I've never been sicker of had a worse hangover; even today just seeing a bottle of that invention of the devil will make me nauseous.

I od'd on Mad Dog once with similar results but that Southern Comfort drunk is something I think I'll never forget.

[Yorikke]

I've been a heavy drinker for a long time, and I can count on one hand the number of true hangovers I've had. One was in college, 8 tequila shots and a pizza in 45 minutes. No good. The others have all been as a result of sweet drinks, usually stuff like Smirnoff Ice, and sometimes not even drunk to excess. I can drink three times as much straight alcohol as I can of Zima.

Joe

[pkbites]

Southern Comfort goes down so easy if you like sweet things


I concur with this statement.

Back in '78 my first "real" night out at a bar (the drinking age was 18 then :cool: ) was at a bowling alley lounge that had a special on 32 ounce SoCo Old Fashions. Not only do I have no recollection of what I did that night (all my friends insisted I was making out with a beastly looking chick named Roxanne:eek: ) but for the next 2 days it felt like my head was in a freaking vise!

[Kamrusepas]

I've never gotten a hangover either. I've drank enough to be sure, and different kinds of alcohol too. Guess it's just not in my genes or something.

[Iggins]

I'm also in the camp of mild/non-hangovers. I usually wake up early, after only 3-4 hours of sleep, and am able to fully function. With friends, I usually get up first and make the greasiest breakfast I can muster. I'll end up being tired during the day, and going to be early.

[scamartistry]

This is ridiculous, you have to mention HOW MUCH and WHAT you drink on a typical night without getting a hangover.

Someone mentioned drinking half a pint of vodka without getting a hangover - where is the mystery in that, it would be strange if you DID get a hangover..

[pkbites]

This is ridiculous, you have to mention HOW MUCH and WHAT you drink on a typical night without getting a hangover.

True. One doesn't get a hangover unless one was actually drunk in the first place!

And not only that, how much do they weigh, and how long of time passed while drinking. Men process alcohol differently than women so what sex the drinker is also counts.

A 200 pound man who drinks half a pint of vodka over the course of 3 hours is not going to get a hangover. A woman who weighs a buck ten can get hammered by just a few cans of light beer.

A 350 pound man could slammed down a 12 pack and not be sick in the morning.

[lexi]

Funny, I didn't get hangovers back 9 years ago when I was 31 - but I sure so now that I am 40, and I drink less and weigh more (female). It was like a switch got turned on when I was about 35 and suddenly the day after was pure hell. It did help curtail my drinking though, because I don't want to party so hard anymore now that I know I will suffer for it.

The only two changes were age and weight and I suspect it has to do with my body fat content in my case, because before 35 I was typically about 10lbs underweight for my height and I have been above my ideal weight since then. One of the reasons I suspect this, is because everyone I know who doesn't get hangovers is underweight or has a low body fat content.

[Iggins]

This is ridiculous, you have to mention HOW MUCH and WHAT you drink on a typical night without getting a hangover.

Someone mentioned drinking half a pint of vodka without getting a hangover - where is the mystery in that, it would be strange if you DID get a hangover..

Good point (and sorry for the late reply). My usual poison is shots and mixed drinks, with beers in-between. On exceptional benders, I can be obviously drunk - slurring, staggering, inappropriate sleeping, and exhibit very questionable judgement about the opposite sex.

That sort of excess does only happen a couple times a year. Lighter nights are 4-6 beers and a couple scotch/whiskeys, maybe once every couple of months.

I generally don't feel impairment with a couple vodka sodas and 2-3 beers, over about a 6 hour period, though I don't drink and drive, in any case.

Currently 38 years old, 6'3", 190 pounds, and relatively athletic build.