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submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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?

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[-] [email protected] 128 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 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.

I recommend cutting it down to 1 or 2. Your body will thank you.

[-] [email protected] 117 points 7 months ago
[-] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago

It happens quickly.

[-] [email protected] 99 points 7 months ago

You're gonna love hitting 30. Good luck staying up till 1am, forget about pulling an all-nighter.

[-] [email protected] 27 points 7 months ago

I'm 30 and do this easily enough when I drink.

It's definitely killing me though and the next 3 days are hell.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

Pulling an all-nighter is still doable, it just requires greater amounts of caffeine.

[-] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago

That's a funny way to spell cocaine

[-] [email protected] 72 points 7 months ago

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!

[-] [email protected] 22 points 7 months ago

yeah, I drink like once a month at most these days. maybe that's it.

[-] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago

It least getting drunk is cheaper now!

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[-] [email protected] 37 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I'm a nurse, not a doctor, just gonna chime in here that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a thing:

https://www.heart.org/en/news/2022/04/14/fatty-liver-disease-not-caused-by-alcohol-is-common-and-often-missed

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.)

[-] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago

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.

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[-] [email protected] 37 points 7 months ago

Just wait until the 30s when you start feeling the hangover effects BEFORE you go to bed.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

You're gonna love your 40s...

[-] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

Oh yeah, my first forties two day hangover was pretty enlightening.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] [email protected] 35 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

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.

[-] [email protected] 20 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago

You'll feel shitty just from staying up "too long". Getting older sucks, and I'm not even close to 40.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

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."

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[-] [email protected] 32 points 7 months ago

Enjoy it. A night out is now cheaper.

[-] [email protected] 21 points 7 months ago

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.

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[-] [email protected] 17 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] [email protected] 16 points 7 months ago

I'm 5 years down the road and... Well let me tell ya, it gets worse

[-] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] [email protected] 15 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

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.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago

Listen here kid. Wait till you hit your 30s!

[-] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago

Think of it as a pleasant buff you didn’t ask for. Now you can nurse a drink slowly 😀

[-] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago

Is that normal?

Yes

[-] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago

Just an aside:

Fatty liver disease is so associated with alcoholism that it's the default!

the other term is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease :)

Both come from an overabundance of carbohydrates in the diet. Alcohol is converted very efficiently into blood glucose which is interesting. Before diabetes became super common, most people only got their excess carbohydrates from drinking.

/End aside

[-] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

Interesting, thanks. My mum has it (FLD), but she rarely drinks, just quite overweight unfortunately (cue the mum jokes lol). My dad has a condition I call 'microliver', he went through years and years of blood tests then liver biopses before a surgeon opened him up for something more than a core sample... and in his words "laughed at how small the liver was". He gets drunk exceptionally quickly!

So genetically I'm double-fucked. Starting to get the same 'weird' gamma GT levels in my blood tests and being told I'm an alcoholic (as my dad did for 2 decades in the air force before they discovered what's up), I do drink but prob about once a fortnight. I'm much taller than him though so maybe I just have a miniliver instead of a microliver :)

[-] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

If you're worried about developing fatty liver disease, you might want to look at a ketogenic diet. But I don't want to get preachy, I'm happy to give you more information if you want it.

Reducing the carbohydrate load, reduces the amount of visceral fat stored in organs, which makes the liver more performant and healthier.

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[-] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

It look me til mid, late 30s. Had drank so heavily for so long, was getting sicker and sicker. Realized was heading straight into Leaving Las Vegas territory, had to quit.

[-] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

It catches up with all of us eventually. One day you find you just have to start cutting back.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

People fuck themselves up with the drink. No one should be drinking 4-5 in a day.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

..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.

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[-] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

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.

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this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2023
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