I feel ridiculous talking about booze in my mid-thirties: it's like talking about French kissing in my mid-thirties: the time for talking about it with interested peers has PASSED. But I skipped the alcohol thing in my college years and twenties, so now I'm just getting to the "Hey, does drinking make you REALLY HUNGRY?" and "How comes sometimes alcohol makes me feel GREAT and other times it just makes me super-crabby, and how can I make it more likely to be the former?" and "How come I can drink 4 ounces of vodka in one drink and barely feel it? Is that...weird? Or just a sign that a drinking habit would be really expensive for me?" and "How much of this can I do before I have to start worrying about my liver?" stuff that everyone else got bored with before they were even of legal drinking age.
I mentioned before that I'd never had a hangover, and that trend continues. One evening I drank enough that I couldn't stay awake and went to bed at 7:30 in the evening---and I STILL had no noticeable after-affects other than waking up at about 3:30 in the morning feeling perky and ready for the day to begin after 8 hours' sleep. This makes me want to compare notes. What's typical, and what's not? It is really too bad we are not a group of 20-year-olds.
I think it just depends on your makeup (no, not your *make-up*), what you're drinking, how much you're drinking, if you're tired, etc.
ReplyDeleteAt my age, I've learned to stick with one kind of alcohol when I drink, and to keep a glass of water on hand and drink that as well. I still get hangovers sometimes (that's when I know I was bad to myself), and sometimes they're worse than others -- again, depending on the alcohol I chose to drank.
Was that helpful? No?
~Another Constance
Wine before beer, don't mix wine or beer with mixed drinks, and stop as soon as I think I could handle "just one more." That more will be one too many. No drinking on an empty stomach or I will be trashed, even if it's just one glass of wine.
ReplyDeleteThese are my valuable lessons.
Well, from what I have read from earlier posts, it sounds like you are just drinking a little bit to take the edge off (i.e. social situations) so I don't think you are really getting "drunk" which causes a hangover. It is good to drink lots of water before you go to bed because a hangover is basically you dehydrated. Also, you have 5 kids, you don't want a hangover unless all 5 of them are not home or you are away for a weekend. Take it from a girl who got all the drinking out of her system before she was 21. :) Hangovers are no fun and if you aren't getting them, keep on doing what your're doing.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Anonymous, It doesn't seem like you are drinking enough to be "shitfaced." If you get really drunk, you will know it. Especially the day after. Also, certain things give me different day after effects. Gin and Vodka are easy. Red wine tends to give me a headache, and too much beer gives me the "beer shits." Apparently, I have to say shit alot when I talk about drinking, and I sound like an alcoholic.
ReplyDeleteDon't feel like you are behind the times or anything. I just started dating recently after being married to my high school sweetheart.
I am all full of revelations about male behavior and sex. Literally, all my friends and advisors have known this stuff for fifteen years and think I am really a moron.
I think drinking to take off the edge and to make sex funner can be a great thing.
You're usually drinking without a drinking partner, right? Mike hasn't been joining you on your belated adventure? I find that drinking in the evenings without someone to collaborate in the silly pro-drinking attitude can sometimes yield the crabby and/or little effects. Tipsy people can totally encourage and expontentiate each other. (Of course, this can be bad if both people are in sullen or angry moods, I imagine.) The only thing I know to curtail the crabbiness is to drink somewhat slowly and stop if it's making me feel cranky (and switch to ice cream). But the best way I know to ensure that I get a good strong tipsy feeling is to drink a shot at a time or in big gulps! So my advice is amazingly counter to itself. I guess this way you can focus either on carefully warming into a good mood or jumping right in with abandon like a teenager who doesn't care if she's in a good mood or not!
ReplyDeleteDitto re: everyone who said hangover = dehydration. Maybe you're just really well hydrated in general?
I am interested in this topic, because I enjoy drinking, although I never drank until after I was 21 (Nervous Tummy), and it seems sort of taboo to admit you are a Mother! Who Drinks!
ReplyDeleteI really think so much about alcohol tolerance (like food tolerance) is genetic. I have a high genetic tolerance, and even at sub-100 lbs can drink 3-4 drinks on an empty stomach with few ill effects.
However, my ex-husband never got a hangover no matter HOW much he drank, and my current boyfriend notices mood shifts depending on what KIND of alcohol he drinks (beer vs. whiskey).
Also, I am so interested in the relationship between alcohol and hunger! I think if I have, say, 1 or 2 drinks, I eat LESS, because it occupies my oral fixation or whatever, keeps my mouth busy, and makes me feel like I'm eating. It's like snacking, almost.
However, once I pass 2 or 3 drinks I definitely get hungrier. This makes sense to me because 1) the same thing happens when I eat a lot of other types of sugar/wheat and 2) my inhibitions are down and I Just Don't Care.
I definitely get hangovers if I overdo it, which I rarely do at this stage in life. I'll also get a little depressed and down and mentally "fuzzy" the next day, which I guess makes sense too since alcohol is a depressant.
I think it's what you drink. I've always heard that higher end stuff doesn't result in a hangover. Also, Mythbusters did a thing where they found that drinking beer (as opposed to liquor) resulted in a worse hangover. (Okay, and I suddenly revealed how much of a non-scientific uber nerd I really am.) I, too, am just discovering the joys of alcohol (at past 30), so let's please have this discussion. I think that drinking and hangover also relate to partying...where there are a group of people talking and laughing and having a good time...and drinking too much. I think for people who don't have alcohol issues, it's hard to allow yourself to get drunk by yourself or with only your spouse. Also, my "experienced in the ways of careless drinking in an earlier life" husband says that you only get hungry/crabby/tired if you slow down or stop the drinking. You just have to power through to get to the "really drunk" stage. So says the master.
ReplyDeleteAw, I can't help Constance. I have *still* not made it to the phase where I even care to know the answers to these questions. :) So...mentally...I think that makes me 12 instead of knocking on 30.
ReplyDeleteI remember long ago in my early to mid-20s, when I could drink more than one glass of wine at a time without falling asleep, that drinking when I was PMSing tended to result in severe crankiness. Instead of getting a happy buzz and being flirty and fun, I would become fretful and grouchy, which was really a blast for my friends.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I do remember drinking made me hungrier than usual. I think it's something about how it spikes your blood sugar, maybe? I'm not sure, but food -- especially salty food -- sure does taste good when you are a little loopy.
You are so funny!
ReplyDeleteIf it is "sort of taboo to admit you are a Mother! Who Drinks!" as Tess said, then I am in deep shit.
I know ALL about drinking, considering the first time I got drunk was the day freshman year of HS got out and I have been doing it steadily (not alcoholic-wise, but just steadily) since.
I typically drink 2 glasses of wine a night (without an adult partner to do it with), but I need to stop because it makes me fat. But I LOVE it. I try NOT to purchase wine because if I do, I tend to drink all of it instead of just a little bit (maybe I am an alchie).
If I drink late at night, alone, while PMSing, I tend to get v. moody - either sappy "I love everybody" or the opposite "Why aren't my friends calling me? Nobody likes me." But PMS in general will do that to me, as will late nights, and then combine that with the depressant of alcohol and well, I really shouldn't be surprised.
You get hungry when you drink because alcohol - no matter what kind (though some worse than others) - spikes your blood sugar levels and when you come back down, you get hungry. Simple, simple. *Personally* I tend to get hungrier while drinking beer than while drinking wine. And when I drink beer I crave stuff like nachos, pizza, JUNK. When I drink wine, I want say, cheese and crackers. I like to pretend I'm french I guess.
Mixed drinks are MADE so that you don't really taste the alcohol and that's also why they can be dangerous. Back in the day, I was a total vodka cran girl but I don't think I've had one of those in 5 years...I pretty much stick to wine or beer now.
If you want to know more, email me because I am (sadly) an expert at this.
Alcohol effects everyone differently, and genetics, weight, how often you drink, etc are all in the mix. If you're not hanging your head in the toilet, suffering from the room spinning, etc you probably won't have a hangover because you're not wasted. This is a good thing! Also, drugs in general are like this, where they can put you in a good or bad mood. It depends on your sober mood, plus your surroundings (do you feel comfortable, who is with you, etc) I use etc too much. I also want a nap.
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