Did your alcohol tolerence change around 40?

[littletommy]

We went to Louisville On Tap week before last, 60 or so breweries, each with maybe 2 of their beers. First beer fest I've been to in a couple years, anyway, I don't drink more than 3 or 4 beers in a days time, so I was trying to be cautious. Wound up sampling 53 beers, don't remember leaving the place or the ride home (we had our daughter drop us off and pick us up), got home around 8:30 pm, ate some popcorn, and told the wife I was turning in for the night. Slept like a baby til around 10:00 am, got up, felt okay for a few hours, and then it hit me, I was hungover for 2 days! I'm 50, so I guess 1)I shoulda known better 2)way more recovery time is required now as opposed to when I was 25 3) no more beer fests for me for the year.

I generally sleep fine even when I've had more than my usual 3 or 4, getting up to wizz is a normal thing for me anyway, as I drink a LOT of water throughout the day.

 

[gspot]

That sounds like a nightmare although I'm sure it was great fun while it was going on. It's hard enough on me to sample 15 or so at the monthly club meeting. I've always wanted to go to the NHC or GABF, but I might be past my prime. Couple thousand bucks to go and drink a couple pints a day?

To all you gents having trouble sleeping at night: melatonin. I've read that as you age, your natural level of this hormone reduces and can be further affected by things like high-blood-pressure meds. A little 3mg tablet helps me sleep like baby, and it's "natural"and available over the counter. And if I get up to pee, it causes me to fall right back asleep. No groginess like sleeping pills. Ymmv.

 

[Cyclman]

44. I have learned with bad results that 4-6 "drinks" (presuming a "drink" to be 12 oz. @ 5%) is my limit. So, a 12% bomber, that's a night.

Cheap date, but hangovers are so awful. I drink a glass of water for every 2 "drinks" and that helps.

 

[Jwin]

Not trying to hijack here, but anyone here develop an allergy to certain type of alcohol?
I'm 32, gave up booze a few years ago. I was a bourbon guy. I think I developed an allergy to mashed corn. I'd if that is possible but I have similar flushing and runny nose effects to certain beers as I did to corn likerr before I said no more.

On topic, at 32, I pace myself well and rarely have any issues., gas aside, so long as I can sleep well and don't go chugging college style.

 

[Paps]

40+ it's not all beer related.
I've woken up feeling hung over without touching a drop the night before.
Welcome to old age.

 

[fun4stuff]

Not trying to hijack here, but anyone here develop an allergy to certain type of alcohol?
I'm 32, gave up booze a few years ago. I was a bourbon guy. I think I developed an allergy to mashed corn. I'd if that is possible but I have similar flushing and runny nose effects to certain beers as I did to corn likerr before I said no more.

On topic, at 32, I pace myself well and rarely have any issues., gas aside, so long as I can sleep well and don't go chugging college style.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_flush_reaction

 

[kombat]

Had some friends over for the Superbowl yesterday. Made my way through a few beers, mindful that I had to work today. I had 7 in total, but spaced out over the entire afternoon and evening (and nothing imperial, just 5% stuff). Drank a couple cups of water and went to bed feeling fine. Woke up at 4:00 am. At least I wasn't overheating this time. No hangover today, just tired from losing that last couple of hours of sleep.

 

[Jwin]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_flush_reaction

Familiar with that, but that's not it. My home brew doesn't do it (I've yet to use corn) but a half a shot of bourbon will, or bmc or other commercial beers (I assume where mashed with corn too)



I second the waking up hung over with drinking thing.

 

[fun4stuff]

Familiar with that, but that's not it. My home brew doesn't do it (I've yet to use corn) but a half a shot of bourbon will, or bmc or other commercial beers (I assume where mashed with corn too)



I second the waking up hung over with drinking thing.

The reason why I posted was because I also some times get a mild flushing reaction- blotchy red spots on face and neck. Usually lasts 15-30 mins and some times is associated with "feeling warm" in the face (similar to the warm feeling I get if I'm really angry or embarrassed). I don't ever have the nausea, runny nose, sinus, or eye symptoms though. It usually only occurs with liquor or high abv wine. I don't remember it happening with beer, although I'm not always aware of it. I'm not Asian, but always figured it was some mild form of Asian flushing syndrome- heterozygous for deficient/inefficient alcohol dehydrogenase.

 

[agrazela]

I had great tolerance for it back in college. Some of my best times were at parties with them. Heck, if I'm being honest, I experimented with it a bit myself even back in high school.

When I graduated I moved into the city. But then more and more of them started moving in, with their loud bars everywhere. I realized that was no place to raise a family and moved out to the burbs...

Hey, wait, you're talking about "beers"...oh, yeah, I still have plenty of tolerance for those!

 

[steveoatley]

49

Not a problem with Alcohol tolerance, in my forties.....

But the calories are now the problem, been packing on the pounds since it hit 40

killing me slowing with this beer....

S

 

[b-boy]

The reason why I posted was because I also some times get a mild flushing reaction- blotchy red spots on face and neck. Usually lasts 15-30 mins and some times is associated with "feeling warm" in the face (similar to the warm feeling I get if I'm really angry or embarrassed). I don't ever have the nausea, runny nose, sinus, or eye symptoms though. It usually only occurs with liquor or high abv wine. I don't remember it happening with beer, although I'm not always aware of it. I'm not Asian, but always figured it was some mild form of Asian flushing syndrome- heterozygous for deficient/inefficient alcohol dehydrogenase.

I get that too. I also get a slight asthmatic weezing and the congestion on occasion. Not every time. It's kind of a pain, and one of the reasons I only have 1-2 beers in a sitting.

I never got it when I was younger.

 

[steveoatley]

I get that too. I also get a slight asthmatic weezing and the congestion on occasion. Not every time. It's kind of a pain, and one of the reasons I only have 1-2 beers in a sitting.

I never got it when I was younger.

That sound like an allergic reaction.

I had a girl friend a while back had bad reactions Commercial Wine
Swelling of legs, flush to the face, sometime she would break out in little hives.

One bottle of 'home made wine" and no problems.......juice + yeast = wine

I do not put any chemicals in my wine...... Sulfates i think is what she was allergic too - used to "dry" out a wine

Pepsi uses Sulfates in its "original Pepsi" recipe - test one ?

Steve

 

[Ridire]

I'm not sure if I have less tolerance for the alcohol (42 years old here) or if I have less tolerance for acting like an ******* after drinking too much. It's a tough call. In any event, my consumption has greatly decreased...at least as for in any one session.

 

[gspot]

Completely coincidentally to this thread, I went to the doctor this a.m. about what I thought could be a sprained big toe from running on the treadmill on Friday. Haven't been able to walk for two days now. Found out it could be gout which can be caused by drinking too much beer, along with eating red meat and seafood. If it is gout, I'll have to severely cut back. Just another sign that a body's tolerance to alcohol decreases as you age, I guess.

 

[Jwin]

already taking about back surgery at 32
Gout? *slowly walks backwards out of thread*

 

[slym2none]

"Cut off mah foot & gimme a beer!"

 

[gspot]

"Cut off mah foot & gimme a beer!"

Trust me, that's what it feels like is happening, without anesthetics, like in the old days where they gave you a slug of whiskey and a piece of rubber to bite down on as they were sawing.

 

[wallybangbang]

My hangovers when I party hard last 2 days now, even though its a rarity when I get to do that. Only being 35 I see the increased effects of only having 4-5 drinks in a night the next, definitely get headaches more easily. Probably because like most people I don't drink nearly enough water and am chronically dehydrated

 

[kombat]

This really sucks. Can't even enjoy a few beers on a Sunday afternoon, relaxing and watching movies, and hope to still get a good night's sleep. Took it slow and steady, had maybe 5 beers over the afternoon, last one was done by 7:30 pm, I still woke up at 3:30 am and couldn't really get back to sleep. I guess from now on, my options are 1 beer and stop, or drink enough to knock me out and write off the next day to a hangover.

 

[bluemoose]

I find whiskey does not have the same effect. Perhaps start with a few whiskeys and finish with a beer or two.

 

[slym2none]

Hangovers are real? I thought that was a bogeyman for drinkers.



I thank/curse my Scots/Irish heritage for being able to drink a sixer of 7-8% beers, not be wasted, and can wake up the next day feeling fine.

The curse part is what drinking all that does to my weight, and my liver.

 

[beaksnbeer]

Consider thy liver is evil an shall be punished
50+ and if it's home brew up to a 12 or so and up by 8 on weekends
3-8 per day is my norm anything from Quads to pale ales to RIS to Pilsen
Been doing this for 20+
Wife was worried a few years back and had my liver tested and it's all good
Oh yeah I only weigh in at 146 held this for the last 28 years (Haters gonna hate)

 

[johngg123]

Read this whole thread and completely agree with most of what has been said. Around 35 years old I started to wake up exactly at 4am after have a few beers on the couch watching TV the night before. However when I'd go out with my boys and really have a good time I'd sleep till morning and be hungover but at least not sleep deprived.

It's really counter-intuitive and seemingly unfortunate because in this situation you get punished for moderation. But one thing to remember is that you have been blessed with a relatively nice control mechanism as you get older. Sleep disruption is great! Imagine if you could drink all you want and have no effects as you get older and your body gets less resilient. That would be bad. Well, I guess you'd be happy until some test comes back from the docs or you start packing on the pounds.

The real problem is we are getting older and hate it and deny it and it sucks.

Here is what I've personally experienced and WHAT HELPS. I've notice a huge cumulative effect. The number consecutive days that I touch alcohol (and amount) really exacerbates the waking in the middle of the night thing. In other words Sunday Funday is the devil. Well, only if you go big on the weekend. Here's what works for me currently.....

-Not a drop all week, then Fri-Sat do whatever, enjoy. Sunday night have a couple.
-2 drinks a day all week, then you better continue that moderation through the weekend.

 

[gspot]

-Not a drop all week, then Fri-Sat do whatever, enjoy. Sunday night have a couple.
-2 drinks a day all week, then you better continue that moderation through the weekend.

I can agree with that! I also tried an experiment this past weekend. The last couple weekends before this past one, I found myself waking up with killer headaches after a few pints (3-4) of pretty strong beer (7-8%). So this last weekend, I drank a glass of water after every single pint, and then had a couple more glasses of water before bed. I was pretty waterlogged, but no headache (or hangover) the next day. Even took the dogs on a 3-mile walk.

I think a huge part of the problem is that alcohol is hugely dehydrating, and perhaps we become more sensitive to that as we age, especially if we're taking a blood pressure med or any other sort of diuretic.

And an update on my gout: it doesn't seem to be beer-related

 

[kombat]

God this is getting old. 1 beer seems OK. 2 or more, and I'm awake somewhere between 2:00 - 4:00 am. At least the overheating/sweating seems to have gone away, but it sucks not being able to have a couple of beers and still get a good night's sleep.

 

[mprowland]

I've noticed that if I drink 12-15 beers of Pabst, Hamm's or any other type of "norma-ish" beers I have a headache and feel bad until about noon. If I have 6 homebrews or "craft" type beer(5%-7%) , I feel like death all day running into the next. I don't get a headache, I just feel terrible and lethargic for about 36 hours.

 

[bbohanon]

44 years old here and if I consume 2-3 brews, 4 max of my homebrews and I am feeling fine and I dont have any issues (barring I dont drink them within 2 hours of bedtime).

Any more than that or if I consume a stronger homebrew, I get a heavier buzz, the body feels like its heating up (sweat a bit more) which tends to get me very tired and once I am sleep I sleep restlessly..

No headaches unless I really get into the brews quickly which I dont do at all any longer.

As others have said, it sucks, but I firmly believe its your 44+ year old body telling you to keep things real and stop treating it like it was 20 years younger than it is.

One another note for those that are not doing this already which has been mentioned before, I usually drink a glass of water between 1-2 beers which seems to help with all of the negative side effects. Trick I saw on Bar Rescue and it really does help to keep the body hydrated which combats these ill effects (or at least it does for me). It also helps you to say "no" to the 3rd or 4th beer as you are just full when cycling in some water into the mix when drinking.

All in all, I only consume no more than 12 beers on my heaviest drinking weeks. Of late, its more like 6 max a week..I love to brew the beer, I just dont drink as much of it as I used to which makes my beer friends happy as it means more for them. LOL

I have family members and fellow brew buddies that are my age or older and still drink like a fish (like consuming 12 or more nightly regardless of ABV) which just totally baffles and worries me. At this age(40+), you really should be easing back on the alcohol throttle if possible. Life and craft beer/wine should be about enjoying the craft beverage and take the edge off a tad, not getting totally smashed when consuming too much.

I also believe if you really feel like you need to drink more than 3 a day as your norm, you actually may have a problem developing.
If you have to drink 6 or more daily, you really need to talk to someone about it quickly.

 

[kombat]

If I have 6 homebrews or "craft" type beer(5%-7%) , I feel like death all day running into the next. I don't get a headache, I just feel terrible and lethargic for about 36 hours.

Yep. It's definitely worse with stronger, "craftier" beers. I can handle 2 light beers (ugh) with no problems, but the same number of 6.5%, super-hoppy IPAs and I get the wake-up sweats. 6 or more of the same, and it takes me 3 days to get back to 100%.

That seems to be the latest "gift" of getting older: Hangovers now last 2 days. So I need to be careful with moderation, even on weekends now.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Yes. After 40 beers I am no longer tolerant of alcohol.

 

[jayrome2722]

I will be 40 this year. I have taken to day drinking, stopping at dinner time so I have a longer buffer between drinking and sleep. However, if its a bonfire situation and I am drinking until I go to bed, guaranteed I will make up a sweaty achy mess at 0400. Usually, a few cups of coffee and some V8 fixes me right up. If not I am in for a long day. I always wake up with a really stuffy nose too.