Did your alcohol tolerence change around 40?

[Billy-Klubb]

on topic: I'm 37.

 

[Mexibilly]

I gotta know something: what the flocc are you doing in your avatar?

Seriously buzzed at New Years party singing something into a gas line from an old heater in the barn like it was a microphone.
On topic, I did feel that night the next day.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Seriously buzzed at New Years party singing something into a gas line from an old heater in the barn like it was a microphone.
On topic, I did feel that night the next day.

I figured you weren't sober.ipe:

 

[daveMN]

I had the same thing happen in my mid 30's where I wake up around 3 am after about 3 or 4 beers. One or two seems ok most nights. Went on a bender last Saturday ice fishing and had over a dozen over the span of 14 hours and it took two days to recover. Seems to be a bigger hangover when I mix up styles. I'm 41 now.

 

[DarkStarNJ]

Try drinking a lot of water. Yes i know it's cliche. But i found that i'm continually de-hydrated now that i'm over 40. Used to drink till i couldn't remember the night with barely a hang over. last time i had some jameson i was broken for a week.

Did i mention drink so much water you think you're bladder is bursting? try that for a week or two and i bet you feel better. Except for the constant pain in your bladder

 

[akthor]

No but my hangover recovery abilities have.

 

[slym2none]

I'm 44, I don't get hangovers, but I don't drink excessively, either.

I find 1-3 beers, and I am fine.

4-5 beers, I get the weird waking up after being asleep for 3 hours or so thing like some of you guys describe.

6-8 beers, I sleep like a baby.

 

[Mexibilly]

6-8 beers, I sleep like a baby.

Maybe that's why I don't have any trouble sleeping

 

[Lbm]

44, and yes I would say probably in the last year or so I feel like I can't drink as much anymore and can't determine a set limit. It's a moving target.

 

[beergolf]

Youngsters...

61 here. I have learned how much I can drink and very rarely feel bad in the morning. The thing for me is to definitely have food before drinking. Drinking on an empty stomach will almost always make the effects worse. Pacing your drinking is important. If it is a high gravity brew then take you time. Don't zoom down a big boy Belgian. I can have 5-6 ( even fairly high gravity) brews and feel just fine in the morning. If I start at about 5 and have them over the course of 5-6 hours then I am good. If I drink them in 3 hours then all bets are off.

It is weird but sometimes get in more trouble drinking low gravity brews. They go down so much faster that I have more in a shorter time. That sets the pace for the evening and I just keep it up. I often drink a bigger beer or two first and then switch to lower gravity brews for the rest of the evening. I am drinking a dubbel right now. First one was at 4:45, just poured the second. Bigger beers seem to slow me down and I can still drink several of them, but the time is just streched out.

 

[Zuljin]

At 41, it takes less to get buzzed and then druk now than it used to. I rarely got hungover, even when I way over did it. That's probably because I'd get the spins and puke my guts out before the sweet release of a coma like sleep.

I'm done with that! Done! A few years ago, I did get druk enough to puke, all over our new car. That was the last time. Now-a-days, about the time I hit druk, I hit the bed. The spinning nausia just isn't worth it.

Waking up in the back of a van in the middle of the day, wearing half my clothes, and wondering who's perfume I smell like is also behind me now.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Youngsters...

61 here. I have learned how much I can drink and very rarely feel bad in the morning. The thing for me is to definitely have food before drinking. Drinking on an empty stomach will almost always make the effects worse. Pacing your drinking is important. If it is a high gravity brew then take you time. Don't zoom down a big boy Belgian. I can have 5-6 ( even fairly high gravity) brews and feel just fine in the morning. If I start at about 5 and have them over the course of 5-6 hours then I am good. If I drink them in 3 hours then all bets are off.

It is weird but sometimes get in more trouble drinking low gravity brews. They go down so much faster that I have more in a shorter time. That sets the pace for the evening and I just keep it up. I often drink a bigger beer or two first and then switch to lower gravity brews for the rest of the evening. I am drinking a dubbel right now. First one was at 4:45, just poured the second. Bigger beers seem to slow me down and I can still drink several of them, but the time is just streched out.

soooo... you don't want to beer bong some Old Rasputins with me then?

 

[slym2none]

You buyin'?

 

[scallopking]

it's to the point for me that sleep is more important on weekdays, I can have 1-2 but anything more and I wake up 3-4 after 3 hours of sleep. can't go back to sleep for an hour or two. I'm 46 and my body says you're drinking too much, I guess. so I binge on the weekends!

 

[Paul_Aris]

I think it depends on what high as to eat that day and how much sleep you got the night before on how you feel the next day. Also I would like to think the alcohol level is higher in craft beer typically so that plays into it more. Being over 40 does hurt more the next day but also has to do with tolerance level drops when your doing other things than partying every night like when in your 20s.

 

[b-boy]

I'm 54. I started getting bad hangovers in my late 20s. By my early 30s I'd given up drinking because of the hangovers, I stopped for ~15 years.

Now I limit myself to 4 beers on the weekend nights, and no more than 1-2 during the week days. I'll drink more on a brew day. If I can sleep in, I feel much better in the morning. If I can't, I generally won't drink. More than 2 is enough to make me feel like crap.

Hangovers really suck, so I keep it under control. I haven't had a bad one in years. Mine will last 2 days, and I'm completely useless for that period of time.

 

[Stillraining]

Pancreas, Liver, Spleen, Kidneys all get tired and start to wear out as we age...I think that is whats causing some of the sweating and possibly contributes to some restless sleep, at least in my case anyway. Diabetes runs in the family too so I have to watch that a bit...drinking definitely doesn't help in that regard.
My job is fairly physical but the older I get that gets harder too maintain at the same level too..As the old saying goes "To bad youth is wasted on the young"

 

[NoIguanaForZ]

....around 40 of what?

 

[1977Brewer]

soooo... you don't want to beer bong some Old Rasputins with me then?

*raises hand*

Me.

 

[bbohanon]

42 here and its not alcohol that is the problem with me these days, its the hoppy beers than kill me with indigestion more than anything else. I can only handle one IIPA or 2 IPAs per day or I am sucking on a pepto bismol bottle like its Kate Beckinsales (Kate in Underworld with those tight leathers was totally awesome) ****.

I usually contain myself on the days I drink more than others (weekends, get-togethers, etc.) to to only having 3-4 max even today. I am betting if I consumed 6 or more, I would probably be bad off but the thought of drinking more than 3-4max a day just is not something I am interested in actually doing anymore.
The 3-4 beers I do have however are usually 6% ABV or more so there is that.

I also think drinking craft beer is a much different animal than consuming michelob light or bud light. I could probably put away a 12-er of michelob light and not feel it at this point.

 

[mongoose33]

Things change as you age. You can either fear it, or embrace the journey.

I don't recall specifically anything related to my tolerance for alcohol changing around age 40 but my willingness to, shall we say, "overindulge" has declined with time. The next day is usually a loss, and I don't have time in my life to lose days to hangovers. Others may have different interests and priorities. I don't judge.

I have a regular poker game once a month w/ some buds. Started about, oh, 11 or 12 years ago. I could stay up until 2am and still be functional the next day. Beer was part of the night, but never sloppy stupid--it's not conducive to poker.

About 2 or 3 years ago, I started to realize that I tend to wake up the same time in the morning. If I got to bed at 2am, that just wasn't enough--and the next day is a loss, just like having a hangover. I now quit at midnight when we play. It's long enough.

Now, I'm a bit older than 40--I'm 58--but the message is the same for everyone: things change as you get older.

You can either fear the change or embrace the journey. The first doesn't sound that fun, but believe me, the second is much more enjoyable.

I don't have quite the stamina I once did, my lower back is a problem, I don't sleep as well as I did at one time. But you know what? There are tons of people in the cemetery that would be happy to change places with me.

You find workarounds. Ways to compensate. Alternatives. It's part of the journey--am I clever enough to find ways to still enjoy my life? Perhaps a decline in tolerance for alcohol will accompany a greater appreciation for other things, like certain beer styles.

I now have greater time and interest in learning about new things. I developed and published game theory for fantasy baseball. Learned to build golf clubs. Learned to golf passably well (shot a round of par once). Learned to play poker (not well, but I understand the theory ). Learned firearm sports and reloading. And now, I'm learning to brew beer. It's interesting, complicated, but when you hit, you really HIT!

What I was once interested in, I'm not so much any more. New interests emerge. Our bodies change. It's part of the journey.

Enjoy it!

 

[1977Brewer]

I also think drinking craft beer is a much different animal than consuming michelob light or bud light. I could probably put away a 12-er of michelob light and not feel it at this point.

This. I can literally drink Miller Lite like water.

I can also drink Torpedo like water but don't try to play parcheesi with me after eight of em.

 

[moreb33rplz]

I have a system:

- Always leave time between stopping drinking and sleeping. Hard, but key. 1 hour minimum.
- Vitamin B supplement OR emergen-C packet
- Full stomach
- 2:1 beer/water ratio

I'm a wuss but if I follow my own rules I can drink like a god and survive the next morning.

 

[gwapogorilla]

I'm 46, and have learned alot about hangover prevention in my life.

Step 1...drink enough to kill you...or at least induce a coma. If you never wake up...no suffering.

Step 2...if you must wake up the next day to complete your "honey do list", take 2 aspirin, 2 vitamins and a large glass of water before bed.


If your 1st or current wife was/is anything like my 1st wife was....I recommend step 1. Again, no suffering.

 

[gspot]

Phew. This thread was a comforting read. 46 here, and I was worried that I was losing my youthful stamina. I'm glad you all have verified that I am indeed, and that it's completely normal. I'm good with a couple pints a night and 3-4 on a weekend night. More than that and the next day isn't near as enjoyable as I'd prefer it to be. FWIW, I started noticing sleep disruption about 40 also.

 

[Bilsch]

I'm my unscientific research with one test subject, me, I feel that beers like ales are more likely to cause me insomnia then are lagers. Could it be the variation in higher alcohols production at different fermentation temps? No idea but thought I'd toss it out for discussion.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

*raises hand*

Me.

crap! I'm out of the Old Rasputin. will Black Chocolate Stout do?

 

[Zuljin]

Yes! Water! Save yo life.

 

[monkeyman1000]

It's the ******* heartburn that gets me now ( 46 y/o this year ). Feel okay when I go to sleep then about an hour later I get hit. Tolerance has fallen off but I don't drink a ton anymore anyway. A couple of beers and that is about it.

 

[scallopking]

I also want to say thank you to the OP. I thought it was just me until today.