Why does my liver/metabolism/brain hate me?

[MrInternet]

For whatever reason, lately I've been able to get hungover at the drop of a hat. Drinking less, and in some cases FAR less than I used to be able to... I'm not old, but I am 32 and that's not exactly college-aged. I'm in better than average physical shape and at an ideal weight for my height and build. I have no outstanding health problems other than a bad back that tweaks out occasionally. I don't take any meds, have a special diet, or have any food allergies.

My problem is this... over the last couple of years, I've noticed that mixing beers gives me a whole host of problems that never used to happen. For example, one New Year's Eve several years ago, I drank an entire 12-pack Sam Adams sampler by myself in the space of 4 hours and fell asleep, slept like a baby, and woke up feeling awesome. This past Friday night, I had 4 beers total in the space of three hours and woke up after a fitful sleep feeling like crap and nauseated. This was at a nice beer bar, but I purposefully had low-gravity offerings. The only thing I can think is that mixing the styles is causing it.

This has happened on a couple of occasions recently (past year or so) ... seems that mixing "types" of beer (I will just trust that you fellow beer geeks know what I mean when I say that) gives my stomach a hell of a time in the course of an evening. I wake up feeling hungover, even if I was barely buzzed the night before. I really don't seem to notice this problem if I, for example, have several SA Boston Lagers or some other brew one right after the other in a night, as long as they are the same brew.

So I've gotta ask... is this just me? Am I creating some sort of psychosomatic device to explain what are simpy bad beer choices? Like I said, my days of binging and drinking an obvious excess of beer are over... this seems to be something different. I thoroughly embarassed myself at a barrel-aged beer festival not too long ago because the symphony of different beers and profiles (sours, saisons, stouts, IPA's, etc) just killed me. Literally made my stomach a mess for two days. I was probably what you would call pretty tipsy, but 3 years ago I would have gone to bed and woken up feeling like a new man... I wasn't THAT drunk. This time, it put my stomach in such a state that the train ride home was hell, and the smell of the mexican restaurant upon arrival just put me over the edge.

Anyone else struggling with a changing "adaptation" to beer-mixing? I'm OK with it I guess... my natural inclination is to drink a bit more than I should, and I can't complain about a built-in defense mechanism, but this doesn't seem to be an across-the-board thing... only seems to happen when I mix too many different "styles" in the same drinking session. Thoughts?

 

[akchris]

Don't feel bad, I'm pretty much in the same boat. 28 yrs old, work out, eat healthy, average 2-4 beers per night, and end up with a headache and dry mouth. 6-10 years ago I could/would drink a the drop of a hat all night long and wake up at 5am to a 5 mile run (USMC Grunt.) Maybe just the hazards of getting old.

 

[Dalarast]

I second akchris's answer. Drank more than I do now years ago; but now I find myself getting tippsy more on less brews than before. But also I know that homebrews contain higher alcohol than a normal beer (or a jack and diet coke). I am also a big fitness nut and health guru so I get that point too. It sucks and I take my drinking in a more fashionable sense and work out more to insure the SWMBO is happy

 

[mordantly]

i stick to 12 oz of beer per 30 minutes. weather i chug it and wait 29m 45sec or enjoy it over the half hour. but i can drink all night this way. mix and match as long as i stay to <12%abv.

on fourth of jul this year, i violated said policy unbeknownst to me.

i had a 12er of newkie over 3-4 hours then
2 tallboys of joose (apparantly 10%) and a tallboy of icehouse over 3 hours max

now the time elapsed is about 6-7 hours. it's midnight. im passed out on my friends couch. i leave. he hears me racing arround town for "seemed like a long time", and at 0430 i awake in my car 50 miles away from the couch i remember being on. i get a dui.. .19 and this is like 5-6 hours after i drunk anything.

 

[MrInternet]

Well, it's good news to hear that I'm not the only one that's experienced this... I really was starting to think I was going crazy or developing some obscure beer allergy.

Mordantly, I've instituted a similar policy, and I was actually below it on this past Friday night... 6-7% beers, and as I said, actually only had like 4 in 3 hours. Literally the only thing I can pin it on is the fact that they were a: belgian gold, west coast IPA, American amber, and stout. I dunno... I need more experimentation to find the exact causes, I suppose...

 

[mordantly]

maybe have the dark/strongs first.

like licker before the beer, your in the clear!
beer before licker, makes you more sicker!

 

[GNBrews]

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but getting intoxicated on less alcohol usually means that your liver function has decreased.

The nausea, and general malaise are more than likely due to falling asleep with a gut full of digesting beer than any mixing of styles. However, some roasted malts are known to give certain people heartburn/indigestion so keep that in mind as well.

Give yourself an hour or more before going to bed, and switch to water. You'll probably have to wake up a few times throughout the night to piss, but your body will thank you for it.

 

[mordantly]

my sprinkler alarm must be broken. it doesn't alert me when it's time.

 

[Houblon]

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but getting intoxicated on less alcohol usually means that your liver function has decreased.

That is a classic warning sign.

 

[mitch171]

Also alternate with water and something with electrolytes (Gatorade). If you are at a bar get a small glass of OJ or Cranberry juice every once and a while. Might help the liver along and help you not get dehydrated also.

 

[MrInternet]

I had thought about the liver function aspect... i guess I need to clarify a bit. I FEEL hungover after the type of situation I'm describing... I can't believe that I'm ACTUALLY hungover, as the amount of alcohol wasn't enough to even give me much of a buzz the previous night. I'm just using the word "hungover" because when I get hungover I don't get the headache or anything, I just get nauseous. So, four beers, all mixed styles, barely a buzz... and I wake up feeling like I've been to the bottom of a 12-pack and back.

Also, I don't notice this with "non-mixing" ... for example, I seem to be able to have 5 or 6 of the same "thing" beer-wise with the normal warm fuzzy feeling and a good morning after. The particular phenomenon I'm referencing seems to be related to some type of issue with too much variety?

I dunno... like I said, maybe I'm crazy. I would look into the liver thing, but I'm not getting *intoxicated* on less booze, just getting sick to my stomach after too many different styles, no intoxication involved.

 

[david_42]

I wonder about the mixing myself. Drinking the equivalent of two pints in 2-3 oz samples of members' brews at a club meeting is very different from drinking two pints. Or maybe it's just that the clubs are heavily loaded with hopheads and I tend to drink dark beers otherwise.

But age is certainly a part of it. I remember drinking 13 Harvey Wallbangers in an evening and walking back to the BOQ at 25. That much alcohol would probably kill me now.

 

[uglygoat]

you are getting old, and maybe you have some stomach problems too? how's your poop?

 

[Houblon]

Dude, I'm 43 and can drink every type of beer all day long so it has nothing to due with age. You need to listen to your body and findout WTF is causing your problems.

My last trip to Brugge my wife & me hit 14 pubs in 1 day w/1 beer at each stop and we didn't stop till after 2am. The next day we had to catch the 6am rail back to Schiphol airport.

Your asking the wrong people(forum) when you should think about talking to your Dr. if the problems continue.

how's your poop?

Don't laugh but your doctor will ask that very question..... just saying.

 

[mordantly]

my only medical advice is generally "more beer!" but it is not appropriate here.