Argh, I don't feel too good
 

Heya guys!

A few days ago, on monday, I got really drunk. Really drunk is actually an understatement, there was just a lot of liquor and I'm the sort who'll drink until I pass out. For this reason, I've been trying to stay away from drinking too often, I'm just a bit too fond of the juice and my judgment sucks when I'm drunk. Although out of the ordinary, monday was not the only time I've out either during a short period. I also got quite drunk on saturday and the weekend before .. a rarity with me.

Now it's thursday, I still feel like I have a hangover. On tuesday, I was just woozy. I was still a little drunk most of that day, I think. During the night to wednesday, I started getting worse - couldn't get much sleep and woke up feeling real woozy, even worse than tuesday and I don't want to eat anything and I couldn't even be arsed to browse the forums because it took more concentration than I was able to conjure up. Light aches in much of the stomach, the thought of food does not appeal. Now it's thursday and I'm just a tiny bit better .. At least I'm posting!

But it's still pretty bad when I'm up and about, so I'm gonna stick to the couch.


So what is this? Did I just get too much and it takes a while to detoxify? A normal night out usually doesn't make me feel like this, but maybe I overstepped some threshold? Could it be alcohol withdrawal? I figure some of you guys have more experience with this sort of stuff than I do. :p:

If I ever feel good again, I'm gonna give up the booze. I mean it this time!

If you're still felling ill several days after drinking you may want to consider going to a doctor, seriously.

Ha...because we've never heard that before.

:laughing:

Is it possible you were getting sick anyway? I'm with Janszoon...maybe you should go to the doc.

It's easter holidays and I don't think I can get an appointment :(

(My doctor is from the university and it basically takes a month to get an appointment with them)

Go out for a jog.

Well I got like this when I had a red wine hangover (it was maybe, 2 weeks ago).. When I felt my hangover wasn't going to end soon, I just got drunk on beer, as I usually have a joyful hangover the next day.
It worked alright. I think you should just filter out the kinds of alcohol that make you feel bad.

I don't really think it's the effect of the hangover anymore. I've been out for long walks to see if that would help, but it doesn't - at best it makes it worse. I feel like I can't mentally process all the things I see outside so it feels a bit like I'm walking in a dream. :p:

I'm just gonna stick to the couch until I can get an appointment with a doctor. Maybe I have a tired kidney or maybe it's something completely different.

Don't be surprised if you don't see much of me the next days. Hopefully, it'll clear up soon.

It could be your liver or something? If your still feeling ill after easter holidays I would also strongly suggest you go see a doctor.

Go to a readiclinic or something. I wouldn't wait a month.

Get well soon Tore. You could have got mild alcohol poisoning. It's much more common than you think and a whole bunch of factors may have exacerbated it such as not eating enough that day or even the day before, stress (even if you don't FEEL stressed men are useless at letting it out and instead it manifests physically instead of mentally sometimes).

Not that I'm an expert (although you know that I partake regularly of alcohol) if it was
your liver then you would be getting a few twinges and maybe some 'waterworks' trouble too. I do think it was mild alcohol poisoning but get checked out soon to be on the safe side mate.

It's alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

They usually occur when someone with lower tolerance decides to drink heavily for a protracted period of time (as in, across a weekend). It's the first step of the body's natural progression to physical dependency on alcohol. I've had them before and it scared me shitless, I haven't stopped drinking since but I certainly don't look to get drunk like I did before.

Water, bedrest and a few days' detox should help you sort it out. I know it's difficult to eat but you should still look to have a few light meals a day.

Soup is the cure for bad hangovers. Easy to digest but relatively healthy, filling and gentle on the stomach. Yoghurt (replaces stomach bacteria) and bananas are great too.

Take some advil, chicken noodle soup, some Water. Then sleep for like a day.

^Scared ****less sounds about right too although I am trying hard not to kid/scare myself into thinking I'm suffering from something I don't have :p: I am fortunate that I have a caring girlfriend who's good at nursing me and keeping my spirits up. It does scare me when I wake up one day and just feel mentally and physically handicapped without knowing exactly why.

The withdrawal symptoms sound like a plausible hypothesis because it might explain why I felt bad a couple of days after and not immediately. The immediate day after, I felt relatively clear headed in the evening and my gf said I still smelled of alcohol then. It wasn't until wednesday I felt broken and it didn't really get much better during the day. Today is a bit better I'm finding out as I actually have felt a want to drink and eat.

I'm trying to detox now .. Loaded up on vitamins B! Thank you all for your posts :) JH, I'm gonna give soup and bananas a shot!

I actually just had the same problem two weeks ago. Drank myself to the point of puking two nights in a row and found myself completely miserable and unable to eat consistently for over a week. It was the kind of uncomfortable where I had stomach pain, loss of appetite, sweating profusely, and just could not feel comfortable no matter what. I also experienced some loss of concentration. Basically I just waited it out, forced myself to eat, drank plently of clear fluids and got plenty of rest. The most important thing to do is NOT DRINK ALCOHOL... your body is most likely reacting to your overconsumption of alcohol. Let your body detox and be patient, also drink light next time out, your tolerance to alcohol woll most likely be affected by this detox process, and you don't want to have to start all over again.

Now thinking about it, when I had the easy version of what you're all going through, it was because I was drinking 5 times a week, and finished it off with this horrid wine feast.
I got the symptoms you all talked about though, after my first joint experience...

Well I hope it's nothing serious anyway.
Get well.

I think lucifer_sam is closest here.
If you think you need to detox your system, then I seriously suggest you do it gradually and drink small amounts of alcohol while you're at it.
The old saying "hair of the dog" isn't just an old saying.
Detoxing cold isn't good for you.
Dehydration is probably playing a large part in how you feel too. So shitloads of water!

And congratulations on being the first Viking lightweight I've come across. ;)
Pathetic!

Try smoking marijuana if you can; it'll curb nauseau, stimulate the appetite, and allow you to peacefully sleep through the night. It really works wonders whenever I'm hungover, and I've even had friends with similar, albeit less intense, symptoms such as yourself that have said their fevers have gone down after a few bowls of Mary Jane.

That is actually very good advice. Marijuana's medical benefits have been used to treat symptoms which you are describing. Believe me, there has been more than a few hungover mornings that I wished I could toke it to relax and work up an appetite, it helps you to be able to look at food without getting sick. It also ups your thirst for fluids and promotes rest.

I think Tore is pretty anti-pot though, if I remember correctly.

Thanks again for the replies :) Crash, sounds indeed like I'm going through what you did a couple of weeks ago. I think I forgot to mention profuse sweating, but yeah - that's been part of it as well.

Jans is right about me and marijuana - I don't smoke. Actually, I think I'm gonna stay away from anything stronger than tea and just wait it out. Yesterday was worse than today so at least I'm over the worst of it. Hopefully, I'll be back in full force before the end of easter.

sounds like when i turned 25 and realized that all my older friends were right when they told me i wouldn't be able to drink like i used to once i hit that age.

get as much greasy food in you as you can. like the cheapest pizza possible with a side of KFC and a big mac for desert. apparently clam chowder is also awesome for hangovers.

Doubt this is helpful.. but a little bit in the brownies won't hurt ;)

Your tolerance level gets better with age and not worse either that or some people find that drinking just doesn't do as much for them as it did in their teens/early 20's. Which is probably a good thing health wise.

Hangovers take longer to shift but they can be hidden easier with age. I am quite tipsy after 4 pints but I can hide it and just keep drinking all night. I am definitely of the hare and tortoise school of drinking. My best friend is usually a drink or two ahead of me after four or five but then slows down whereas I seem to speed up as the night goes on.

Not that this has anything to do with our viking spewing his guts ;) Seriously get well soon but if there is nothing serious after your trip to the docs Tore then good luck visiting me in England ;)..They just don't make them like they used to :(

I'm much the same i must say, obviously i'm a student and after a few pints i'll find myself at a club and get 'dancefloor rejuvination' (as my friend puts it) and i can go on for ages.

Water is the best thing obviously but i can't say i've ever had a longer hangover than a day with benders like that, the occasional light meal (most people say greasy but i can't stand it) along with rest and equally light TV (old school Simpsons does wonders for me) should work, otherwise i'm out of my element.

that's why i say apparently, i never managed to get it into my stomach when i was hungover haha.

Tore I hope you are feeling better, I agree with the alcohol withdraw idea. Have you felt quite emotional too, like more than usual? Drink lots of water it should flush it out. Hope you girl is being a good nurse :)

This is by far the worst idea imaginable.

I don't even eat that shit when I'm drunk, it's far worse for your body than the alcohol is.

^Ugh, food doesn't have much appeal yet and certainly not junk or clam chowder!

She is although she's going away for much of the weekend which is a little worrying :p: I'm good enough to take care of my own now, I think. Extra emotional sounds descriptive although for me, it's mostly been in the shape of worrying. I read up on withdrawal and it seems I indeed am in the danger zone of experiencing withdrawal symptoms and I've experienced more or less everything in the mild symptoms group. I had some mild to moderate symptoms like sweating, insomnia, rapid heart rate, nausea and loss of appetite - the last two seem a little hard to shake.

What bothers me the most is "difficulty with thinking clearly". I don't mind so much feeling a bit physically ill as long as I'm clear in my head. Right now, I can't even be arsed with playing video games because it's just too much of a mental challenge. I think reasonably okay, but the processing of information and sensory input is noticeably slow. It prevents me from doing all the work I was hoping to get through during the easter vacation. ;)

All this whining isn't gonna do me anymore good now, though I thank you all again for your support. Maybe if someone else feels these symptoms and get a bit worried, this thread might be of use. Right now, I'm just gonna try living life as normal without alcohol and so help isn't strictly needed anymore although don't let that put a dampener on any potential interesting dicussion.

I usually just sleep hangovers off, as hard as it may be to fall asleep, force yourself. And however ****ty the sleep is, it's done me many a favour when I've had a hangover. I had a slight hangover today, and I slept it off, now I feel wonderful :D It was a pathetic hangover though to be honest.

I didn't want to scare you earlier Tore (especially when it's hard to assess someone on the net) but the symptoms you were describing had all the signs of alcohol dependency and the withdrawal process.
By now you obviously recognise that.
At least you haven't had a seizure...yet. ;)

No more binge drinking Tore! :nono:

Tore, your whole description of your reaction to the alcohol in your system is very scary to me. I think people's advice about seeing your own doctor or *any* doctor, plus trying to eat *healthful* food, avoid all drugs, drink a lot of water, and sleep, sound reasonable, though I am not at all an expert on alcohol, having avoided it most of my life.

I understand you would be worried about the cumulative effects of alcohol on your brain. I would be, too. The reality is that these fears are justified, since alcohol causes permanent brain changes and damage, with long-term use leading to mental confusion and persistent learning and memory problems.

ALCOHOL'S DAMAGING EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN

Chronic Alcohol Consumption and Withdrawal Do Not Induce Cell Death in the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus, But Lead to Irreversible Depression of Peptide Immunoreactivity and mRNA Levels -- Madeira et al. 17 (4): 1302 -- Journal of Neuroscience

My question for you and others who have drunk or drink a lot of alcohol, is this: what exactly is the lure or draw of alcohol for you? What is alcohol giving you that you feel you don't have without it?

The only times I drank alcohol (back in college) led to me being tipsy, depressed, tired, and less out-going. I remember having to turn my thoughts inward to accomplish simple things. For example, walking through a bar to go to the bathroom, I'd be saying to myself: "Okay, you are walking down the hall now. Now you have to grasp the knob and turn it. You can do it!" etc. Also, my math skills plummeted. Then, at home, with head spinning, I'd just get depressed and sleepy. This only had to happen twice for me to say I didn't want that anymore, and I never drank again.

So, I've never figured out what causes people to want to drink, given the immediate effects it produces (in me) and the long-term negative effects I know alcohol has on the body's and brain's health.

I always feel more light-hearted and sociable without alcohol. Do most of you feel the reverse...that alcohol makes things more fun?

It's a social lubricant, not that difficult to figure out. Your experiences probably put you in the very slim minority here. Most people are more outgoing, friendly, and willing to engage in foreign situations than they would be without the influence of alcohol.

I don't particularly like being drunk, but drinking affords me the opportunity to "loosen the gears," so to speak. I rarely if ever have more than a beer or two if I don't intend on going out.

Hmm...alcohol is a social lubricant.

You've been friendly to me lately. Are you drinking? :p:

Well, I guess I am in the minority again...as always. Sober and silly. Teetotalling and talkative. Alcohol does just make me anti-social. Maybe if I drank, I'd just type this:

"Get the **** away from me."

It definitely makes social situations more of an "event", so to say. The best drinking nights I have are when I'm out with a group of my friends just shooting the ****. We start it slow, and after a couple beers I notice that my conversation is flowing much more easily. Same with everyone else. Usually it ends there...everyone is a bit sloshed, we have a great time just hanging. Sometimes, though, the drinks start flowing a bit more and then we start to get crazy ideas (and everything sounds like a good idea when you are drunk). That is when I end up those nights that make for great stories.

Sure, stupid stuff happens...but it's really funny later. Things would be so boring without those stories.

Don't scare me any more right now, please .. I'm in a vulnerable state. :p:

I am serious about giving up drinking, at least liquor and getting really drunk. I'm gonna try and stick to a few beers the rare times I'm out after this. Physical dependance on alcohol is just not an option for me in my life. Truth is I don't drink that often, it's more a problem with the amount I do drink when it first happens. Lately, it's been a lot and a bit often and this is the result. It's not worth the worrying, nor the feeling like crap bits.

Well, basically, it's relaxing and it's a social thing. I can, and certainly do, relax and socialize without it, but it's just a different experience.

About drinking's appeal to me, I just feel great when I'm drunk. The drunker I am, the happier I am, basically, and the more fun I have with others too, although I can be happily drunk on my own. There have been occasions where I've gotten really drunk on my own and just listened to music and had a great time.

Bad habits :( About to change though.

bananas and gatorade are a sure fire hangover cure