Dr Niall Campbell, consultant psychiatrist at Priory's Roehampton Hospital and one of the UK's leading alcohol addiction experts, says the idea that hangovers get worse with age is no myth - and has a lot to do with the body's changing metabolism, and prescription medications.
From there, enzymes break the acetaldehyde down into non-toxic acetate. But, here's the thing: your liver can only do that so fast, and it gets slower as you age. So, in effect, acetaldehyde hangs around in your body for longer, getting pushed into your bloodstream – and increasing that grim hungover feeling.
“Alcohol wreaks havoc with our blood sugar levels, which can disturb sleep,” says nutritional therapist Alice Mackintosh. “Another side-effect of high blood sugar is that our bodies release more of the stress hormone cortisol, and, for many, this can lead to anxiety.”
As a rough guideline, most symptoms will last for no more than 24 hours. Beyond this, symptoms of anxiety associated with alcohol withdrawal can linger for days, sometimes weeks.
People with hangover-related anxiety may have other hangover symptoms, such as thirst, fatigue, feeling slow or less alert, stomach problems, or body aches. They may also experience: the feeling of a knot in the stomach. a racing heart.
The symptoms of alcohol-induced anxiety symptoms have been known to last for several hours and usually resolve within one day.
For example, the liver will be overworking to process alcohol, you'll be tired from little and/or poor quality sleep, you're likely to be urinating more as alcohol is a diuretic, leaving you dehydrated and headache-y – and any post-night out vomiting can irritate the stomach for several days. '
Some of us experience worse post-drinking anxiety than others. And we know people who already experience anxiety are more likely to experience hangxiety.
Alcohol is a depressant. This means that it slows down your nerve activity in the central nervous system and that can bring on a low mood. Your feelings of shame are part of the cluster of negative feelings that result from using a depressant.
But if you live with anxiety and you're constantly worrying about how others view or judge you, a hangover can be worse, experts say. Coined “hangxiety,” a term that has been seen everywhere from Reddit threads to news articles, the term is exactly what it sounds like — having anxiety while you're hungover.
How healthy you are at any given time can affect your tolerance, which is one of the many reasons it's wise to ensure you have a nutritious diet. “Those who are depleted in vitamin B or vitamin D can sometimes end up with more severe hangover symptoms,” Dr Mehta says.
As the years go by, it gets harder to shake off the head-and-stomach-achey aftereffects of a night of drinking. Hangovers seem to get worse as we get older — and it's not your imagination. It is, unfortunately, science.
The effects of alcohol change as we age
Some older people feel the effects of alcohol more strongly without increasing the amount they drink. This can make them more likely to have accidents such as falls, fractures, and car crashes. Also, older women are more sensitive than men to the effects of alcohol.
20% of people diagnosed with an alcohol or substance use disorder also suffer from an anxiety or mood disorder.
After your body has metabolized some of the alcohol it will release excitatory glutamate, which is an excitatory neurotransmitter of your nervous system. When it enters the reticular activating system, it disrupts your sleep.
Chronic alcohol use affects your ability to respond to stress in healthy and effective ways, which can lead to anxiety. This may be due to alcohol's effect on the amygdala, the area of your brain that regulates negative emotions.
Fortunately, this usually only lasts a few days. Stopping alcohol use helps to normalize dopamine and serotonin levels, so patients may feel depressed while in recovery, but this should lift as the brain readjusts to running without alcohol.
Drinking beer or wine sometimes seems like a helpful way to ease anxiety. This is because alcohol is both a stimulant and a sedative, meaning it can make you feel more energetic and engaged, as well as calm and relaxed.
Yes, studies show that your body's ability to process alcohol gets less efficient as you age. Key body functions that help metabolize alcohol, like liver enzymes and total body water weight, tend to decrease with age.
Anxiety from alcohol can last for hours, days, or months, depending on the scenario. Alcohol and anxiety affect people differently, but generally: Anxiety that accompanies a hangover may last up to a day. If you already struggle with anxiety symptoms, anxiety from alcohol may take longer than a day to subside.
Anxiety disorders don't necessarily get worse with age. But the number of people dealing with them may change across the lifespan.
Staying sober for 6 months will have an extremely positive impact on the brain. However, there's also something important to point out: 6 months of sobriety doesn't always mean feeling better on the inside. Your drug abuse can affect your neurotransmitters in your brain.
Alcohol is a depressant which affects your brain's natural level of happiness chemicals like serotonin and dopamine. This means that although you'll feel an initial 'boost' the night before, the next day you will be deficient in these same chemicals, which may lead to feeling anxious, down or depressed.