lauraandersen4

I have never had one. It doesn't matter how much I drink, how often I drink... I just don't get them. I have no idea why this is. I have had nights full of wine, vodka, rum, tequila... 10+ strong drinks within a matter of only a couple of hours and other than occasional acid reflux at night... I have never suffered any sort of negative physical symptoms the day after. My friends complain of pounding headaches, nausea etc.

Am I just lucky? Anyone know why this is the case? Even when I rarely drank and only occasionally binged, I never experienced one.

Katie09

No, you are NOT lucky, trust me. I have had a few but drinking a lot doesn't seem to phase me in terms of how I feel the day after. I view it as a curse, as it's just another reason I say I am a "natural" drinker, can handle drinking due to my "special" genetics, no damage is going on, the list goes on. Meanwhile, my life falls apart around me.

TTOSBT

I would not consider it lucky. I too would consider it a curse and I would also wager to bet there are lots of negative consequences that you are either not willing to look at or don't even know about yet. I never got sick or had hangovers either. But I was amazed at how different I felt physically after being sober 6 months. I thought I was not experiencing physical consequences. The fact for me was that I was, I just did not know what it was like to live without those consequences so they had become the norm...

Sugah

My husband swears he never had them, either -- even when he was drinking half a gallon of bourbon every two days. I went through two years where I stopped having hangovers, and my drinking escalated to outrageous levels. During that time, my doc, while performing a laparoscopy for another condition, took pictures of my scarred liver and tossed them in my lap post-surgery. He was pissed.

No, you're not "lucky."

Peace & Love,
Sugah

smacked

Towards the end.. when I drank the most I ever drank, I never had hangovers. I swear it was my body just giving up on me. I never quit for a long enough time to go into withdrawal, and always drank enough to keep alcohol stuck in me for a long ass time.

It's scary when you get to that level..

Glad I'm not even thinking about that stuff anymore!!

sfgirl

Everyone is right you are not lucky. I actually just watched this PBS documentary about addiction and one of the scientists said that having a naturally high tolerance for alcohol is one of the major factors that ups your chances for becoming an alcoholic. If you have that plus family genetic predisposition for alcoholism your chances of becoming an alcoholic are 60%— that is pretty much the highest your chances can be when you come out the womb. I had both.

I never, ever threw up or got sick from alcohol (but I did get hangovers). That did not stop me from blacking out, passing out, falling over, etc. I always wished that my body had some sort of natural stop mechanism, like, I'm throwing up, stop, don't keep drinking to blackout. It isn't lucky. In fact it ups your chances for a problem.

smynthia

I also rarely, rarely had hangovers. if I did, I probably would have quit sooner.

tiburon88

I don't think u are an alcoholic at all. If you don';t get hangovers enjoy.



tiburon

lauraandersen4

Thanks tiburon... finally a post that I wanted to read.

kurtrambis

This thread just goes to show alcohol problems are complex. I can understand, as people have said, how for some people not having the discouragement of hangovers is a curse.
The hangovers from hell have been the main problem with alcohol, that have got worse as I have got older, depression, sickness etc. I drink to alleviate these symptoms of withdrawal and find it hard to stop as continuing drinking just builds up an even worse withdrawal.

mikel60

My major difficulty was not the physical hangover (and they were beauties), but the mental hangover. The cumulative effect of massive ingestion of a depressant like alcohol sent me spiraling downward mentally and caused me to seek help. Help like posting on a site like this.

Mike

smacked

Now THAT is scary.

Take care Laura, you clearly don't want or need any of the assistance here. I'm backing away from your posts now.

keithj

No surprise that Laura wanted to hear this. It's BS. If you want to recover, we can help.

lauraandersen4

I wasn't really serious. I know that can't come across in a forum like this. Regardless of if one feels another is an alcoholic or even oneself is an alcoholic is truly irrelevant. The post was more to imply that people here in this forum are also working against us. Bitter people work against us. Only we know (or sometimes don't know) the extent of our problems related to alcohol. I have made it clear that I do think I have some... Some people on this forum have more severe problems related to alcohol than I do, and some have less. I have found myself to be middle of the road, which for me is a fairly good indicator of at least a problem.

I may or may not be an alcoholic. I do know I can't stop when I start and I do know that it is having some negative impact on my life. This post was sort of in sarcasm. Sorry if it was misinterpreted.

Remember smacked... like you mentioned about those that asked you why you stopped drinking and suggested that you didn't have a problem... as if they knew. YOU KNOW.

gravity

I fully agree. I did not get a diagnosis of my alcoholism on this message board.

I have a good idea of what an alcoholic is (learned through professional counseling & literature and talking with people with decades of sobriety). My drinking history, inability to stop once I start drinking, & mental obsession with alcohol clearly shows that I am an alcoholic.

But the key is that I fully accept that I am an alcoholic. No more denial or rationalizing. Getting to this point in time is in itself a journey.

My own experience/advice: Start with an honest self-appraisal. Is alcohol making your life better? Is your drinking hurting people around you? Can you quit for, say, 30 days or 1 year no problem? Compare your own experience with "expert" research/opinions.

You will figure it out.

CALYNN

I can definitely relate to your post. I have never had a "hangover" as in headaches, throwing up, etc. I have had the emotional symptoms as well as the withdrawal symptoms though (which I didn't relate to alcohol until recently).

I think it's important to take everything into account. Just because you don't get a headache, doesn't mean you don't have a "hangover".

Also, you do eventually get used to the "hangover" feelings and accept them as normal (my Mom did that). Everyone else could see it but her.

Just my 2 cents...

c

littlebluedog

Oy vey, my hangovers were the worst. In fact, it went beyond a hangover. I don't know what you'd call it really, but I'm glad I don't have to go through it anymore.

lauraandersen4

I understand this... I definitely feel very sluggish (if you want to call it that) after heavy drinking. I normally would run 6 miles, 4 times per week and when I started more heavily, 5 miles, 2 times per week was more the norm and generally after days where I hadn't had as much. I just didn't have the motivation with feelings I had the following day. Maybe that was my "hangover"... also if someone asked me something, it seemed to take longer to process it.

Thanks everyone for your posts.

jamdls

I always said if God hadn't "blessed" me with a weak stomach and nasty horrendous hangovers I would have drank myself to death 10 yrs ago.

SelfSeeking

I am grateful for my hangovers, too. God, I got so sick. Like LBD, I dunno if the word "hangover" covers it. Often more like alcohol poisoning? I seriously doubt I would have gotten sober at this age without them, even with the sh!tstorm my life had become. I'm 27.