Hangover from a ginger beer??
 

Bit of a background. I started drinking daily about 7 years ago and increased the dosage gradually reaching about 3/4~1 bottle of wine on a weekday. In the last few months or so I was basically drunk through the weekend and hungover everyday, also increasing in intensity. A couple of weeks ago I had a massive bender of a weekend, ending up with a massive hangover that lasted till Tuesday. My head was foggy, couldn't think clearly, then I was very sick in the afternoon feeling crap. I finally decided I had enough of the horrendous cycle that was affecting my work and family and was basically incapacitating me most of my waking hours. If I didn't get my fill, I'd get jumpy and restless that I couldn't sleep.

My last drink was on 10th Feb. The first 3 days were horrible with cravings, no sleep, jumpiness and itchies. Fog in my head was pretty think. This all got better every day after that. Until yesterday where I had episodes of weak to strong cravings for a relaxing beer but kind of manageable, with much clearer head I was enjoying being sober.

That said, yesterday I went to watch UFC at my mate's and of course beer will be there. So I thought I'd have some ginger beer to cool my throat, and I had a couple. Then I got home, had one more after dinner. I felt a bit tired and I hit the bed a couple of hours earlier than usual. I did wake up in the middle of the night to a familiar but mild restlessness and managed to go back to sleep. In the morning my head was foggier than usual. At work I had a bit of a headache and I was feeling as if I had 1/3~1/2 bottle of wine last night - I was feeling jumpy and a bit restless, although it was getting weaker as hours went past.

That prompted me to do a google search on the ginger beer, which was Bundaberg. Checked out the FAQ section and surely enough, it had up to 0.20% alcohol content! Now two things amazed me. One: they put alcohol in soft drinks?? Two: my body was AFFECTED by that little alcohol??

Am I the only one who is this sensitive to alcohol? My tolerance to alcohol was pretty high that my close friends couldn't tell I was drunk when I couldn't even drive. I didn't feel or taste that 0.2% yesterday, but it seems I was actually hungover from that little amount, as if I had half a bottle of wine. Is this normal?

Hi hadmyfill, congratulations on 2 weeks sober; that's awesome, and I'm glad you're enjoying it.

I had no idea Bundaberg ginger beer had any alcohol in it, and it's my drink of choice for social occasions. However I have the diet version which may be different. As I'm an expert drinker I'm sure I would detect even a trace of alcohol.
I've occasionally woken up with a 'hangover', which is impossible, so I just put it down to a bug, or normal fluctuations in how I feel. When you're a steady drinker the real hangover masks anything else which is going on with your body. Welcome to healthy reality!

Thank you - much appreciated. Forgot to mention I really appreciate this board - had been reading up for a while.

I had a couple of Sarsaparilla and one ginger beer at home, all diet. I think they all contain less than 0.2% alcohol.

I really hope it was just a fluke as I hope to eventually be able to enjoy a drink or two on occassions. Right now I know I'm not ready and I loathe the hangover so much I'm not even keen to "experiment" with the three bottles of ginger beer in the fridge :/ So I hope you're right, but then again if that's the case there is something wrong with my body so I can't really win, can I, haha.

it's the sugar..not the booze

That's what I was about to say. Do a little research on alcoholism and sugar. When I was taking counseling courses in college I learned that 80% of alcoholics have trouble processing sugar. And many, if not most, are hypoglycemic, without knowing it. I had to cut out processed sugar alltogether for many years. That got me into the habit of being really careful with it. It is a definite mood changer, causes depression, anxiety and panic, and does lots more you wouldn't think it was capable of doing. There's a great book called Sugar Blues that can be picked up on Amazon for pennies. I highly recommend it.

As for the ginger beer, I'm not familiar with it. I do know that many of the things we drink have a percentage of alcohol in them, including 7up, orange juice, and lots of other drinks that are derived from fruit. 7up in fact has more alcohol in it than non alcoholic beer, but they don't have to list the alcohol content on the label because they don't claim to be non alcoholic. In the US, the fda requires the listing of alcohol content, if that claim is made. I imagine it's the same elsewhere.

I agree it's the sugar. Sometimes I feel a bit hungover just by doing something late and overstimulating the night b4. Like when I used to go to concerts like Red Hot Chili Peppers..even with ear plugs the continual load noise, socializing, eating some junk food, being out late would leave me feeling like I drank the next morning.

Hi hadmyfill :)

I've never had anything like that reaction from Bundaberg Ginger Beer, either when I was drinking alcohol or since I've been sober.

It may have been the sugar as Cabo suggests, or you may have been unduly dehydrated that night.

You can always err on the side of caution if you like and toss the other bottles out :)

D

Near beer is nothing new. This is exactly why I say "We must become the experts" for exactly this reason. You start downing a drink that you dont know about, you dont even bother to read the contents on the bottle, which I would bet it states what it is, not even in the fine print, i bet its a large print on there somewhere. Its like a man who is allergic to peanut butter, does he go and blindly eat a chocolate bar without reading the contents. When it says it contains PEANUT BUTTER, even in small amounts we stay well away from.

All Bundaberg Brewed Drinks naturally brewed products contain minute residual traces of alcohol. Our manufacturing process uses natural yeast which feed on sugars and ferments the 'brew' to be used as a base for our beverages. Alcohol is a by-product of this fermentation process. Before we fill the product into bottles we heat the brew to above 70 degrees C. to kill the yeast, halt the fermentation process, and remove the alcohol. After this heating process all of our products, including Bundaberg Ginger Beer, have a residual alcohol level of less than 0.2%. It is this manufacturing process, and the natural brew component in our beverages which adds the flavour profile unique to our products.

The legal level allowable in a soft drink for it to be labelled as a non alcoholic beverage is 0.5%. We promote all of our beverages as a soft drink which is an acceptable alternative to intoxicating beverages.
Bundaberg Brewed Drinks

This is interesting. Can it be due to the kindling effect? I don't know much about it I am just asking :)

It could also be the sugar. I know I have terrible side effects from sugar.

It could be PAWS also. Phantom hangovers can show up with PAWS.

Some ginger beers have alcohol but should say so on the label. It's always a good idea to check. About 30 or so years ago, my friend and I hosted a Christmas party and picked up some no-alcohol champagne for her non-drinking mother.

Her mom had two glasses and said she felt different, so we got up and checked the back of the bottle. Sure enough, it did contain alcohol. I don't know how the front label misled us so, but we both know how to read and my friend was an English teacher with a Masters degree.

We felt just awful but her mom laughed it off. Her mother didn't drink because after drinking too much on one occasion she chipped her dentures while being sick in the bathroom. She swore she would never touch alcohol again and she didn't - until my friend and I gave it to her.

It's probably the sugar as others say. I like very tart drinks (like Ginger beer) but my fitness instructor got me to do a food diary and mood diary for the week. I went to a party and drunk 3 of them fairly quickly. On other days I was having orange juice and water. I found the juice and the ginger beer was making me crash then I was in a depressed mood. I now only have the odd one. The fruit juice creeps back in though every now and then! I find too much sugar does this to me generally.

Thanks guys. So it's either PAWS or hypoglycemic, or both. Well today was as good as can be for being two weeks sober, none of that PAWS/headache/restlessness. Just a bit tired and constantly thirsty as usual.

Is hypoglycemic necessarily related to diabetes? I hope not! I did have massive cravings for sweet stuff the past week so I had been indulging in odd snickers and a bit of choc ice cream, to keep my mouth entertained :) Maybe I should switch to sugar free gums for now..

Ah well, another day down. Should be smooth sailing till the weekend! Godspeed.

Rather than guessing what it might be, it's probably worth your while to get a checkup, HadMyFill :)
Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar)

D

Guess you're right :) I will go in a few weeks time once the dust has settled. I have enough on my hands to worry about right now..!