DELBERTM

How much of an issue was hangovers or was it a case like myself they never got the chance to materialise

Crossfitdad

Early on, they were the stomach and headache related hangovers. They sucked, but they would be gone soon enough. Later on, they lost the stomach and head issues, but became much more devastating. The next days was filled with anxiety, discomfort, lethargy, elevated pulse and BP and slight depression.

markz

Remembering bad hangovers kept me sober for a very limited amount of time.
Most people just continue to drink the hangovers away.
Its harder to just not drink, when you are puking every 15 minutes.
Its harder to ask for help, from a detox aka spin-dry facility.

Hangovers are apart of the addiction. Some will resort to drugs, then switch addictions.

Its like when newcomers or even oldtimers, come into AA, all they think is, JUST NOT DRINK. While they are frequently gambling at the casino, or stuffing their face with food because of anxiety, or working 80 hours a week because they dont want to face the real world.

Switching addictions does not change the mindset. If the doctor prescribes you one pill for sleep disorder, yet you take 3. Not knowing that thats the doctors job, prescribe you drugs. Thats the Western way.

My hangovers were bad, somedays lasting a few days.

gaffo

I lived half my life hungover towards the end. Some were worse than others. It was nice when they weren't so bad that a drink or ten wouldn't erase them. I could tell from the minute I opened my eyes what I was in for. The worst was when I knew the whole day was going to suck and all I could do was muddle through and get to bed time. Sometimes I would drink too much on one of these days. Then I would suddenly be very drunk then the next day would be a "day two" special. I would get up and attack the day no matter what. I never puked or stayed in bed or complained. People thought that I never got hangovers. Ha! I smoked pot but that really just made me more paranoid and miserable. I hated breakfast, just coffee please. It was awful. It was so awful that I still give thanks for not having a hangover every day.

lacey424

My hangovers were horrific. Pounding migraine headaches which no pain reliever would touch, vomiting uncontrollably, unable to hold down anything even water would come right back up. I would throw up so hard that I would lose control of my other bodily functions (gross). Going anywhere was impossible, I would just have to wait it out, lying in the bathroom floor,pale, cold, clammy, shaking, vomiting, waiting, repeating, unable to move or sleep. The vomit would eventually turn to just bile, then eventually dry heaves.....then finally 12-14 hours later it would ease up and I could keep down water or crackers and sleep. But I would experience crippling anxiety and depression for days afterwards. I tried every cure known to man, but the only thing that kind of worked was an IV at the hospital. My hangovers were a blessing in disguise I guess. It was a huge factor in me stopping drinking.

MelindaFlowers

My hangovers were debilitating. What's funny is that I haven't vomited in years. Maybe 5 years? In hindsight what I was actually experiencing was daily withdrawal because I would drink 12-14 drinks a night, go to sleep/pass out, and wake with the following symptoms:

Really high blood pressure (180 something over something many times)
Fast pulse (I could feel it pulsing in my neck without even touching my neck)
Slight shortness of breath.
Extreme difficulty concentrating. Even the simplest tasks were a huge pain.
Extreme irritability.
Sweating profusely. Sometimes a cold sweat, sometimes felt like a hot, burning up sweat
Clamminess. Cold to the touch, moist skin (different than the sweating).
Flushed, red, hot face.
Trembling hands (kinda slightly, nothing like Leaving Las Vegas)
Feeling hyperactive (fight or flight) yet exhausted at the same time.
Pain in my right side.
Occasional pain in my left side
Daily diarrhea that would come on very suddenly (and would have diarrhea 2-5 times a day, every day) Gross, but had to put it out there. (I had this paralyzing fear of not making it to bathroom and ****ting myself in public. Never happened thank god, but close.
Obvious, severe dehydration. Wouldn't pee until the evening.
Grinding teeth when I didn't even realize it
Sometimes it felt like my teeth hurt.
Depression, feeling of impending doom like my life was ending.
Daily thoughts of my own death, wondering how others would deal with it.
Almost forgot: acid reflux to where my throat would feel like it was on fire.
Red eyes
Watery eyes
Burning eyes
Swollen eyes (looked like I had just woken up, all day)

Wow, that list is really long now that I type it out.

Somehow I managed to go work everyday. I pulled it off and was never questioned. I think I just looked like a really tired, depressed person with sweating problems. Or heck, maybe I just looked hungover and nobody was ever brave enough to bring it up.

But funny enough, as I said, I never vomited.

These feelings were seven days a week because I drank seven days a week. They were not as bad when I first woke up but would peak around noon and get progressively worse until the first drink passed my lips when I got home from work. I have never had a drink before 5 pm. Perhaps that would have alleviated the symptoms I listed above. Oh God no.....

All of the above symptoms are now gone now that I don't drink anymore. I couldn't go on living like that for much longer. I was an end-stage alcoholic who ignored a health diagnosis and kept drinking for one more year.

I wanted to quit and I had a plan to quit. Oh, I had a plan. The plan was to quit tomorrow. The plan worked too because there was always a tomorrow. Right? I was going to quit tomorrow. Tomorrow I won't drink so I won't have to be hungover anymore.

I just had to cut the **** and stop. No day is easier than any other. No party or holiday is worth continuing the hell.

I was a case study for daily withdrawals.

newman23

I used to never get them. Now if I drink, it pretty much happens every time. Last time, I vomited/dry heaved every 15 mins, shakes, sweats, couldn't eat, pain and weird aches all over my stomach, especially my right side, awake for 48 hours straight. I also didn't leave the house for 5 days, didn't shower or change my clothes for those 5 days either.

I agree with what markz said though. Remembering the hangover may work for me for a few days, but then I start to feel better and think "well, this time will be different", or even "to hell with it, I just deal with it when it happens". All BS and need to recognize them for what they are.

Fluffer

A friend of mine threw up with so much force that he got two black eyes. It was actually kind of funny at the time.

MelindaFlowers

My last hangover lasted five days too. I've heard of others as well with the five day phenomenon. Never again!

lillyknitting

My hangovers were like nervous breakdowns. I cannot imagine living that part of my life again. I'm older now so my body wouldn't be able to take it like when I was younger and if I hadn't stopped when I did I know I'd look utterly dreadful & probably killing myself.

wheresthefun

A lot of what MelindaFlowers said goes for me too.

The hangovers/withdrawals were what put me over the top, in my desire to stop for good, as they were a clear sign I was killing myself with alcohol.

Of course, there is more to it than that, but the hangovers/withdrawals played a HUGE role, for me.

I will NEVER forget what that was like, and I never have to deal with that again.

Stoogy

Hangovers I did not mind so much,I was kinda used too them, it was when I had to go a day or so without a drink I started to panic Delbert,

PurpleKnight

My hangovers were getting worse as time went on, something had to give!!

MelindaFlowers

If you were to ask me, in one word, why I quit?

Hangovers

JeffreyAK

I didn't really feel hangovers towards the end, though I drank the equivilent of at least a fifth of alcohol every night. Not hangovers like I remember from earlier days, certainly - I'd get a little shaky and I'd sweat easily, and I was mentally confused for sure and quite a flake, but not the stereotypical hangover at all. But if I went too long without alcohol and started to enter withdrawal, look out - it gradually became living hell until I could drink again, or until I passed through that phase 3-4 days later. Wound up in the hospital a few times too.

Ileana

I have not had a drink in 2402 days (that is 6 years, 6 months & 27 days). When I first stopped drinking I forced myself to remember hangovers. I never want to forget how much of my life was spent feeling so crappy.

TheNatural

If I could have ever drank for just one night I might actually know if I still get hangovers. My issue was I would experience a cumulative effect, almost always.

It would start after I would wake up from sleeping or passing-out, and would just feel a general malaise. I would be disoriented, but lucid, and there would usually be a period of a couple hours where I could actually hold down water, so I would try and drink some. Then, for me, it would be two-4 days of vomiting, dry heaving, sweats, insomnia, racing thoughts, I would have to constantly be moving or rubbing some part of my body while laying down. In the later instances, I would have racing thoughts, and would HAVE to have netflix or something on to distract me. I wouldn't eat for a few days, even after I could hold down water, just because I would be too focused on trying to sleep, rather than eating. The shakes would come and go and were usually intermittent, but a couple years before I got sober, I did have the shakes pretty bad and ended up taking myself to the hospital.

My "hangovers" were pretty much my sitting there telling myself, "You've done this before, just wait it out."

So sad to think about and express, even if it's not verbally.