Withdrawal vs. hangover
 

I'm just curious how you all define these two terms and what you see as the differences. For me, after a night of heavy drinking, I would be ill the whole next day and sometimes for several days (and would often end up with a bad cold due to lack of sleep), and the LAST thing that would've occurred to me would've been taking another drink the next morning. I'd generally spend the day in bed, very dehydrated and sick. My danger point would be that once I felt well again a couple days later, I'd become bored and use my burst of energy for the next binge.

So...is a hangover actually withdrawal, or is withdrawal different? I'm hoping to never drink again, so this is purely an academic discussion...just curious.

I've heard it said that a hangover is a mini-withdrawal. If during one episode you put mass quantities of alcohol in your system and then abruptly stop, your body is still craving that alcohol and you wake up with what we call a hangover. It usually gets better after several hours or a day.

True withdrawal is more for people who abuse alcohol on a daily basis for an extended period of time. The body has become dependent on the alcohol and after a period of time without it, will go into withdrawals and that can be dangerous.

I've read that a hangover is just a type of withdrawal. I Googled it a while ago. Helpful to read about for me, because it made it more clear what I was doing to my body.

I'm glad you are sober!

Thanks, guys. That makes sense. I'm glad I didn't get to the point that I realized that drinking more the next morning would make me feel better! I can't imagine how hard it must be to quit when someone has reached that point...it takes a lot of courage.

Gonna have to disagree here. :)

A hangover is a mass of symptoms caused by dehydration and trace chemicals found in alcohol.

Withdrawal is a reaction of the body when it believes it has lost a necessary chemical to normal functioning. The body overreacts by creating an excess of its own chemicals and goes into a panic state.

Gotta agree with Isiah on this one. Withdrawal is the result of physical dependence on alcohol.

Unfortunately, I know the difference - withdrawal is brutal and can be fatal if not managed properly.

Supercrew has it below .....

Pulled from a source I found here on the site:

Symptoms of alcohol withdrawal include:

hangovers -- fairly common result of overindulging-- headache, fatigue, thirst, and nervousness. There may be nausea and abdominal cramping. Diagnosed alcoholics report fewer hangovers than drinkers who are non-alcoholic, this may be because they have learned to ignore the symptoms.
sleep disturbance -- waking up earlier than usual after expecting to "sleep it off," being unable to fall asleep, disturbed dreaming.
irritability, anxiety, and restlessness -- all caused by the irritant effects of alcohol.
tremors, or "morning shakes"-- Tremors will clear after several days of abstinence, if there is no permanent damage to the nervous system
physical weakness, rapid heart rate,
mental sluggishness
difficulty thinking clearly or flexibly
All the above are lingering evidence of alcohol's impact on muscles, heart and brain.

For the drinker with only a mild degree of physical dependence, withdrawal effects may not extend beyond the symptoms listed above.

Some drinkers experience second stage withdrawal, marked by:

convulsions -- seizures usually occur between 12 and 48 hours of the last drink. There may be a loss of consciousness and body control.
Third stage withdrawal symptoms involve:

alcoholic hallucinosis and delirium tremens -- auditory, visual and tactile hallucinations occur. This period may last for three to four days, during which the de-toxifying person is in a severe state of agitation, is often completely disoriented and sleeps little, if at all. The delusions are almost always terrifying and may produce violent behavior. There is a 10%-20% mortality rate associated with this stage of withdrawal. Detoxification of the acutely ill alcoholic requires medical supervision.

Your post got me curious so I Googled it again. Google "hangover acute withdrawal" if you want lots to read. From what I read, it sounds like the exact cause of hangovers is not known but one theory is that it is a type of withdrawal.

I tend to refer to a hangover as "interdose withdrawal".


Aside from the dehydration, mineral deficiency and alcohol metabolites; your GABA system is reeling from the lack of alcohol, hence the sensitivity to loud noises, bright lights etc. Having another drink (if you rehydrate yourself too) usually fixes all the problems right away.

Withdrawal on the other hand is permanently removing the outside substance and thus forcing your body to use no longer correctly functioning systems in place of the alcohol. The body will slowly attempt to correct the broken systems, reintroducing alcohol simply stops that correction process.


So a hangover and withdrawal are one and the same thing, just the severity differs.

I don't plan on doing any personal research to gather data for this discussion.

You all want to know what I found about hangovers?

They symptoms for me came on about nine hours after i started drinking. Then, when the nine hours were over and the symptoms passed, I could drink again! In order to achieve this mastery of alcoholic exhibition, I started drinking, oh about 5:00 in the morning on a Saturday, then I could drink again Saturday evening.

That, my friends, is something only an alcoholic mind could plan and execute.

The source of the physical and mental pain of the alcoholic hangover is, to repeat, the state of hyperactivity in the central nervous system caused by the withdrawal of alcohol. The cells, which are accustomed to the presence of alcohol and dependent on it for energy, stimulation, and sedation, become agitated when it is suddenly not available. The cells' distress is experienced by the alcoholic as the headache, eyeache, dizziness, nausea, and anguish characteristic of the hangover, ("anguish" is an older term than "anxiety" and refers to both mental and physical pain or suffering -- "anxiety" refers only to psychological conflict or tension).

"Under The Influence" pg. 67

Stickied here, surprised no one quoted it.

I generally defer to 'opinions' that are a little more informed than my own.

My personal experience, a 'hair of the dog' worked wonders for relieving a hangover, far in excess of any analgesic properties that alcohol has.

Thanks, everyone. Lots of good "fuel" here to consider if the urge to drink strikes!