Drinking without Hangovers

Question

My brother is a functional alcoholic. He drinks every night and gets up to go to work 5 days a week. He is visiting right now and last night we shared a case of beers. This is not something I do very often but it is something he does every day. Today I had the worst hangover I can remember ever having in my life. It is 8 in the evening now and I am barely able to take in solid foods even now! My brother has already been drinking for hours and he was up at 8 this morning working on the broken lawnmower I had been complaining about – right as rain. Why can he drink and not get hungover? I am trying to understand why he drinks so much. Do alcoholics become so used to alcohol that they no longer become hung over after drinking. I cannot imagine drinking again for a long while after the way I felt today.

Melissa Borlie · Accepted Answer

The simple answer to your question is that all alcoholics build up a tolerance to alcohol. The human body becomes used to a level of alcohol and then it takes more to achieve the same effect. For example, after drinking one six-pack a night for a time, it later takes two six-packs to get as drunk. After drinking for many, many years, alcoholics can drink an incredible amount of alcohol.

On the issue of hangovers, some people have a hangover after drinking one beer and some people never have hangovers. It all depends on the person.

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