I know this sounds weird (or, maybe it doesn't to some?), but I really enjoy being hungover. I find it's basically the only time my mind is calm and I'm able to focus and be productive (in a 'normal' sort of way). My thoughts are neither slow and muddy or racing, my body is relaxed, I feel balanced, stable, clear-headed, and like I actually have perspective on things in my life. Basically hangovers = sense of well-being.

I would really like to know why this is, so I can try to achieve it without alcohol...

[JamesO2]

It makes sense. It's pretty much impossible for you're mind to race if you've got a throbbing headache. The hangover forces you to be "in the now" and not in your head. It forces you to focus in this very moment, which prevents your mind from wandering into the various states that trigger a high or low.

For example, I've been dealing with the flu for a week. It's kind of the same thing. I've been sleeping and making herbal teas pretty much 24/7. The sickness forces my mind to dealing with the sickness. As a result I haven't had a chance to slip into a manic or depressed state. I'm too busy buying Kleenex, cooking foods with spicy ingredients, and finding the right fruits to reduce my pain. The physical symptoms are all-consuming of your energy.

I'm in the last states of the cold, and I'm starting to notice a mild depression setting in. This is because my throbbing sinus pain has finally stopped. But now I have energy to think about how I wasted a week sleeping and coughing, instead of looking for a job, and it's making me depressed.

I've noticed the highs and lows (at least for me) have a lot to do with how you spend your mental energy. When I'm consumed with a task (sickness, hangover, at project, etc) my mind doesn't have the energy resources to be manic or depressed. I'm just focused instead.

I get what you're saying, but I think my experience is almost the opposite...when I'm sick I tend to get pretty depressed. Sure, my mind isn't racing, but I'm not in a good place either. My hangovers are really mild because I never get too drunk (hate throwing up!) so I don't feel sick at all, not even a headache. It's not like I'm distracted from my own thoughts, or even focused on taking care of myself...it's more just like my mind has been slowed down and tuned to the perfect pitch. I'm able to work on my dissertation etc., whereas usually my thoughts are racing so fast it implodes on a daily basis...maybe I need to take some sort of sedative everyday! just kidding...that sounds unwise

[Maverick0113]

well, i am about a 25 year vet dealing with adhd and bipolar i dont want to go on but important, chronic insomnia i used to drink heavily and i used to say to my pdoc that i liked the alcohol hangovers they grounded me and brought me down to earth. Now i dont drink maybe the odd 2 or 3 beers every 2 months, i take clopixol which mixes well with all my other meds and lets me sleep and i wake up down to earth. Getting to my point i read an article recently about foods, it was saying " i take my meds same time every night and same meds why do i get hangovers on only odd days" im sorry i cant provide you with the link i forgotten it. Look into your diet and see if eating before meds or long before meds makes a difference. My pdoc couldnt get me to sleep and retired after 20 years with the only thing that got me to sleep was thorazine 1g, but my md prescribed clopixol which with my diet gets me to sleep but some days im getting heavy hangovers, this is when it works. its a shame my pdoc never found out clopixol works for me, i have a routine with down time before sleep. I'm looking into my diet and sleep and hangovers right now and keeping records. sorry i cant find the article for you but maybe its a place to start. My meds are much stronger on an empty stomach and a worse hangover. on a full stomach they tend not to work and i wait 2 hours and take 10 more mg and dont get a hangover.Its interesting. Hope this thoughts make some sense.

[JamesO2]

I can get like that too. If a cold is mild enough I Kay get depressed. But if it's all consuming I don't have energy left over fur depression. As for hangovers, I don't know. I don't get hangovers so I don't know what it's like.

[Maverick0113]

sorry my post above didnt make much sense and i said it wrong if i take 10mg more clopixol i dont get a hangover, i do, i also sleep more, and the hangovers are only an issue if i have to drive. is it the sleep, is it the meds.

2 weeks ago i went 5 days on 12 hours sleep no hangovers so go figure... then slept 14 hours a day for a week with hangovers on basic meds.

can you tell i have adhd lol

the hangovers ground me i its good if i dont have to function

im new to these rooms not new to english sorry

[Crazy Hitch]

Wow with all due respect your hangover isn't the normal hangover most people would describe. Most would say they can't function the next day, feel dehydrated with possible nausea and a banging headache. Is it possible that your body has developed some sort of tolerance towards alcohol therefore you are not feeling the effects of a so called hangover as extremely as others might feel them?

You feel clear headed because your mind was probably buzzing the night before whilst you were alcohol induced. You feel calmer and relaxed because if you were that drunk the night before the synapsis in your brain would have been going haywire the night before.

You have a perspective on things in your life because whilst you were drunk it helped you contemplate how "wonderful" your future is without disinhibition.

Don't take this the wrong way but the way you're going about this is not healthy. You know you can't forever rely on alcohol to achieve this sense of self perceived well being. What happens when the alcohol stops. Would you fall apart.

In a nutshell you need to find different mechanisms, possibly through therapy in order to feel these feelings, without alcohol the night before.

Be well.

[Crazy Hitch]

Originally Posted by thepterodactyl

I get what you're saying, but I think my experience is almost the opposite...when I'm sick I tend to get pretty depressed. Sure, my mind isn't racing, but I'm not in a good place either. My hangovers are really mild because I never get too drunk (hate throwing up!) so I don't feel sick at all, not even a headache. It's not like I'm distracted from my own thoughts, or even focused on taking care of myself...it's more just like my mind has been slowed down and tuned to the perfect pitch. I'm able to work on my dissertation etc., whereas usually my thoughts are racing so fast it implodes on a daily basis...maybe I need to take some sort of sedative everyday! just kidding...that sounds unwise

Is it really a hangover then if you don't drink that much, get sick, or throw up?

Originally Posted by Hooligan

Wow with all due respect your hangover isn't the normal hangover most people would describe. Most would say they can't function the next day, feel dehydrated with possible nausea and a banging headache. Is it possible that your body has developed some sort of tolerance towards alcohol therefore you are not feeling the effects of a so called hangover as extremely as others might feel them?

You feel clear headed because your mind was probably buzzing the night before whilst you were alcohol induced. You feel calmer and relaxed because if you were that drunk the night before the synapsis in your brain would have been going haywire the night before.

You have a perspective on things in your life because whilst you were drunk it helped you contemplate how "wonderful" your future is without disinhibition.

Don't take this the wrong way but the way you're going about this is not healthy. You know you can't forever rely on alcohol to achieve this sense of self perceived well being. What happens when the alcohol stops. Would you fall apart.

In a nutshell you need to find different mechanisms, possibly through therapy in order to feel these feelings, without alcohol the night before.

Be well.

I don't think I'm explaining this well...I definitely don't have an alcohol problem nor have I built up any kind of tolerance. In fact, I'm kind of a lightweight and, like I said, don't like throwing up so I never drink too much (probably why I have such mild hangovers). Furthermore, these only happen maybe once a month, it's not like I drink in order to produce a hangover the next day, it's just something I've noticed happen over the years.
...anyways, it's not like I'm going wild while I'm drunk, nor would I 'fall apart' if I stopped drinking. The reason for my post was to see if anyone had any insight as to why this might happen (biochemically speaking) and/or other - yes, healthier - methods for achieving the same effect. For example, an alternative form of mild sedation.

[Crazy Hitch]

Originally Posted by thepterodactyl

I don't think I'm explaining this well...I definitely don't have an alcohol problem nor have I built up any kind of tolerance. In fact, I'm kind of a lightweight and, like I said, don't like throwing up so I never drink too much (probably why I have such mild hangovers). Furthermore, these only happen maybe once a month, it's not like I drink in order to produce a hangover the next day, it's just something I've noticed happen over the years.
...anyways, it's not like I'm going wild while I'm drunk, nor would I 'fall apart' if I stopped drinking. The reason for my post was to see if anyone had any insight as to why this might happen (biochemically speaking) and/or other - yes, healthier - methods for achieving the same effect. For example, an alternative form of mild sedation.

Okay, thanks, this explains it very well. I had misinterpreted your original post. Happening once a month, well I don't see much trouble in that. And you're not getting wild drunk which is a good thing.

I get it now. Thanks for clarifying. Ignore my one response.

[Manwithaplan]

Originally Posted by Anonymous37865

I know this sounds weird (or, maybe it doesn't to some?), but I really enjoy being hungover. I find it's basically the only time my mind is calm and I'm able to focus and be productive (in a 'normal' sort of way). My thoughts are neither slow and muddy or racing, my body is relaxed, I feel balanced, stable, clear-headed, and like I actually have perspective on things in my life. Basically hangovers = sense of well-being.

I would really like to know why this is, so I can try to achieve it without alcohol...

Hi,

I always felt the exact same. When I was drinking I would often be looking forward to being hungover. I always wanted to know how i could get that feeling of being without drinking alcohol. I can literally remember hungover days I've had that were so good because of the calmness and focused though I had.

I kind of gave up on finding it though. But recently I started the keto diet. You essentially eat natural foods, mostly fat based, with 20g-50g of net carbs per day. So you can eat fish, eggs, bacon and a load of spinach, mushrooms, avocados, nuts etc.

You're body goes into ketosis. This is where you burn fat instead of carbs for energy. I imagine that's why when we are hungover we crave fatty foods.

For me I never really felt anxious to get my next meal in when hungover, I could lose myself in something for hours.

That's how I feel in ketosis. I have less nervous energy, I don't feel hunger cravings, and my mind is turned on. I feel more chilled and relaxed.

The best thing about this diet is that you can eat all the fat you want, you just have to stay away from grains and other carbs which our bodies probably aren't naturally meant to have.

I strongly urge you to start a keto way of eating if you want that feeling of centeredness you have when hungover.

The more I think about it, for me at least being hungover, and in ketosis are basically the same state.

When you go off carbs your body loses all the water weight that carbs make it hold on to. Since a hangover is essentially caused by having less water in your body I can see the natural overlap between the two.