In the years since University, my exposure to alcohol has steadily dropped… and dropped… and dropped. A part of me wishes that I’d logged my units, because it would be interesting to see exactly how much I am drinking compared to back then. Is it half as much? A fifth? A tenth?
Either way, it shows. On Wednesday night I drank about four pints of Abbot Ale (5%). My wife tells me that I was noticeably drunk from the moment that I staggered through the front door. I had quite a hangover in the morning, and couldn’t stand up for more than a few minute without feeling queasy. Fortunately, once I had done the whole coffee, toast, shower, brush teeth routine, things started picking up quickly.
If only the younger me could see me now. “What happened to you, old man?” he’d say. “Four pints? You shouldn’t be having a hangover after four pints!”
The way I see it, I have the following options:
1. Drink more beer. Get my tolerance back up.
2. Drink less beer. Limit myself to two or three pints a night, either by alternating with non-alcoholic drinks, or drinking slower.
3. Keep getting hangovers on those rare occasions (once a month, ish) when I go out.