Why Does My Stomach Feel Weird After Drinking Alcohol?

Gastritis – Gastritis is inflammation of the stomach lining. Alcohol can cause gastritis by irritating the lining of your stomach.

Gastritis can happen while you are drinking, causing pain and sickness.Gastritis can also be a long-lasting condition.Symptoms include:

tummy painheartburnlosing your appetitenausea (feeling sick)vomiting (getting sick)

Sometimes gastritis does not cause any symptoms. If you do not get treatment for gastritis you may get stomach ulcers. These can cause death.

Why does my stomach feel funny after drinking alcohol?

Alcohol and the stomach – Your stomach is one part of the gastrointestinal tract system that digests food, taking the nutrition your body needs and getting rid of the waste. By adding acid and enzymes to food and drink you consume, your stomach breaks them down before they carry on their journey through your gut.

Drinking alcohol is associated with acid rising up from your stomach into your throat (known as acid reflux), or causing heartburn.1 Some evidence suggests alcoholic drinks can make your stomach produce more acid than usual, which can gradually wear away your stomach lining and make it inflamed and painful (gastritis).2 Over weeks or months, this could mean you develop painful ulcers in your stomach lining.

Want to drink less? Find out how

Is it normal to feel weird after drinking?

1. Alcohol is a depressant – One of the times when alcohol’s impact on mental health is the most obvious is the morning after drinking, especially if you have drunk too much the previous day, whether that has been over a long or short period. Why is this? Alcohol is a depressant which affects your brain’s natural level of happiness chemicals like serotonin and dopamine.

Why is hangxiety so bad?

Do you get ‘hangxiety’? How to cope with an anxious hangover Y ou’ve got a raging thirst but you can’t drag yourself out of bed for a glass of water. All you remember from last night is going off on one about a man who “hatfished” you on a date while wearing a cap, only to realise the guy listening to you was heavily receding.

1. None of your friends have messaged you this morning so you assume they must hate you now.
2. You lie in the foetal position and kid yourself into believing you are still asleep so you don’t have to deal with the consequences of your actions.
3. You have “hangxiety” (hangover anxiety) or you are suffering from a “prangover” (pranging out hungover), and it’s the worst feeling in the world.

There’s a scientific reason why drinking makes us feel like this. “Alcohol is one of the most promiscuous of drugs, in that it affects a lot of different types of receptors and hence the majority, if not all, of the neurons,” says David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London and author of 2020 book Drink? The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health.

That blissed-out state we associate with drinking is caused by alcohol enhancing the Gaba receptors (neurotransmitters that essentially turn off the brain) and this calms you down by making fewer neurons fire. As we enter withdrawal, the brain increases levels of the main excitatory transmitter, glutamate, in an attempt to decrease Gaba, and this chemical imbalance results in anxiety.

Or, in other words – as Nutt puts it: “The brain is a finely balanced machine. You add in alcohol and that balance dissolves like a sugar cube in hot tea.” Not remembering leaves you feeling you lost control. It’s horrible Rachel Buchan, psychotherapist To make matters worse, this anxiety tends to kick in when you’re trying to sleep off the alcohol.

As your blood alcohol level goes down during the night, you’re left with too many receptors and so too much glutamate activity,” says Nutt. “And that is why you are too alert, and why the world seems too much.” Compromised glutamate levels also lead to memory loss, forcing your brain to try to fill in the gaps in what you did after hitting that third bottle of wine.

“Because of the physical effects of the anxiety, you tend to think the worst,” says psychotherapist Rachel Buchan. “But not remembering leaves you with this feeling that you lost control of what was happening or what you were doing. It’s horrible.” Before any of you mindful drinkers start to feel smug, it is worth noting that hangxiety is not always alcohol-related, according to clinical psychologist Linda Blair.

A lot of social anxiety is caused by a buildup of energy that we don’t know what do with. “You’ve been directing all your excitement towards this particular event and now it’s over but the energy is still there, bouncing around.” That is when we start to obsess about what we said and did. “You want to use that energy to fix your worry but, of course, you can’t.

You can’t go back in time.” Some of us are more predisposed to ruminate than others. “Certain people are more reflective than they are impulsive,” says Blair. A lot of this is genetic but there is a learned element to it. “They deal with problems by thinking them through again and again until they calm down.

It’s not a good strategy, but it becomes a pattern.” And, of course, we are all a bit rusty since Covid lockdowns. “When you’re socialising, you’re constantly gauging the other person’s feelings and reactions, so you can respond appropriately,” says Blair. “We’re out of practice. This makes us more tired than usual, which can trigger anxious thoughts.” When our bodies are depleted in this way, we tend to think emotionally rather than logically, negatively rather than positively.

Knowing all this probably isn’t going to stop you partying – and nor should it. But before you resign yourself to waking up on 1 January full of self-loathing, there are things you can do to lessen the symptoms of hangxiety. Ones that go beyond paracetamol, ordering from Deliveroo and turning on a reality TV show. “Go for a coffee with someone you were at the party with and you’ll see that they won’t treat you any differently from the way they did before the party,” Blair recommends. “But don’t bring up what you said. All it does is make you look needy – they’ll give you reassurance by enjoying your company.” Just make sure you pick someone sympathetic, not that friend who’ll remind you of the time you cornered that Irish girl in the kitchen so you could rant about your family from Cork.

• Buchan advises inhaling and exhaling through your nose rather than your mouth.
• Four seconds is good but do more or less if that doesn’t feel comfortable.
• Try to imagine your stomach is a balloon: as you inhale, it expands and as you exhale, it contracts.
• This will deepen your breath, which will have a calming impact on your body,” says Buchan.

“You can do it anywhere and no one knows you’re doing it.” “Exercise will help speed up your metabolism and so help shift your hangover,” Nutt says. But avoid anything too strenuous because that can put a strain on the cardiovascular system. Think a light jog or a long walk.

• Shuffling to the Co-op in your dressing gown for some Pringles doesn’t count.
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Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our, We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google and apply. after newsletter promotion To avoid that disappointing crash after a party, Blair recommends making sure you have something else exciting in the diary.

• So when you wake up you think, That was so fun, and I’m so sorry it’s over, but actually, I have that work party on Tuesday so I can get excited about that.
• If you set up something else immediately, you will give your emotions and your energy a direction.” Sure, your mind is racing and you are sweating a bit thinking about what happened last night, but, advises Blair, don’t just rush to conclusions.

You could choose to call that grouping of symptoms anxiety, she says, but you could just call it a hangover.” Blair says this can help us reframe. “When you think of it in that way, it’s in your control and not taking you over.” Sometimes a hangover is just a hangover.

1. Everyone at the party is probably feeling the same as you.
2. And it, too, shall pass.
3. Alcohol wreaks havoc with our blood sugar levels, which can disturb sleep,” says nutritional therapist Alice Mackintosh.
4. Another side-effect of high blood sugar is that our bodies release more of the stress hormone cortisol, and, for many, this can lead to anxiety.” Eating something before you go to bed can stabilise blood sugar and absorb some of the alcohol in the gut.

“Aim for some protein and fibre, as these are critical for gut health. If you’re home and need something quick, go for wholegrain toast with peanut butter and banana.” Eggs make the perfect hangover breakfast. “They’re rich in amino acids to aid liver function, protein, B vitamins, nutrients such as choline, and healthy fats to help get you back on your feet,” says Mackintosh.

Eat them on toast with avocado and some mushrooms as both are “rich in detoxifying B-vitamins, folate and antioxidants.” If you’re vegan, go for baked beans instead of eggs, because these provide all-important protein and fibre. You could also pop some supplements containing B vitamins, magnesium, and vitamin C to aid liver function and antioxidants NAC, or milk thistle.

: Do you get ‘hangxiety’? How to cope with an anxious hangover

Is Coke good for a hangover?

There is no all-consuming black hole of despair quite like a hangover. That incessant pounding on your temples, as if some malign goblin has taken up residence inside your brain and is hammering its way out. Spinning room, sandy mouth, bloodshot eyes glued shut.

Ears still ringing with fragments of music from the night before. An overwhelming sense of self-loathing, paranoia – and pain. Kingsley Amis famously described the sensation in his 1954 novel Lucky Jim : “Consciousness was upon him before he could get out of the way,” he wrote. “He lay sprawled, too wicked to move, spewed up like a broken spider-crab on the tarry shingle of the morning.

The light did him harm he resolved never to move his eyeballs again. A dusty thudding in his head made the scene before him beat like a pulse. His mouth had been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night, and then as its mausoleum. During the night, too, he’d somehow been on a cross-country run and then been expertly beaten up by secret police.

He felt bad.” We’ve all been there. According to research by Macmillan Cancer Support, the average Briton spends 315 days of their life hungover; for one in 14 of us, it’s a head-pounding 3,024. And each of us has our own failsafe way to climb out of that black hole and claw our way back towards feeling human again – be it a bottle of Lucozade, popping a couple of Alka-Seltzer, a greasy fry-up or hair of the dog.

According to a raft of celebrities, however, there’s only one cure that truly takes the edge off after a big night out: Coca-Cola. The “Black Doctor”, as it’s been dubbed, has become the A-list hangover fix of choice. Justin Bieber, Kate Moss, Pixie Geldof, Taylor Swift, Britney Spears and Tom Cruise have all been spotted glugging the black stuff while looking worse-for-wear in recent months.

According to a feature in December’s Vogue magazine, Coca-Cola has “the perfect sugar-to-caffeine ratio when you’re exhausted and veering dangerously towards hypoglycaemia after a night on the fruit punch.” A-list fans say the fizziness settles the stomach, the caffeine boosts your energy – and the sugary goodness in one 330ml can make you feel a whole world of better Though Coke is not marketed as a hangover cure, its pick-me-up properties are nothing new.

Lt Col John Pemberton, a trained pharmacist, invented the fizzy drink in Atlanta, Georgia, in May 1886, in a bid to wean himself off morphine, to which he had become addicted after becoming wounded during the American Civil War. Pemberton tried his new invention out on customers at his local chemist, Jacobs’ Pharmacy, where he sold it as a “valuable brain tonic” that was “delicious, refreshing, pure joy, exhiliarating” and “a most wonderful invigorator of sexual organs”. Pemberton’s advertisement for his new carbonated drink Over a century later, Coca-Cola has cemented itself in our psyche as so much more than a medicinal beverage: as a cult-brand, advertising behemoth and most of America’s carbonated drink of choice.

Though its curative qualities are long-forgotten, the company’s mission statement still references its roots: “to inspire moments of optimism”. And some fans have continued to extol its hangover-curing properties. Indeed, in 1938, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel started serving its international guests a mixture of Coca-Cola and milk after a heavy night out.

But it’s the new legion of A-list fans raving about the “Black Doctor” that has led to Coca-Cola being dubbed the best hangover cure. So is there any truth to their claims? Nutritionist Claire Baseley says there is – to a certain extent. “When you’re hungover, you need to hydrate your body.

• The way you feel – that headache – it’s mostly caused by dehydration.
• Something like Coca-Cola has lots of sugar and fluids and will put those back into your body to get your energy levels up.
• The caffeine will also give you an energy boost.” But, she adds, “there are better options from a hydration perspective.

Obviously it would be better if you had something like water or a sports energy drink. My recommendation would be to drink lots of water and have something that’s easy on your stomach like a dry piece of toast. The negative side of Coca-Cola is its high sugar content and, after a big night out, you’re probably not going to be doing lots of exercise to counteract that. We all have our own remedies for beating a hangover Melanie Brown, a London-based nutritionist, is less convinced. “The combination of sugar, caffeine, fluid, fizz and cold gives people the impression that their hangover is better,” she explains. “It is a fluid so will solve your thirst to a certain extent, but it does not contain much in the way of electrolytes; minerals that aid rehydration.

1. And some people claim that the fizzy bit settles your stomach – but apart from possibly relieving gas build up, there’s no evidence for that.” Still, Coke converts won’t be convinced.
2. As one celebrity aficionado tells Vogue : “One of my more hardcore partying friends adds vodka to her Black Doctor, at breakfast.” Each to their own.

But definitely something to bear in mind next time you’re clawing your way back from the bottom of a bottle.

Should I throw up hangover?

– There are many reasons why a person may vomit after drinking alcohol. Although it may help a person feel better, throwing up from drinking can cause serious health problems. A person should not force themselves to vomit during or after drinking, even if they feel nauseated. Anyone who experiences any of the symptoms of alcohol poisoning should contact a doctor immediately.

How long does it take for your stomach to go down after drinking?

How Long Does Alcohol Bloating Last? – Alcohol bloating may last a few days or even a few weeks, depending on what is causing the irritation and inflammation. The length of time it takes for the effects of alcohol on a bloated stomach to improve depends on how regularly you consume alcohol and the extent of your bloating.

Acute gastritis only causes bloating to persist for a short amount of time. In most cases, acute gastritis improves in just a few days. On the other hand, chronic gastritis may cause bloating and related symptoms to persist for weeks or even months. Symptoms of chronic gastritis may be less noticeable and take a longer time to develop.

Reducing alcohol consumption can be an effective way to manage alcohol-related gastritis and stomach bloating.