Sure, sure, everyone says hangovers get worse with age.
But isn’t it meant to be a gradual decline ― not the stark downfall of your basic ability to recover within a day after a heavy night out?
Well, if you’ve noticed that your hangovers became far, far worse since contracting COVID-19, there’s a chance it could be long COVID, scientists suggest.
In a recent study from Stanford, researchers found that those with the condition “self-reported new changes in their symptoms or behaviors following the use of alcohol.”
And yes, that included far worse hangovers.
Why?
Well, let’s slow down a bit here ― though peer-reviewed, the study only involved four people, and used self-reporting.
The scientists themselves said that “further research in the form of larger cohort studies is warranted” to establish a definite connection.
Nonetheless, the participants of the study showed decreased alcohol tolerance that appeared to coincide with their long COVID diagnoses.
After reviewing their previous medical histories and alcohol habits bother before and after contracting COVID-19, the study found that “the patients highlighted in this report, despite varying demographics and health backgrounds, share a new-onset sensitivity to alcohol post-COVID-19 infection, triggering unprecedented symptoms at similar or lower alcohol consumption levels.”
“Orthostatic intolerance (OI) and autonomic dysfunction, neuroinflammation, gut microbiome changes, mitochondrial dysfunction (related to acetate metabolism), and others have all been proposed and investigated as possible mechanisms for a number of [chronic fatigue] symptoms, including alcohol intolerance,” they shared, noting that chronic fatigue is a symptom of long COVID.
How did the participants feel after drinking?
Three participants self-reported increased grogginess, headaches, flushing, and “overwhelming” fatigue after drinking.
Another said even tiny amounts of booze makes her feel like she has “alcohol poisoning”; even one beer gives her a severe hangover now, she says, and can make her long COVID symptoms worse for days after.
Yet another said drinking made her feel like she couldn’t move.
Again, researchers stress that a “definitive causal link between [long COVID] and alcohol sensitivity cannot be established based on a limited case series.“
Nonetheless, “Alcohol sensitivity following viral infections in general have not been well characterised in the medical literature,” they say.
“It is a relatively common phenomenon observed in patients with [chronic fatigue syndrome], a related condition to [long COVID], and has been anecdotally reported on social media among patients.”