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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Decline In Tolerance To Alcohol?

I'm a 20 year old female. I use to be able to drink alcohol roughly once a week and never have any trouble with hangovers. I'd be able to polish well over half a bottle of vodka off with no problems. Recently (over the last year and a bit) my alcohol tolerance has declined. It is rare that i go out and drink (only special occasions) but when i do i usually wake up and vomit every 1/2 hour or so for a couple of hours. last week I only drank two beers over 4 hours and spent the night shaking, waking up in the morning to vomit 4 times over the space of 3 hours. I can't even have a glass of red at dinner, without feeling sick. Should i be concerned?
Wed, 3 Sep 2014
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Addiction Medicine Specialist 's  Response
A lot of possibilities.
Most commonly, there is variation in how one reacts to alcohol and having an increase in effect a few times is not necessarily a real trend/change. Empty stomach, or grapefruit juice or some medications or quitting cigarettes can increase the amount of alcohol that gets in. Liver disease can increase the effects and duration of alcohol and, this is unlikely unless someone were hospitalized (probalby REPEATEDLY hospitalized) for liver problems.
And.... there can be psychological effects that increase over time. If one expects to get sick, one will. If one gets sick, one will increasingly expect to get sick.
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What Causes Decline In Tolerance To Alcohol?

A lot of possibilities. Most commonly, there is variation in how one reacts to alcohol and having an increase in effect a few times is not necessarily a real trend/change. Empty stomach, or grapefruit juice or some medications or quitting cigarettes can increase the amount of alcohol that gets in. Liver disease can increase the effects and duration of alcohol and, this is unlikely unless someone were hospitalized (probalby REPEATEDLY hospitalized) for liver problems. And.... there can be psychological effects that increase over time. If one expects to get sick, one will. If one gets sick, one will increasingly expect to get sick.