Long COVID could be the reason for your bad hangovers: research

Long COVID could be the reason for your bad hangovers, research suggests.

The study, published in the journal Cureus, looked at patients who had been dealing with lingering symptoms from a COVID infection — and all of them self-reported more severe hangovers.

Four patients were recruited from the Post-Acute Covid Syndrome clinic (PACS) at Stanford University, which treats people with long-lasting symptoms stemming from COVID.

Researchers at Stanford started to notice a connection between persistent COVID symptoms and those who reported experiencing worse hangovers than they typically do.

One case study who suffered from COVID for 11 months claimed that wine now gave her a “bad hangover” and made her feel like she “cannot move.”

Another woman, who had COVID symptoms for three months, allegedly can no longer even handle one cocktail and ends up with what she describes as “alcohol poisoning” with a “terrible” three-day headache.

A man in his 60s reportedly used to consume alcohol with no problem, but now he can’t have one beer without feeling the aftermath. Long COVID left him suffering from headaches, cognitive impairment and sleep disturbances for five months, according to the study.

“The patient experienced, chronic, daily, headaches characterized by a squeezing sensation at the top and back of the head,” researchers wrote.

The fourth participant had long COVID symptoms for a year. Before getting COVID, she would drink socially — but now one drink leaves her skin “flushed,” which she’s never experienced before.

It was concluded that “new-onset alcohol reactions and sensitivity can occur after COVID infection in patients with [long COVID]” — potentially because the combination of the virus and inflammation in the body could weaken the blood-brain barrier.

The blood-brain barrier is a layer of cells that acts as a filter and defends the brain from harmful substances, germs and other things that could cause damage, according to Cleveland Clinic. The weakening of this barrier could allow more alcohol to enter the brain.

Normally, it’s explained, the barrier can become absorbent when drinking alcohol, allowing substances that are normally restricted from entering the brain to reach it.

Those with long COVID might also have an increase of inflammatory molecules in their bloodstreams, which sometimes leads to hangovers, the scientists hypothesized.

Since all results were self-reported and patients didn’t have to prove long COVID, more studies need to be done, researchers said. However, they did find that there may be a link between COVID and hangover symptoms.

Meanwhile, new research identified iron deficiencies in the blood as a major culprit in long COVID cases.

Anecdotal data from early 2023 also found that some people have reported a change in how their bodies react to booze after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Alcohol tolerance is commonly referred to as the amount that one can handle before becoming visibly intoxicated, but alcohol intolerance is an inherited metabolic disorder.

Metabolic disorders affect your metabolism by impacting the way your body converts and uses energy, meaning that alcohol intolerance is diagnosed when the body can’t efficiently break down alcohol.