Next day mood and hangover symptom severity in heavy drinkers suffering from a hangover versus those who claim to be hangover resistant

Background. about 25% of drinkers claim to be hangover resistant, despite occasional heavy alcohol consumption. The aim of this study was to compare the presence and severity of hangover-related symptoms and mood of hangover resistant drinkers versus people reporting a hangover. Methods. N = 17 hangover resistant and N = 19 hangover subjects had a control day (no alcohol consumed) and a test day following an evening of heavy alcohol consumption (amount, day and place of drinking were the subjects own choice). Overall hangover severity and the severity of twenty-two hangover symptoms was scored from 0 (absent) to 10 (extremely severe). Mood was assessed with the 32-item Profiles Of Mood Scale (POMS). Results. Demographics and total alcohol consumed (11.6 alcoholic drinks on average) did not differ between the groups. The overall hangover score was 5.6 in subjects with a hangover versus 0.4 in hangover resistant subjects. Hangover resistant subjects only show an increase in the sleepiness related POMS-subscale on fatigue and a decrease in vigor, while subjects with a hangover also report significant increases on the subscales of anger and depression. Most common and severe symptoms in the hangover group were sleepiness, being tired, thirst, headache, concentration problems, nausea, clumsiness, dizziness and stomach pain. In contrast, the hangover resistant group reported only modest increases in sleepiness, being tired, concentration problems and thirst, without any relevant effects on more disabling symptoms such as headache, nausea, vomiting and dizziness. Conclusion. In hangover resistant subjects next-day effects seem limited to a modest increase in sleepiness-related symptoms