Two nights ago, my sleep tracker told me I got two and a half hours of sleep. I woke up in pain.
I trudged through my first two sessions yesterday. Then for my third, he asked if we could reschedule. I was elated.
I said sure and I regretfully texted my personal trainer to reschedule our afternoon workout. Then I did something I never do.
I took a nap.
Three hours later, I woke up feeling human again. The day ended with a few fun and energy-filled calls.
But I wanted to briefly mention some Bro Science…
My hypothesis: Much if not most of the pain we feel during a hangover is sleep deprivation.
Firstly, when we drink, our sleep quality goes out the window. It doesn’t relax our minds; it sedates us. But alcohol aside…
I go months without drinking. Those periods don’t just lead to me feeling amazing. I have to eat well, exercise, and sleep 7-9 hours each night. There have been sober mornings of awful sleep and it genuinely feels like I’m hungover.
That’s what yesterday felt like.
So aside from the nausea, the headache, and the dehydration…how much of the physical pain of hangovers is simply because our brains didn’t get any sleep?