Sex with a hangover: why it can be so surprisingly good

Your head is pounding, your tongue is dry and your eyeliner is all over your cheeks. Not an ideal setting for passionate sex, you’d say. And yet … while lying half-crumpled under the blankets, and that warm hand touches your thigh, it happens. Your body says yes. Despite – or maybe because of – the hangover.

What is it about sex the morning after?

A hangover dulls everything, except your skin. You are vulnerable, raw, not at your best – but maybe exactly because of that completely in your body. No polished version of yourself, no pressure to perform. Just: you, half-naked and longing. The threshold to touch each other is lower. And so are the breaks. Sex is more about feeling than doing.

It also makes sense biologically

After a night of drinking your serotonin level is often out of balance. You feel a bit empty, irritable, maybe even somewhat melancholic. That’s because alcohol first gives your mood an artificial boost, but then depletes your natural supply of feel-good substances after which your body instinctively seeks recovery. Comfort. Safety. Something to make you feel whole again. And guess what does the trick? Yes – sex. Or even just physical contact. A hug. A warm hand on your skin.

During sex, your body produces oxytocin – the so-called love hormone – which reduces your stress level and relaxes you. But that’s not all. Endorphins, which act as a natural painkiller, and dopamine, which gives you a sense of reward and happiness, also flow abundantly through your system. The result? You’re less affected by that nagging hangover, and there’s more room for softness, pleasure and reconnection. Your body’s actually whispering: “This is good. This helps. Keep going.”

It doesn’t have to be wild

Sex with a hangover is rarely porn material. No acrobatics. No endless foreplay. But exactly the slowness, the tenderness, the ‘let’s just feel what feels good’-attitude often make it more intense than you may think. No expectations, just touch. And a bit of shared misery. That connects. Lying banged-up together, and letting something good arise from it.

Simple can be so sexy

A warm breath in your neck. A hand on your back. The smell of yesterday lingering in your hair. You don’t moan out of excitement, but out of slight discomfort – and it still feels good. Because it’s real. Because you don’t have to keep up anything. Because you are in that foggy, sleepy state together where everything slows down. Sex then almost becomes a kind of comfort – slow, soft, sticky with affection.

Hangover-proof tips for sex without effort (but with a lot of feeling)

Take it easy. Go for horizontal positions, spooning or you on top. Drink some water in between (yes, really). Put a glass on your nightstand before you go to bed, just in case. And check with each other whether you are both up for it – consent is still sexy, even with a hangover. Make things comfortable, not perfect. Think: soft blankets, no hurry and if you fall asleep in each other’s arms afterwards, that’s not lazy. That’s just right.