Introduction

Hangovers are miserable. The headache, fatigue, dehydration, and nausea will have you swearingnever to drink again. Every Saturday morning I am cursing my former self forhis lack of self control, susceptibility to peer pressure, and  frank hubris. Then the days pass, slowly those thoughts are suppressed and forgotten,and we’re back at it pounding shots the next Friday.  Repeat that cycle for a few years and youslowly start to realize one thing, the hangovers are getting worse!  They used to last until Noon, sometimes untilthe afternoon, but now you’re feeling sick even until Saturday evening, andeven until Sunday! One day you might get up after a bender and ACTUALLY swearoff drinking.  I KNOW, I’VE DONE IT ALL!

Fortunately, modern technology and health knowledge has comea long ways.  Here are tips I personallyuse, and some I try to use, to ease the discomfort of alcohol, and speed upyour recovery.

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Before You Sleep

1.      Eat Before You Drink

Opt for easy-to-digest foods like toast,crackers, or bananas to absorb the alcohol in your stomach.  Drinking will make your stomach quitesensitive, and is harsh and abrasive to the lining of the gut.  Eating carbs will help soak in the alcohol ,and slow the overall distribution of alcohol to your stomach and intestine,avoiding the shock that may come from a toxic substance coming in contact withthem.  This can also slow down the shockthe alcohol can have on your liver and detoxification system, keeping itoperating at max efficiency.

2.      DRINK A LOT OF WATER BEFORE YOU GO TO SLEEP

You probably already know this, but sometimesdrunk forgets before passing out. Alcohol dehydrates your body and dehydration is a big part of thehangover.  Drink plenty of waterthroughout the day if you plan to have drinks that night, and make sure you getplenty of electrolytes too.  Bear withme, I’m going to get a tiny bit scientific, but water always follows solutes(Osmosis).  Drinking pure water helps,but without solutes in the water, it wont get the proper absorption.  What are solutes you may ask? Well, those areelectrolytes, like sodium, calcium, chloride, etc.  This is why Gatorade was so revolutionary,the electrolytes actually helped your body absorb the water better!  The body realizes it’s missing those solutes,so when it senses their presence in the gut, it will try to absorb as much aspossible.  When the solutes are absorbed,so is the water (once again, OSMOSIS). So next time you drink, right before you sleep, I recommend drinking asports drink, or coconut water, or oral rehydration solution (ORS) to fight thedehydration.

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Too Late You’re Hungover

3.      Drink a lot of water after you wake up

You’re dizzy, nauseous, and in pain.  I know it hard, and honestly its kind of toolate but try to drink water throughout the day anyways.  And like we said before, drink water withelectrolytes (IE sports drinks, coconut water, oral rehydration soutions) tomaximize absorption of water in the gut.

4.      Eat Healthy, easy-to-digest meals

 Hangover food might be tempting (greasy, fatty,salty food), but opt for healthier, and easier-to-digest meals like bread,oatmeal, rice porridge or a banana.  Yourstomach is already highly sensitive, and giving it junk food will make thingsworse.

5.      Take a Pain Killer

Over the counter Pain killers like Ibuprofen(Motrin, Advil) or Naproxen (Aleve) can help with the headache and muscle achesthat come with a hangover.  Make sure youtake something to protect your stomach, like famotidine (H2 blocker) oromeprazole (PPI).  Your stomach isalready sensitive, and pain killers like ibuprofen and Naproxen (NSAIDS) canmake it worse by inhibiting the production of substances that naturally lineand protect the stomach from acid.

AVOID TYLENOL. Tylenol is great because it’s effective and comes with very few sideeffects. BUT, the one big side effect it does have, is that it hurts theliver.  Usually, when the dosage ofTylenol is low, this damage is mild, and the liver can easily recover, butcoupling it with alcohol, which REALLY hurts the liver, and you could end up inthe hospital with acute liver failure.  

6.      Consume Vitamin Rich Foods and Supplements

 Alcohol depletes essential vitamins, especiallyB-vitamins and Vitamin C

7.      Try an IV hydration Drip

An increasingly popular and highly effectivechoice.  An IV drip can deliver fluidsfor rapid rehydration (bypassing the gut, which has been sensitizedpost-alcohol), direct delivery of electrolytes and vitamins, and rapid IVinfusion of medications that can’t be found over the counter (Ketorolac,Ondansetron, Famotidine), in a standard combination that will make you feelgreat in under an hour.

An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound ofcure.  It’s better to drink water beforeyour hangover starts than to drink water after it’s already started.  Heck it’s better to just not drink at all,but that’s another topic for discussion. Once you have the hangover, your body needs to recover quickly, or the damagescan linger long past when you stop feeling the physical effects.  Hang in there, and keep yourself refresheduntil you make the same mistake next Friday Night!