General Question

Santa's avatar

Any tips for dealing with a hangover?

Asked by Santa (208points) December 25th, 2009 from iPhone

Also I’m pretty sure I drank some off milk last night.

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

31 Answers

GoonSquad's avatar

Practice makes perfect.
As I developed into an alcoholic, I noticed that I didn’t suffer from the perpetual hangover any more.
When I curbed my drinking recently, I noticed that they returned with a vengeance!

StupidGirl's avatar

Drink again (alcohol—one, or two, or make that a bottle of liquor—it’s giftmas).

Velvetinenut's avatar

Have some isotonic drink, lots of water, something to eat and sleep for a couple of hours.

JustPlainBarb's avatar

Might not be a popular answer, but I would suggest not drinking so much. Sorry, but that’s the best solution.

subhrajitchakravorty's avatar

take some lemon water. it really works.

HumourMe's avatar

“Also I’m pretty sure I drank some off milk last night”. Haha, I’m pretty sure that’s what’s causing your symptoms of hangover. Lay off the foul milk santa.

scotsbloke's avatar

@Velvetinenut is spot on!
Drink lots of water. a good idea to eat something too – even though you might not feel up to it. a big bowl of porridge will do you good!

anon30's avatar

Sleep & drink water, & take a shower.

LanceVance's avatar

water, aspirine, sleep and shower. that should do the trick

Lightlyseared's avatar

Water, ibuprofen and a fatty meal (think full English breakfast).

scotsbloke's avatar

Ah yes, a Full English Breakfast! – good call., Fried Bread, Bacon, Eggs, a Sausage, Potato Scone, Hash Browns, Black pudding, Tomato, Mushrooms, Baked Beans, Toast, – if that dont kill your hangover nothing will! lol

denidowi's avatar

Yish! .
Stay clear of the alcohol!

mcbealer's avatar

fix up some liquid jello (think jello, made with half boiled water and half warm water) and sip it slowly… works like a charm, also good for stomach flu

JesusWasAJewbot's avatar

Before you go to sleep drink 2 aspirin and drink a bottle or 2 of water. Next day, eat light and keep pounding water, take a nap or two then by the night youre ready for another night of binge drinking.

jrpowell's avatar

This is Andrew. I know his fake accounts.

Roby's avatar

Do what I do…don’t drink at all. Been working for me for 61 years.

Cotton101's avatar

Talk more and drink less…but, if you must, before you go to bed, take a couple of Advil…if you forget to take the Advil, drink tomato juice….

stranger_in_a_strange_land's avatar

“Hair of the dog”, vitamin B complex and lots of water. Alcohol tends to dehydrate you.

absalom's avatar

Some olive oil, a raw egg yolk, salt and peper, one or two tablespoons of ketchup, a little Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce, a little lemon juice….

Delicious and effective.

john65pennington's avatar

Next time, take two aspirin before going to bed. it works.

hughs's avatar

some really nasty, greasy food, a bunch of water, coffee, and about 4 aspirin

at least that’s what i did this morning, and it worked for me

Saturated_Brain's avatar

Lay off the sherry.

stranger_in_a_strange_land's avatar

My father had told me of a drink they served with breakfast in Australia during WW2 to the Navy fliers on leave. It consisted of heavy cream, egg yolk and brandy. I’ve never tried it but he claimed it made you good to go, along with an egg-topped steak, after a night of alcohol-fueled excess.

whatthefluther's avatar

@Saturated_Brain…..that does not work well for me (much to Sherry’s {@sccrowell} delight).
It’s great to see you have returned…...what a marvelous and welcomed Christmas gift for the entire collective.
See ya…...Gary/wtf

Santa's avatar

Thank you everyone, feeling much better.

While the suggestions to simply “drink less” are certainly sensible, it would be awful to dissapoint so many children who put out something for me.

Working in some antiseptic to deal with the chafing; chimneys get smaller every year.

@johnpowell Andrew? I’m Santa.

wildpotato's avatar

Put 2 big bottles of water next to you when you go to bed next time. If your body won’t wake you up from the thirst, you can set an alarm to go off every two hours or so. When you wake up, chug as much water as you can and go back to sleep. In the morning you’ll wake up feeling about 70% better than you would otherwise.

LTaylor's avatar

People who do not drink alcohol do not get hangovers. People who drink small amounts of alcohol rarely get hangovers. People who drink nonalcoholic beverages or those will very small amounts of alcohol within them rarely get hangovers.

However, people who drink to the point of intoxication usually experience some hangover symptoms. Among those who drink until they are intoxicated, those who drink large amounts of alcohol generally have more hangover symptoms compared with those who drink less.

Therefore, the best cure for a hangover is to prevent it from happening in the first place by not drinking alcohol at all, or by drinking very modest amounts. There are other steps that can help in hangover prevention, but once the symptoms of a hangover begin, there are few options that actually bring relief.

Some of the widely used, traditional hangover “cures” really do little to relieve symptoms and some of them can actually make the situation worse.

What Does Not Work
There are several myths and urban legends surrounding curing a hangover that have been around for years. Most of them have no scientific basis:

* The Hair of the Dog That Bit You – The practice of having a drink the next morning to ward off the effects of a hangover doesn’t really work in the long run, contrary to popular belief. Since the worse hangover symptoms occur when the drinker’s blood alcohol content returns to zero, taking a drink the next morning only delays the inevitable. It may lessen the symptoms in the short term, but giving the liver more alcohol to metabolize will only increase the discomfort later. Additionally, a morning-after drink can lead to more drinking and can contribute to eventual alcohol dependence.

* Black Coffee – Coffee may relieve the feeling of fatigue associated with hangover and help alleviate the headache symptoms by restricting blood vessels, but that relief is only temporary and the symptoms will return. More importantly, coffee acts as a diuretic further dehydrating the body and increasing the hangover symptoms. Again, coffee may lessen some symptoms initially, but in the long run may cause more problems.

* Taking Tylenol Before Going to Bed – This treatment seems to make sense, but it fails on two levels. First, the effects of acetaminophen (Tylenol) will usually wear off before the onset of hangover symptoms. It would be better to take it after the symptoms begin. Additionally, when the liver is processing alcohol it cannot process acetaminophen as it usually does, which can cause liver inflammation and possible permanent liver damage.

* Eating Fried or Greasy Foods – If you eat foods with a lot of fat before drinking, the oils can coat your stomach lining and slow down the absorption of alcohol. This can help prevent the severity of a hangover. However, eating greasy food the morning after a drinking bout will probably only add to the gastrointestinal malaise by irritating the stomach and intestines.

* Eating Burnt Toast – Carbon can act like a filter in the body and activated charcoal is used to treat some types of poisonings, but the carbon found on burnt toast is not activated charcoal and it does not work the same in the body. Over-the-counter products sold as hangover cures that contain carbon are intended to be taking before drinking, not after the hangover begins.

What Does Work to Relieve Hangovers
The only real cure for a hangover is time. If no more alcohol is consumed, hangover symptoms should subside between eight and 24 hours. There are some things that can be done to relieve some of the most severe symptoms.

* Water or Sports Drinks – The dehydration effects of alcohol causes some of the most discomfort associated with hangovers—headache, dizziness, and lightheadedness. The quickest way to relieve those symptoms is to drink lots of water. Sports drinks, such as Gatorade, will not only relieve dehydration, but also replace needed electrolytes.

* Painkillers – Aspirin and ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin) may reduce hangover headache and muscle pain, but should not be used if you are experiencing abdominal pain or nausea. The medications themselves are gastric irritants and can compound gastrointestinal hangover symptoms. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) should not be taken during a hangover because alcohol metabolism enhances acetaminophen’s toxicity. Also, ibuprofen taken when dehydrated can sometimes cause kidney dysfunction especially in persons with poor kidney function.

* Eggs – Because eggs contain cysteine, which breaks down acetaldehyde in the body, eating eggs the morning after a drinking binge could help remove the hangover-causing alcohol metobolite toxin from the body.

* Bananas – Alcohol, like any diuretic, depletes the body of potassium. Eating bananas, or other fruit high in potassium, while having hangover symptoms can replenish the potassium and lost electrolytes. Sports drinks typically are good sources of potassium.

* Bouillon Soup – If you can’t handle the idea of eating anything solid while experiencing severe hangover symptoms, try some bouillon soup. It also can help replace salt and potassium lost during a drinking binge.

* Fruit or Fruit Juice – Consuming fruit or fruit juice while hungover can increase energy, replaces vitamins and nutrients and has been shown to speed up the body’s process of getting rid of toxins. Fruits and fruit juices therefore can help decrease the intensity of hangover symptoms.

The Bottom Line
Drinking as much water as possible over the course of the evening and before you go to bed will relieve a great deal of the hangover symptoms caused by dehydration. But only time will cure the hangover symptoms caused by the alcohol poisoning effects of excessive drinking.

Quoted from:

http://alcoholism.about.com/od/hangovers/a/cures.htm

Schonberg's avatar

My best method is to drink a litre of white lemonade as it flushes out your liver and helps you to recover sooner.

Dabria's avatar

Drink plenty of water and eat a meal high in carbohydrates!

StupidGirl's avatar

DON’T flush out your liver. You might still need your liver.

Coloma's avatar

Mexican food with boatloads of hot salsa…you gotta sweat it out! lol

I am not much a drinker these days, but, back in the day….get to an AUTHENTIC mexican place and load up on carbs and salsa….the ONLY way to go.

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