It is the morning after - How can I get rid of my hangover?

Question

I am not looking for a lecture about drinking, so PLEASE no comments about not drinking! I need to know what to do at this stage, i.e. the morning after.

Answer 1

The first thing you need to know is that most of the stuff you read and hear about is unsubstantiated information, presented as fact. Secondly, what works really well for someone else may only work moderately well for you, so if you are going to continually over-indulge, see what works best for you.

A health TV show in Australia (we certainly know our booze!!!) did some tests to find out what will prevent a hangover and had some interesting results of what did and didn't work:

What DID work:
1. drink one water for each alcoholic drink (too late for you tho!)
2. take 2 ibuprofen (not paracetamol) before you go to bed
3. drink a sports drink like Gatorade before bed (the electrolytes are what works here)

What DIDN’T work:
1. a greasy meal the next day
2. a litre of water before going to bed

Other things that don’t work include:
1. coffee and other caffeinated drinks (they are diuretics and will add to your dehydration)
2. more alcohol – even a Bloody Mary!

So, to answer your question simply as you ask, re-hydrate preferably with a sports drink (electrolytes) and take a couple of ibuprofen. Hope you feel better soon!

Answer 2

Everyone's body chemistry is different, so different cures work for different people. This is what helps me:

1. Sports energy drinks. They replenish the essential sugars & salts your body loses, as well as water lost. It's important to get these salts back, as they increase your water retension, and therefore rehydrate you faster.

2. Greasy breakfast. I know some studies have shown it's a placebo, but I can think of a couple of other studies that show it does actually help to get rid of the nausea. Again, it's related to different body chemistry. Basically, the grease reacts with the poison your liver created when it was overwelmed with the booze, and breaks it down.

3. Not taking paracetamol. This stuff only works once it's been metabolised in the liver, which is already working overtime to get rid of the alcohol. Takin paracetamol is not only very bad for the liver, but it will make the hangover last longer.

4. A joint. Dont lecture me about it, but I find it really helps. It chases away the nausea, and also gets rid of the trembling that comes with so many hangovers.

Answer 3

Take 2 aspirin and drink water.

The cause of the hangover is dehydration. Alcohol acts as a diuretic, which means your body eliminates water in the process of metabolizing the alcohol. The 1st person with methods was on the mark. I must have heard the same thing somewhere since I am in Washington State. There is no "cure" as such, just restoring the balance of water and something like aspirin for the headache. My best results came from water and aspirin before bedtime adn then the same on waking and in a relatively short period of time, I was fine. If you were paying attention, you would have noticed the quantity of liquid you eliminated in the bathroom was more than you were consuming by mouth. I know a guy who actually measured intake and outgo and found more went out than went in.

Wow...what people will do for science...

Answer 4

For an extreme hangover you are out of luck. Drink water, take a strong pain killer with codeine if it is available in your location, call in a sickie and go back to bed. I can't abide hair of the dog, the thought of alcohol on any day where excess played a part of the night before makes me wretch.

For a light to medium hangover I have always found exercise and water to be the best bet. As awful as it sounds before you get moving an easy jog seems to get the blood pumping and clear everything out. And the best part is, when you get back you have burned a bunch of calories. That clears the way for a big, guilt-free, feel-good greasy breakfast. Bring on the bacon!

Answer 5

Hopefully your right now but I'll put my 2 cents in anyway for next time.

According to my research over the years, a hangover is three things: 1) dehydration, 2) poisoning from the break-down products of alcohol, 3) loss of minerals and vitamins.

So: 1) drink as much water (or sports drinks if you can get them easily) as you can (until your pee comes out colourless). 2) eggs. something in eggs supposedly binds with the poison - eggs with bread or toast definately seems to do the trick. 3) replace the salt, minerals and vitamins with a healthy meal BUT include a fair bit of fat/greese (eg. milk) as the fat aids with absorbtion.

Of course, if you remember, you can do a lot of this the night before.

Other things that help me feel better are: a vomit (if I'm really bad), pain killers, a warm bath, a bit of excercise, sex, chillis, tea (after your rehydrated), fresh air, and tuning-out watching tv (girls always look amazing with a hangover)

Answer 6

I have found that higher quality and sugarless drinks are much more difficult to overdo on accident. The less additives, the better your chances next time.

Instead of plain water, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables have worked well for me in the past. These and strong (!) black coffee will often cleanse the additives (upward or downward) and help to repair some damage, while reducing nausea. You probably want to leave the white sugar, dressings, or anything that can coat your stomach out of those fruit, veggies, and coffee.

If you're one of those occasional people who has fresh, culinary herbs in your landscaping, the afterdinner mint effect you can get from chewing on these is unmistakeable.

Also, the occasional smoker will find this as good an excuse as any get settled.

Sorry for your trouble.

Answer 7

Well the thing is there has been tests shown that there is no way of getting rid of a hangover. If you watched a show called "Whats good for you" then you would of seen that there is nothing you can do. Just make sure you drink plenty of water while drinking.

Answer 8

Unfortunately, the only thing that cures a hangover is time. Lots of people will claim that certain things work but all of these things such as, coffee, ibuprofen, water, greasy food etc, are placebos which means that they think it`s working although it really dosen`t. So I suggest going back to sleep to fill in time for the hangover to take it`s course.

Answer 9

I have the remedy for you. Do this and I promise it will help. First of all if at all possible drink water before you go to bed or when you wake up because that is what make you hung over is being dehydrated. When you wake up eat toast or chex mix something like that. It will soak up the alchol or some ****. I'm telling you it will work. Do it next time and you'll feel better.

Answer 10

Hi! My dad is a pharmacist so listen!!! Before you go out drinking take a Phenegren pill....or they come in supositories (yuk I know). If you aren't familiar with these, they are pills perscribed to kids and adults for nasua. Usually if you have a stomach bug and can't keep anything down from throwing up it makes you quit throwing up to keep medicine and food down, and makes you a little sleepy sometimes. That's why it comes in supositories since you may be throwing up and can't keep liquid down. A lot of people take this the night before they go out drinking and it keeps them from getting sick. My dad swears by it the next day...it keeps you from getting sick and a hangover...and he's a big drinker. Anyone that has kids has gotten these at one timie or another...I've got some that I keep for years, they are like gold in our house becuz it's handy anytime my kids are throwing up...and since you have to call the Dr. for them it's a hassle...so we always keep the leftovers. They also keep for years and still work. The only scary thing is that if you are really really drunk you are SUPPOSED to throw up so you don't get alcohol poisoning...so beware. Not good if you are planning getting major liquor'ed up. You could get alcohol poisoning!