How to Cure a Hangover
Everyone has their own little hangover cure don’t they. There must be thousands of them out there, but how many actually work? The truth is different people probably need different things to help them, depending on their individual constitution.
However there are a few reliable cures that seem to work for everyone. One of the main causes of a hangover is dehydration (largely responsible for your headache), so clearly the best thing to prevent or cure them is rehydration – plenty of water or fruit juice (as that often contains anti-oxidants too).
Sugar filled soft drinks like cola are NOT a good idea, because although they’ll make you feel good temporarily by boosting your blood sugar, you’ll very quickly feel even worse again as you suffer from the insulin crash afterwards.
Having said that, caffeine can often help with a headache and get you feeling sharper again, it depends on your preference. Unfortunately most caffeinated drinks are also diuretic, meaning they will dehydrate you even more. Part of your rehydration might perhaps include essential electrolytes too (Calcium, Potassium, Sodium, Magnesium etc).
Another cause of hangover is acetaldehyde, the toxic chemical produced when alcohol dehydrogenase breaks down alcohol in the liver. This is what causes the ‘poisoned’ feeling. There are a couple of things which work quite well to mop this up – the first is an enzyme called cysteine, which is found in large quantities in eggs. So that’s breakfast sorted out. You can also buy N-acetyl cysteine as a supplement in health food shops. The second thing which mops up acetaldehyde quite well is probiotics – the healthy bacteria found in yoghurt. However perhaps the best way to take this is in capsule form where it’s far more concentrated. A few of these before bedtime can really help you.
Most alcoholic drinks will leave you with low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) by morning, so its important to get that back up again in a slow, stable way. Which means complex carbohydrates as opposed to simple ones. What I mean is whole grains, like wholemeal bread or muesli, vegetables and fruit (particularly bananas to boost your potassium levels again). Carbs like simple sugars, white pasta or potatoes will not help.
The nausea can be eased very effectively with ginger or peppermint tea, and again with those rehydration salts (or electrolytes).
Painkillers are obviously quite tempting, but paracetamol causes further toxic strain on the liver and kidneys, and ibuprofen can irritate the stomach. So aspirin is probably the safest analgesic for a hangover.
Finally you might well benefit from some B vitamin supplements – to calm your central nervous system (responsible for the tremors, sweats and anxiety), but these will tend to have a more long term effect rather than being a short term cure.
No doubt you’ve got plenty of suggestions for your own hangover cures too, so lets hear what works for you in the comments…
Fluid, salt/carbs, sugar/caffine and more fluid.
Big glass of water (drunk slowly), bag of crisps, bottle of coke or something sugary to eat if you can stomach it, and more water.
I think Hangover cures are a bit of a myth, but I would say prevention is better than the “night-after” cures.
There are a lot of products on the market that absorb the toxins in the alcohol, the best are “activated carbon” (hospitals use them for drug overdoses) – and B vitamins are always good!
Great site, great contributers.
alcohol and hangovers can be a big ongoing problem.
Anybody heard of/tried Baclofen?
I hate to say this but my hangovers make me feel jittery in the morning so I take a .25 Xanax and in a half hour I have eggs and take a walk and drink a lot of water and I am fine! I will also say my hangovers are mild as I do get to a point where I stop and say to myself Ok do you really want to feel like crap tomorrow!
Lots of water, extra sleep, orange juice is a must, & a nice cup of Earl Grey
or two. I also take daily doses of Kudzu, Liv-A-New, & DMAE, which helps
prevent hangovers. All 3 can be found in a health supplement store.
The water keeps you hydrated, the orange juice & tea help your system crap
out the toxins, & the extra sleep really helps. Then you can have a nice little
breakfast & go for a brisk walk. They all work together.
I DO speak from experience. Ha Ha!!
as weird as it sounds i eat honey toast and drink green tea for a hangover… even after a long night of binging it makes me feel alot better.
the best thing against a hngover is to vomit while still drunk,water, makes it all go away…
John and Arunas are spot on. I remember when I first started I would always puke and sure enough no hangover!
i did throw up everywhere and woke up today and still feel ill all day and i drank a whole carton of vitamin drink. now i know why i dont go out!!!!!
John is absolutely right. To prevent these horrible hangovers one should throw up right after the party is over (not during it!;))). There is no need to keep your body busy intaking alko you should not have comsumed. Put lots of salt in a pint of lukewarm water, gulp down, throw up as many times as needed making sure your stomach is now absolutely empty. Brush teeth and have a pint of cold water. Have a banana. Have a jar of water next to your bed and have some water every time you wake up or go to the loo. Lots of sleep. This cure cant help you finished partying at 7 in the morning and need to go to work at 8, but i still recommend throwing up. Walking, jogging, sports sounds good, but you will feel feeble after some time for sure.I tried being active several times, it feels good but what you are doing basically is loosing the last remains of energy which you d better spare. honey, youghurt, egg, bread ‘diets’ are all cool but remember. THROW UP, DRINK WATER in the first place;)
Has anyone tried liv.52 and does it work!
im confused now.. im trying to quit alcohol, i thought that was what this sight was all about? im trying to avoid a hangovr like the plague.
Undoubtedly though, people reading through this site will still be faced with hangovers, despite trying to avoid them as much as they can. So for those occasions, it helps to know what might alleviate the pain. If you weren’t dealing with hangovers at all any more, then you probably wouldn’t need to be looking at this site.
i deal with hangovers all the time. it doesnt amuse me. And i cant undstand the people it does. i am not proud of it and i stuggle all time. but we are all diff rent guess.
it’s the fear that gets me, I have been in doors for 3 days now and I am too scared to go to my doctor and get some Valium, I tried to go cold turkey which clearly is not a good idea, this thing has creped up on me and I am terrified, if I get through this there is now way I will ever go on a bender again.
I like the cold myself i hate being hot with a hangover ive been being sick lately bile in the morning through not eating……..loads of water!!! thats the answer not another beer im going off that badley!!! oh yeah and icepolls!!
Having a thread on how to cure hangovers on a site which claims to help people stop drinking is like advertising credit cards on a gamblers anonymous website.
my uncle got stomach ulcers because he took a lot of Aspirin to take care of his high blood pressure.-;~
ibuprofen is definitely the best OTC painkiller for me. It helps me a lot to deal with my muscular pain.;:.
ibuprofen is upposed to be bad for your stomache its supposed to give you ulcers my doctor says?
You’re absolutely right Grant, ideally it should only be taken occasionally, and preferably not on an empty stomach.
I have never had anything work for me to get rid of a hangover, all I can do is ride it out. After reading through these posts, I’m just reminded of how I desperately want to avoid another hangover and how time consuming it is to try the remedies I have tried. I’m glad some of you have things that work for you, I’m definitely not that lucky.
I have another strike against me though, I love to smoke lots of cigarettes when I binge, I will smoke anywhere from 8 to 15 cigs in a night of binging… maybe that is why I feel so crappy the next day
best way not to get a hangover is stick to what your body can hold at 1 time you will feel much better in the morning…..
There absolutely is a cure for a hangover: a sedative like librium or valium. But you have to have a prescription for it. If you drink on a regular basis and are prone to hangovers, get a prescription for librium or valium from your doctor and put it up and only take one in the morning if you have a very nasty hangover. It’s the same drug they give to people going through alcohol withdrawal so they aren’t uncomfortable (nausea, sweating, shaking, headache, etc.) But only take it if you are no longer intoxicated, and DO NOT ABUSE THEM. Only take one, because if you start popping them, you can get even sicker. And don’t just take one any ol time you wake up feeling lousy, use it if you feel especially hungover, on occasion. Don’t drive for the rest of the day. Be careful what you tell your doctor, also. In some states they are required to have you committed if they suspect you are going through alcohol withdrawal, etc.