Online Alcoholism & Addiction Counselling

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…

Everyone seems to drink alcohol in our culture. Many seem to drink to excess on occasion. But how much drinking is too much?

Many of our clients say - why can’t I be like other people? They seem to be able to drink without getting drunk all the time.

Regular drinking is not necessarily a problem - in Mediterranean cultures families will usually have wine with dinner on most days. But they just have a glass or two. Few people in those countries see any problem with drinking like that.

The truth is, it varies from person to person - there’s no absolute level of alcohol consumption at which you have a problem.

Most people know if they’re drinking too much

… even before other people tell them. Basically if the negative consequences are more than the positive ones. But there are many signs to look out for -

• if you’re looking forward to a drink more than the other things in your life,
• if you’re often feeling depressed or guilty - like you need to hide how much you’re drinking from others, or even having a ’secret’ drink when you can get away with it,
• if you’ve ever noticed a pile of your empties and thought ‘wow, that’s getting big’,
• if the following day, you can’t concentrate on what you need to, because you ‘just can’t face it today’ - (you’re too hungover),
• if you’re finding it difficult to look people in the eye, because you think they might be judging you,
• if you’re buying a bottle during the day, do you buy lots of groceries with it to hide the fact that you’re buying alcohol before lunchtime?
• but one of the surest signs is this - if you’re hungover, and you start thinking ‘just one drink will take this hangover away’, then you’ve definitely got a problem.

What signs have you noticed that you’re drinking too much?

The symptoms of alcohol withdrawal are exceptionally unpleasant, as I’m sure you know. There are physical symptoms and emotional ones. Let’s start with the most extreme to get it out of the way - death.

Yes, if you’re sufficiently dependent on alcohol, then a sudden withdrawal as opposed to a gradual detox can actually kill you, usually via a seizure. But lets hope you’re not quite that bad just yet (if you are, then at least try to cut down gradually, or better than that - see a doctor). Heart palpitations are the milder form of this.

On to the less fatal withdrawal symptoms then, we have hallucinations (usually unpleasant - spiders or snakes are common), the shakes, nausea and vomiting, oh and diarrhoea of course. Particularly unpleasant is waking in the middle of the night soaked in cold sweat, or alternatively, your own piss. It’s not sounding like a party exactly, is it?

Then you might have a splitting headache, often from severe dehydration and dilation of blood vessels. Basically the brain shrinks away from the lining of the skull. Ouch!

Hypoglycaemia, caused by the inability of the liver to metabolize sugar, can then leave you feeling irritable, nervous or aggressive, and weak.

You might end up with a few more emotional effects too, like mood swings, depression or confusion. Basically feeling like the lowest form of life on the planet.

So how can you make alcohol withdrawal easier?

• Electrolyte replacement might help (the sachets you can get for diarrhoea are the best), along with plenty of liquids.
• Complex carbohydrates (like brown rice, wholemeal bread, wholegrain cereals etc.) will help to slowly stabilize your blood sugar levels.
• Eggs contain Cysteine, which can help the liver to metabolize Acetaldehyde (the toxic by-product of alcohol).
• B-vitamin supplements are essential, as they help your nerve cells to recover from the damage you’ve inflicted.
• We all know about the healing powers of caffeine - this constricts the blood vessels and can therefore alleviate the headache.

The other ones are obvious - don’t mix your drinks, and don’t drink too much in the first place!