So You Have a Hangover…

Best Bets for the Morning After
By Emily Battaglia, LifeScript Staff Writer
Monday, January 1, 2007

Your head’s pounding. Your stomach’s turning. All of a sudden, you have an entirely different New Year’s resolution – never to drink again. Since you can’t take back the night, what can you do to recover today? Have a Bloody Mary? Have sex? Go back to sleep? What really works? Find out now. Plus: Could you have a drinking problem?

Five rum and Cokes at last night’s New Year’s party, and no wonder you’re hung over. You probably have one or more of these unpleasant symptoms: headache, nausea, weakness, dizziness, upset stomach, diarrhea, loss of appetite, excessive thirst, shaking, and dry mouth.

A hangover is your body’s response to being poisoned by all those alcohol toxins. It’s telling you that you’ve consumed more booze than you can metabolize efficiently. The alcohol byproduct acetaldehyde and alcohol impurities called cogeners are largely to blame for your misery. You probably exacerbated it by drinking on an empty stomach, drinking dark liquors and/or drinking too quickly.

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First, let’s tackle your dehydration. Alcohol is a diuretic, which means you lost a lot of water last night. As a result, your liver and kidneys can’t process the alcohol properly to rid your body of toxins. Gulping gallons of water won’t cure your hangover, but it will rehydrate you and make you feel better.

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Avoid acetaminophen, found in over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol. When taken with alcohol or to nurse a hangover it can cause liver damage. Ibuprofen doesn’t mix well with alcohol either. It can cause stomach irritation and bleeding, especially when you continually use it to treat hangovers or take more than the recommended dosage.

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