Hello Lovelies!

This is hopefully going to be a quick and informative post.  And something I'm sure it will help some people out and ease the suffering from the dreaded hangover.  Now many people do say, "self inflicted wounds" and all of that, but why suffer when you don't need to?

This is something that kind of goes around, low key as a lot of nurses don't want the secret given away - or they themselves don't know!  So I'm actually quite lucky to be privy to this information!

Anyway, lets start at the beginning, with a quick explanation of what alcohol does to your system and what causes the horrendous hangover feeling.  Alcohol is an irritant for your whole system.  It's basically poison.  And with the irritation caused in your stomach it can cause cramps, nausea and vomiting.  Alcohol also as a major dehydration affect on the body, which is where most of the problem comes from the next day - such as feeling woozy or having a thumping headache.  This dehydration affects your skin too, have you ever woke up after a night out with massive dark circles under your eyes that no amount of sleeping all day will shift?; or you wakeup and your skin looks dull and you've developed spots? That's the effects from the alcohol.  It basically makes it through your whole system damaging parts of it along the way.  I wont go down the route of long term effects or liver disease or heart disease in this post - that's a bit too serious for this post, and I'll be here all day, although it is very important to know.



Due to the dehydration that occurs from drinking alcohol, your electrolytes will be off balance, so drinking water to re-hydrate won't be 100% effective as it doesn't replace the electrolytes, just the moisture.  So I recommend drinking Dioralyte (please be aware of any interactions with other medications or affects this can have on pre-existing medical conditions - particularly diabetics, consult your Doctor before use - but maybe don't say it's for hangover use!).  This is an electrolyte re-balancer which is intended for use if you have had a sickness bug or tummy upsets, to put them to rights.  This is available in Boots and other pharmacies, and is something you can pick up without prescription, like paracetamol or cold remedies.  There are instructions on the packet about how to take this, but basically they are powder sachets that you dissolve in water and drink.  Adults can take 1-2 sachets but I'd recommend starting with one and see how you go.  When you get in from your night out, drink a large glass of this (probably as quick as possible as it tastes horrible!) and then another same sized glass of water, then pop off to bed.  When you wake up in the morning you shouldn't feel like you've been out drinking the night before, just a little lethargic.
Image taken from Google images - no copyright infringement intended. (I'm currently all out of this!)
6 Sachets available from Boots for £3.75

Then what I tend to do is, have a cup of tea to get something in my stomach, and I take a vitamin C supplement.  The vitamin C supplement will have the same, re-energising effect it would if you take it when you have a cold (like I do), I tend to have a dissolvable one, such as Berocca as that's getting in more fluids for rehydration too.  Generally around this time your body will start crying out for a McDonalds or KFC or something equally salty and carb-licious as your body knows it needs salt and carbs.  So I say, give it to them!  The carbs will help to build up some storable energy so that you can get on with your day, and the salt is needed for your electrolytes.

This should make you feel better.  But, as I've said, alcohol is basically a poison so until it is completely out of your system you wont feel 100%, this may take it away initially but unless you keep up rehydrating you will probably feel rubbish again. This should help, and it does for me and my friend that let me in on the secret!  We are really small people though so, if you're exceptionally tall, or just bigger in general, two sachets of dioralyte may be better for you.  But it's all about finding what works for you.  It is said that there is no 'cure' for a hangover, and this is because there isn't something that will work completely for everyone, but it does not mean that there isn't steps you can take and adjust to suit yourself (within reason of your health).

Rebekah
xx