Author: Alex Thompson

What Causes A Hangover? Symptoms, Duration, Treatment, and More

“It’s also worth mentioning that it’s more likely to be lifestyle factors which play the biggest part in making us feel worse during a hangover. If you have not had a restful sleep, a hangover can be exacerbated, meaning you can feel a lot worse and it will last a lot longer. Alcohol is a diuretic, leaving you feeling dehydrated, so if you have not managed to rehydrate yourself sufficiently, you may feel this effect for some time.

1. But ask your healthcare professional if this is safe for you and how much medicine is best for you.
2. It’s possible that some chemicals in wine and how the body responds to them could result in a headache after drinking wine.
3. Clear liquors, such as vodka and gin, have comparatively lower concentrations of congeners.

Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Basford believes the body’s ability to process alcohol “can worsen with age”, while lifestyle factors can also play a role. “Unless you can roll over and go back to sleep, it is advisable to not drink a lot if you need to be up the next day. Chances are, you will feel groggy and exhausted for the rest of the next day.” Therefore, you should always read the information that comes with any medicine you take to see if there are any specific alcohol warnings.

How Long Can a Hangover Last? We Asked the Experts

Read on to learn more about what congeners are, which drinks to avoid, tips for recovery, and more. Ultimately, the only surefire remedy for a hangover is to avoid getting one by drinking in moderation or choosing not to drink. During a hangover, a person’s attention, decision-making, and muscle coordination can all be impaired. Also, the ability to perform important tasks, such as driving, operating machinery, or caring for others can be negatively affected. Typically, your symptoms are the worst when your blood alcohol level returns to zero.

What’s the Best Cure?

Not drinking alcohol is the only surefire way to prevent a monster hangover in the future. Alcohol has a diuretic effect that makes you pee more, leading to dehydration if you’re not also drinking water. If you drink enough alcohol to vomit, then that’s even more fluid lost. There’s evidence that reduced sleep after drinking leads to more severe hangovers. Ideal for helping the liver to process the after-effects of too much alcohol, Take before you get the party started to line your stomach and protect your liver from the worst effects. A missed meal can also make hangovers last a lot longer, with Abdeh advising “you should always line your stomach with a meal before you start to drink.

Treatment for problems with alcohol is widely available. Hangover symptoms peak when the blood alcohol concentration in the body returns to about zero. Most people who get hangovers can diagnose themselves based on their alcohol consumption and symptoms. If you feel sick after consuming alcohol, you most likely have a hangover.

Things to avoid

Common symptoms include tiredness, dry mouth, headache, nausea, problems thinking clearly, and low tolerance for light and sound. A hangover refers to a set of symptoms that occur as a consequence of drinking too much. Typical symptoms include fatigue, weakness, thirst, headache, muscle aches, nausea, stomach pain, vertigo, sensitivity to light and sound, anxiety, irritability, sweating, and increased blood pressure. Although many remedies for alleviating hangovers are mentioned on the web and in social media, none have been scientifically proven to be effective.

More alcohol just increases the toxicity of the alcohol already in your body. You’re also more likely to have memory, concentration and coordination issues when you have a hangover. In general, the severity of your symptoms depends on how much you drank and for how long. Some companies use misleading advertising to claim that their products can prevent hangovers. But the only guaranteed way to prevent a hangover is to not drink alcohol.

How long will symptoms last?

But some people are more likely to have hangovers than others are. A difference in a gene that affects the way the body breaks down alcohol may make some people flush, sweat or become ill after drinking even a small amount of alcohol. Alcoholic beverages contain ingredients called congeners. These give many types of alcoholic beverages their taste and smell.

During this period, an individual may have severe mental and physical stress due to alcohol withdrawal. Becoming dehydrated through drinking too much alcohol can serve to make your hangover worse, and make the effects last longer. Other people seem to be able to get away with several drinks, or even a night of heavy drinking, without experiencing much in the way of next-day effects. Hangovers can cause more than just unpleasant symptoms. Alcohol impairs your attention, decision-making processes and muscle coordination.

When your body processes alcohol, one of the byproducts is acetaldehyde. This substance can cause a fast pulse, sweating and nausea. In most people, the body breaks down acetaldehyde before it causes problems. But it can cause inflammation in organs, leading to uncomfortable symptoms.