Dear reader, it’s been a couple of days since St. Patrick’s Day, and some of my friends are still complaining about recovering from the excessive alcohol intake they enjoyed. So I’ve decided to share with you my “cure” for a hangover. First, I should mention that I’m not a doctor and have no medical training whatsoever, take this advice at your own risk. I play rock-and-roll music and my lifestyle involves a few late nights out every now and then (in other words, all the time), so that’s really the only expertise I have. Second, there is no “cure” for a hangover, you can only help the symptoms, the damage will still be done, you just won’t suffer as much for it.
Saint John’s Hangover Cure:
1) Water. One or two large glasses right before you go to bed (pass out), or at least right when you wake up.
2) Emergen-C or Airborne with the water in step 1. The vitamins will replenish your system and some of them help you retain water and will help against the dehydration from the alcohol.
3) Ibuprofen (Advil) or Aspirin. I never take acetaminophen (Tylenol) after alcohol because it’s been reported to cause liver scarring and other bad effects when combined with alcohol. Ibuprofen causes stomach bleeding with some folks and causes liver damage with prolonged use etc, so talk to your doctor. I’m lucky, I can take Aspirin without any effects on my stomach but it can be harsh for some people.
The key element you have to remedy with a hangover is the dehydration. The other factor is the chemical reaction that your liver creates when it’s processing the alcohol, some of the byproducts are similar to formaldehyde (a particularly nasty chemical that you don’t want in your system and should flush out with lots of kinder fluids, like water) and are supposedly caused by darker coloured alcoholic drinks, so keep in mind that lighter coloured alcohols typically induce cleaner and more subdued hangovers. Drinking little or no alcohol of course gives you even few hangovers and is widely recommended!, but I’m not your mother, just your hopefully-helpful friendly rock musician.
There are much more complicated remedies for a hangover, but I figured I’d give you my short list since it’s very easy to have Emergen-C/Airborne and water handy. Plan accordingly before you go out, and be good to yourself!
Love,
SJ
PS. If you really want to be Johnny-at-the-rathole, take the Emergen-C/Airborne water combo BEFORE you start to drink, and then again before you sleep!