How to cure a hangover: what one man found after a 10-year quest | Hacker News Reader

How to cure a hangover: what one man found after a 10-year quest

theguardian.com

33 pointslxm59 comments

For those curious what the 'cure' is in the article:

"His cure is relatively simple, or at least relatively simple to acquire – all the ingredients are available in pharmacies, or online.

To prevent the hangover, Bishop-Stall will quaff – after drinking but before sleep – milk thistle, for the liver; the amino acid and immune system aid N-acetylcysteine; vitamins B1, B6 and B12, which boost metabolism; and that famous gift to Jesus, frankincense – an anti-inflammatory"

Thank you. That article was filled with so much useless junk, hiding the one piece of information I was actually curious about.

Or, alternatively, just don't drink so much. If you drank so much you're feeling bad from it the next day then you definitely over-indulged. Hiding the hangover isn't solving the root problem. Drinking too much causes real health problems that aren't prevented by treating the symptoms.

I'm glad I get hangovers. It makes it really obvious when I've overdone it, and it's a useful reminder not to do that again. If I could drink a lot all the time and never experience the short term negative effects then I would definitely experience the long-term ones of alcoholism.

Of course, but for many people, after a couple of drinks, and especially in a party setting, that good judgment goes out the window, resulting in overindulgence and a hangover.

Hangovers are only loosely related to how much alcohol you consume.

You can drink a fairly extreme amounts of alcohol and not get a hangover if you also drink enough water before you go to sleep. Alternatively, if you where even slightly dehydrated even fairly modest drinking can result in a hangover.

There's more variables than just "don't drink so much". Just the other week I woke up with a hangover after having two (4.5% ABV) beers. And this is coming from somehow who often measures their intake in liters, not bottles.

Whether you get a hangover or not is dependent on pretty much all the variables of alcohol metabolism: how much you drink, how fast, at what time, whether you had a full stomach, what type of food you ate, the type of alcohol (dark vs clear), whether you smoked cigarettes, etc. While you definitely shouldn't drink so much, I think it's a bit disingenuous to simply the issue down to how much you drank the night before.

(My personal theory for the two beers night is due to me drinking them some time between 1 and 3 in the morning.)

These are somewhat popular in India (1), my friend swears by it. Not sure if they work or it's just a placebo effect.

(1) http://www.himalayastore.com/wellness/general/partysmart.htm

Warning: DO NOT OPEN THE ABOVE LINK IF YOU'RE NOT IN INDIA!

It made my browser (Chrome mobile) freeze, it displayed a url saying "nonIndia" and was stuck in a constant refresh loop. On Chrome mobile I was unable to close the tab due to bad UX (the close button wouldn't respond so you tap it constantly, but then it closes and you accidently clock on the "reopen tap button" which appears right below your finger and you go back to square one.

What a horribly designed page.

1. Avoid alcohol made with added sugar

2. Don't mix drinks, i.e, wine with whisky

3. Water, every 1-2 drinks have a glass of water.

Thank me later.

> Don't mix drinks, i.e, wine with whisky

Is this not just superstition?

I've found that people's thinking for this comes from either your first point about sugar, or from failing to update your expectations when you go from, say, drinking pints that will take a while to metabolize, and then taking shots that are going to hit you hard and fast with the expectation that they work at the same speed.

I've never heard a reason that, say, a shot and a beer would make you more hung over than a shot and another shot distributed in a beer's worth of water (so it lands at the same pace).

I've heard that carbonation in some drinks acts as a more efficient alcohol delivery system, so mixing heavily carbonated drinks (beer) with higher proof ones (liquor) will maximize absorption and potentially lead to a stronger intoxication / hangover.

That makes sense! There are some funny "beer will hydrate you faster than water after cardio" studies that work for this reason.

I don't understand why every single article about hangover cures seems to ignore the most obvious cure that works pretty much every time, especially when most people already have ready access to it: Ibuprofen

1. Set your alarm for 1-2 hours before you actually need to wake up.

2. When the alarm goes off, take 1-2 Ibuprofen, drink some water, reset your alarm, and go back to sleep.

3. Wake up at the scheduled time, hangover free.

Note: Don't abuse this technique, as it will take a toll on your kidneys and can be hard on your stomach lining. But in a pinch, it straight up works.

---------

Edit: I just went and looked up the side effects of ibuprofen on the stomach lining and all I have to say is, "Holy crap!". This would explain why I have been having to take anti-acid medicine for years! The ibuprofen bottle doesn't even mention the risks to your stomach, and my doctors and gastroenterologist never said anything about it either. They just blamed it on my weight.

Ibuprofin can be hard on the stomach lining and result in stomach bleeding and intestinal damage, especially when mixed with alcohol. Plus it can be hard on an empty stomach and plenty of people have trouble eating during a hangover due to nausea.

I take ibuprofen during a hangover now and then to help with the headaches, but it often just leaves me with an equally-bad painful stomach.

I once read an account of someone that took Ibuprofen on an empty stomach and burned a hole in their stomach lining. Since then I always eat something first.

I thought the most obvious cure was to just drink water... Plus there's no guarantee you'll fall back asleep with your method.

There's no proof that water helps with hangovers, more wives' tail than anything.

it helps with mostly preventing and somewhat treating hangovers... come on now.

It helps 100% of the time if you drink water instead of alcohol the night before.

I thought water is the obvious thing. As far as I know dehydration is the main reason for hang overs and in my experience, drinking water while drinking alcohol removes almost in totality the hangover side effects.

I've never found ibuprofen to work, but I haven't put it a strong test before.

Taking a Ibuprofen slow release capsule before bed might be easier - it lasts for 12 hour

I don't drink alcohol anymore and I didn't typically overdo it when I was drinking, I guess. However; when I was drinking alcohol, I'd always make sure to drink one glass of water for every two alcoholic drinks. I only remember having bad hangovers twice and in both cases, I didn't have access to water while drinking. Water has always been my "cure."

I think part of the benefit of drinking water was that I didn't drink as much alcohol because I'd get full, but I don't know. I never did any scientific study on it.

My Grandpa died - in hospital - because of a stomach bleed caused by Ibuprofen which was given to him by the doctors for his back pain. Beware also of paracetamol, super easy to OD and cause liver damage. The only sensible 'cure' is a hairy dog.

Oh and if you're really in a bad way with shakes etc. Nightnurse is a blessing!

cure it by never getting it. drink a full 8-14oz glass of water for every single drink unit i.e. 1 shot, 1 beer, 1 glass of wine

havent had a hangover in close to a decade doing this.

Ditto. This works for me. I don't always do it because I forget, but I don't usually get a hangover anyways.

If I followed this advice while actively drinking, I would’ve developed hyponatremia almost every day.

3 years later, the best way I’ve found to prevent a hangover is not drinking ;)

Agreed. Also you can partially dial back the water if you're drinking beer since it's basically a drink unit with 8oz of water tacked on

This is also great for avoiding binge drinking. I did this in college and it's incredibly hard to drink to the kind of excess most college folks do when you're needing to pee ever 15 minutes.

> it's incredibly hard to drink to the kind of excess most college folks do when you're needing to pee ever 15 minutes.

Maybe with beer or mixed drinks. You can do a lot of shots in 15min.

How many can you drink if you drink a glass of water for every one of them? That was the proposal.

Almost forgot in college I found success drinking a gallon of water before bed after a night of heavy drinking. Forced me to get up twice to urinate but definitely had a 2-3x effect on my pain the next day.

... and leave a bottle of gatorade on your pillow before you go out for the night.

For me that only makes the hangover a lot softer.

What would end up a day in bed with my head pounding ends up as a shitty day in the sofa doing nothing, feeling like my mouth is gross.

That defeats the point of getting drunk enough to have a serious hangover, though.

My approach is similar, but less effective (I have had the odd hangover).

1. Eat something dry, bread for instance. Wait 10-15 minutes.

2. Mix powdered sports drinks. Drink enough to fill your stomach. Take chelated magnesium with the first gulp (it helps with muscle pain and sleep). You're trying to dilute the alcohol remaining in your stomach.

3. Wait 30 minutes.

4. Empty your bladder.

5. Drink a quarter of your stomach in sports drinks. You're trying to re-hydrate.

6. Have sports drinks near your bed, if you wake up to pee, have a gulp.

I've found that pure water works, but not nearly as well as sports drinks. I've also found that the longer you wait before sleeping, the better things turn out - slowed metabolism during sleep, maybe?

Main problem for me is a headache the next morning. I once read this is caused by water shortage in the brain (caused by the alcohol).

Drinking water is a solution, but normally that goes into the stomach, going to the brain only indirectly. So in 'those cases' I go to bed with a little water that I keep moving round a little in my mouth for a long as am able to (because very soon I fall asleep). If I wake up in the night I do the same again. Next morning again.

I read this 'trick' a long time ago in a book about Indians drinking 'fire water'.

In general this helps al least for keeping away the headache (not the general slow feeling, not the waking up more often, etc).

A long time ago, I was hanging with a bunch of pharma reps (“we’ll push whatever they want us to push”) and they all mentioned that taking a Lipitor before a drinking session would help prevent hangovers. An off-label use for sure.

Wonder where they were getting their non-prescription prescription drugs from. I guess any statin would do the trick here?

Samples probably.

Yes, samples.

I have found that Grapefruit Essential Oil rubbed onto the back of my neck combined with one Vitamin B Multi and one molybdenum supplement pill before bed get rid of the headache and body ache. Then in the morning 2 pints of spring water with added sea salt and lemon juice. If my Stomach is unwell upon waking a Ginger Kombucha really helps settle it. No matter how the body feels it seems that the emotional low that follows still seems unavoidable. Coffee in the morning seems to make really bad hangovers worse and really light ones better.

My go-tos are: Coconut water and Pedialyte

dioralyte works well too

10 years lmao.

Here's my full recipe: "megadose" of B-vitamins (4-5x RDA), 1g vitamin C, 400-800mg ibuprofen with 200-400ml of water and some carbs/sugar (I prefer a slice of bread). Highly recommended - 15 minutes of stretching/sit-ups/dumbbells/walk outside/anything to get your blood going. Optional - a coffee after 30-60 minutes.

Now, you can do it with only ibuprofen/paracetamol, but it won't remove all the hangover effects (it barely subdues the headaches for me).

Benzodiazepines work extremely well even when one is vomiting etc. the next day. They also work well for the DTs that serious alcoholics experience. I'm pretty sure doctors know this but probably don't want to prescribe them for something that will pass on its own. I can't blame them considering how quickly dependence can form and other risks.

Another anti-inflammatory (there are many) that may play well in this case is diet cranberry juice. Added bonus of some hydration.

Drink water while drinking alcoholic drinks and then afterwards before bedtime. Also have antacids.

Alcohol -> acetaldehyde -> acetic acid. Antacid neutralyses the acid.

Alcohol dehydrates the body leading to electrolyte imbalance. Drinking water between your brandies and afterwards prevents that dehydration.

N-acetylcysteine and Thiamin supplements taken the day of a night of heavy drinking has proven quite effective in my experience. Sometimes it didn't seem to work, but usually it was a substantial improvement.

For some reason eating mangos before going to bed and the morning after seems to work, dunno why.

Lots of B vitamins in Mangos I believe? I've heard B vitamins help hang overs a lot.

All I need is alka seltzer and two glasses of water. Works every time.

My cure: pickle brine / cold water surf / ibuprofen

Isn't the real cure to just not get a hangover to begin with? ;-)

TLDR anyone?

tl;dr: cure hangover by taking milk thistle, N-acetylcysteine, vitamins B1, B6 and B12, and frankincense

> after drinking but before sleep – milk thistle, for the liver; the amino acid and immune system aid N-acetylcysteine; vitamins B1, B6 and B12, which boost metabolism; and that famous gift to Jesus, frankincense – an anti-inflammatory.

Note that milk thistle and probably a few other of those have interactions with othe drugs. (emphasis mine)

Take a couple of multivitamin pills. It's literally the B vitamins and water that account for most of it. 10 years my ass.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com