Hangovers

Hangovers

Hangover means a group of unpleasant uncomfortable signs and symptoms that develops after drinking too much alcohol. If feeling awful was not bad enough, hangovers are characterized by poor performance, confusion, and conflict at work.

Remember a general rule, the more alcohol you drink, the more likely you are to have a hangover the next day. There are no other formulae to tell how much you can drink to avoid a hangover. However, most hangovers go away on their own, though they last up to only 24 hours. 

Symptoms

Symptoms of hangover begin when your blood alcohol level drops significantly or is at zero or near 0. They usually affect fully in the morning just after a night of heavy drinking. The sign and symptoms depend on how much you drink and what to drank. The person may experience symptoms like:HANGOVER SYMPTOMS TREATMENT

  • Fatigue
  • Weakness
  • Dry mouth
  • Excessive thirst
  • Headaches, body ache, and muscle ache
  • Nausea, vomiting 
  • Stomach pain
  • Poor or disturbed sleep
  • vertigo or dizziness 
  • Shaking
  • Unable to focus 
  • Mood swings
  • Depression, anxiety, and irritability 
  • Increased heartbeat

More severe signs and symptoms can cause alcohol poisoning after heavy drinking. The person will show symptoms like

  • Vomiting
  • Confusion
  • Seizures
  • Slow breathing and Irregular breathing 
  • Blue skin or pale skin
  • Low body temperature
  • Difficulty in remaining conscious
  • Sometimes unconscious 
Causes

As you know Hangovers are usually caused by drinking too much alcohol. A single drink is enough to trigger a hangover for some people, while others who have a habit drink heavily and can escape a hangover.

Various causes which are responsible for triggering a hangover are:

  • Dehydration. Because alcohol makes urine more frequently and more urination leads to thirst, dry mouth, and dehydration which lead to dizziness
  • Alcohol triggers an inflammatory response like unable to concentrate, memory issues, loss of appetite, and many other responses from the immune system. 
  • Alcohol also irritates the stomach lining and increases the production of stomach acid. This causes pain, nausea, and vomiting.
  • Due to drinking alcohol, the blood sugar level decreases. And it triggers mood swings, shakiness, seizures, etc
  • Alcohol expands blood vessels. 
  • Alcohol makes the person feel tired and sleepy. 
  • Drinking on an empty stomach can cause hangovers
  • Drinking dark alcoholic drinks.
Treatment

The only treatment for a hangover is time. Time is the only cure. In the meantime, there are some things you can do to make yourself feel better:

  • Always have water or fruit juice to prevent dehydration. 
  • Have some snacks like toast and crackers, chips, chocolate. These will boost your blood sugar and settle your stomach. 
  • Take a pain reliever whenever you feel headache or body pain. Standard dose of a counter pain reliever. But make sure you do not eat any medication that may worsen the condition like aspirin can irritate your stomach, acetaminophen can cause severe liver damage even due to alcohol. First, ask the doctor what will be safest.
  • Sleeping for long enough hours makes you feel comfortable and your hangover may also be gone when you awake.
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