Hangovers

A hangover refers to the symptoms you experience when you sober up after drinking too much alcohol. The symptoms, such as headache, nausea, fatigue, thirst, increased blood pressure and heart rate and lack of focus can start in the night, within hours of your last drink, and last for about 24 hours.

The signs and symptoms of a hangover can include:

• fatigue
• thirst
• headache
• poor sleep
• nausea (feeling sick)
• stomach pain
• sensitivity to light and noise
• dizziness/vertigo
• muscle aches
• feeling anxious (hangxiety)
• feeling irritable
• sweating
• increased blood pressure and heart rate
• not having a clear head
• not remembering what happened while you were drinking
• feeling sneezy, snuffly, wheezy, or itchy. 

A number of different things contribute to hangovers:

• The effect of the ethanol and toxic by-products created when alcohol is broken down in your body. How bad your hangover is will be influenced by your ability to break down (metabolise) alcohol. Slower alcohol metabolism may be associated with:
  • getting older
  • being female 
  • having poor nutrition
  • medications (eg, disulfram and metronidazole)
  • being a heavy drinker
  • having liver disease
  • genetic factors.  
• Other products in alcohol produced during the fermentation process (congeners). Congeners contribute to hangover severity by:
  • extending the time it takes to break down alcohol
  • producing additional toxins, and
  • triggering inflammatory and stress responses in your body.
• Sulphites added to wine as preservatives can lead to headaches and allergy-type reactions (see below).

Causes of hangover symptoms

Alcohol affects a number of your body systems which can lead to the symptoms of a hangover.

• Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it makes you pee more quickly. This can cause dehydration which in turn gives you a headache, thirst and fatigue. If you drink enough that you vomit (throw up), that will add to dehydration as well. 
• Alcohol may make you go to sleep more quickly or easily but is likely to disrupt your sleep and sleep patterns, meaning you sleep less overall and feel more tired in the morning. Read more about alcohol and sleep.
• Alcohol irritates the lining of your stomach and increases the production of acid. This can cause a sore stomach, acid reflux and an irritated gut and diarrhoea (runny poo).
• Alcohol increases inflammation in your body which can make you feel generally unwell.
• As your body metabolises alcohol, a toxic by-product (acetaldehyde) is created. This can cause inflammation of your liver, pancreas, brain, and gut. For slow metabolisers (more common in East Asian people) this may result in symptoms such as facial flushing, fast heart rate, nausea and headache.

• Hangovers are very unpleasant due to the headache, nausea, anxiety and other symptoms that can go along with drinking too much. However, they can also be dangerous as a hangover can affect your coordination and your ability to think straight and focus.
• If you’re sensitive to the sulphites in alcohol it can produce allergic symptoms and high sulphites can trigger your asthma symptoms if you have asthma.
• As alcohol leaves your system it causes a drop in blood glucose levels which may be a problem if you have diabetes. Read more about diabetes and alcohol. 
• If you consistently drink alcohol or drink a lot of alcohol you risk doing lasting damage to your liver and other parts of your body. Read more about how alcohol affects you.

There’s no way to cure a hangover or make it go away more quickly. It takes time for your body to rid itself of the toxins contained in alcohol and get back to normal function.

Meanwhile it’s a good idea to:

• rehydrate your body (if you're dehydrated) – preferably with water
• eat some plain food
• do some light to moderate exercise
• take pain relief if you have pain or a headache
• have a sleep if you can.

But what about the things I’ve heard can help?

You may have heard that drinking strong coffee, taking a shower, having an electrolyte (energy) drink or another alcoholic drink will help cure a hangover. The first 3 won’t – the caffeine in coffee and many energy drinks makes you pee more often than you would have otherwise so can add to the immediate problem of dehydration. Having another alcoholic drink may make you feel better in the short term but actually prolongs your recovery and your hangover symptoms may return once that latest alcohol boost leaves your system. It will still take another 24 hours for you to recover.

The only sure way to prevent a hangover is to not drink alcohol! There are a number of advantages associated with not drinking alcohol or cutting back on how much you drink.

Image credit: Depositphotos

If you are going to drink alcohol there are steps you can take to reduce your chances of having a hangover.

• Make sure you’re well hydrated before you have an alcoholic drink, and drink water throughout the evening. Alternate each drink with a glass of water and drink more water before going to bed. 
• Have some food with or before you have a drink.
• Drink safely by pacing yourself and limiting the amount of alcohol you have overall. You could try low-alcohol alternatives.
• Know what you’re drinking and how much alcohol is in it. There might be a safe-looking fruit punch at a party that’s actually as alcoholic as a cocktail.
• Avoid drinks you know have given you a hangover in the past. 
• Avoid drinks that have high levels of congeners in them, such as whisky, cognac and tequila.