hair of the dog that bit you

[littlepea]

this might not be in the spirit of the board, and i don't want to encourage binge drinking, but does anyone know of a hangover cure that actually works?

i ask because i'm hungover and feel like poo. often when i'm hungover i go out for a drive with a couple of the guys who i was out with the night before and get a mcdonald's drive-thru and then i feel a lot better afterwards, but it could just be the fact that by that time i'll have had a shower, some food, a beverage (with caffeine and sugar in it) and i'll have been up and doing something rather than lying in bed wishing i hadn't drunk so much the night before ...

"hair of the dog that bit you" does work and it has been used in scotland for centuries, hence why we have so many alcoholics, since the phrase means: if you're hungover, drink a little of what you had the night before and you'll feel better (it works in the short term but it just delays the feeling of being hungover, really) ... so people start drinking for fun, then they keep on drinking day in day out to avoid feeling hungover ... don't think i'll risk getting caught up in that cycle ...

besides i don't have any stella artois on me ...

[dianaholberg]

Hangovers are mostly caused by dehydration so drink plenty of water, or even better, fruit juice. It won't make you feel better, but it might shorten the length of time you're hung-over. Plus you can go here for more ideas.

(Of course, abstinence is the best cure... )

[littlepea]

nah, abstinence doesn't cure it, it prevents it, which isn't much use the morning after

i need to get some fruit juice - sanguinello is my favourite (blood orange juice).

[dianaholberg]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...

[littlepea]

of course you're right, but that's no reason to stop looking for a cure

[Amalcas]

Really, there's no cure. Hangovers are, as Diana mentioned, in good part, caused by dehydration, as alcohol is a diuretic. However, there are at least two other sides to alcohol: its neurological effects, which allow "hair of the dog that bit you" to work; and the fact that it is a poison, which is why I say there is no cure, per se. While water will not only hydrate you, but also flush the alcohol out of your body, you'll feel like crud in the interim until your body repairs itself. The neurological effects are quite interesting....did you know it has the same effect on your brain as nicotine and opium? Not as severe, of course, but still quite bad enough.

[littlepea]

my dad (a doctor) has described it to me in this way: when you consume alcohol, it slows down your brain to an extent and your brain has to work over-time to keep your body under control (but it's not 100%, hence your co-ordination and general control over your body isn't so good when you're drunk), but then when the alcohol wears off your brain is still working over-time which is why you get kind of jittery and sometimes you get the shakes the day after a booze-up.

i went out and got some mcdonald's (which went down very well) and then picked up some sanguinello from the tesco next door. i think i drank too much sanguinello too quickly, though, cos i'm starting to feel a bit unwell again. i was feeling a bit better a couple of hours ago, but now i feel poor again.

i must have drank quite a lot last night cos i haven't felt this hungover in a while (though i also hadn't had anything to eat before going out, so i was drinking on an empty stomach ... a very bad idea in retrospect). the worst hungover i've ever been was the day after my 18th birthday, for obvious reasons (drinking age in the UK is 18 ) ever heard of a "dirty pint"?