How to quickly and effectively treat a severe hangover
A severe hangover is a complex of negative symptoms that occurs several hours after drinking alcohol. Headache, nausea and vomiting make adjustments to planned activities and reduce mental and physical performance. A hangover usually goes away within a day, but there are certain techniques that allow you to quickly restore the functional activity of all vital systems.
Pathogenesis of hangover syndrome
A hangover is the consequences of alcohol intoxication of the body with ethyl alcohol. During its metabolism, compounds that are toxic to internal organs and hepatocytes (liver cells) are formed. They are the ones that provoke the negative symptoms of a hangover. Their severity depends on the presence in the gastrointestinal tract of special enzymes that break down ethanol. The more there are, the better a person feels after an evening feast. The formation of alcohol addiction depends on the amount of these biologically active substances.
Warning: “Enzyme deficiency increases the likelihood of developing mental and physical dependence on ethyl alcohol and increases the symptoms of a severe hangover.”
- causes a state of euphoria;
- increases motor activity;
- improves mood.
The main biological filter of the human body, the liver, is directly involved in the metabolism of ethyl alcohol. With the help of special enzymes, ethanol is broken down into acetaldehyde, a highly toxic compound. This is what causes bad breath during a hangover. At the next stage of metabolism, acetaldehyde is hydrolyzed to acetic acid, a significant concentration of which has a negative effect on liver cells and the entire body as a whole.
The hangover will last only as long as alcohol breakdown products circulate in the bloodstream. The liver uses all its reserves to process ethanol, and many substances necessary for the normal functioning of the body remain undigested. Chemical reactions, the end products of which include glucose, slow down. Due to its acute deficiency, in a state of severe hangover, a person feels tired, weak, lethargic and drowsy.
Soluble aspirin will help get rid of headaches with a severe hangover.
Clinical picture
The extremely uncomfortable state of a severe hangover is not limited to headaches and indigestion. The severity of symptoms depends on the gender, age, and health status of the person. Women have fewer enzymes in their bodies necessary to process ethyl alcohol than the stronger sex. By the way, this becomes the main cause of intractable female alcoholism.If some people feel quite tolerable after drinking a half-liter bottle of vodka in the evening, others experience torment from a couple of glasses of dry wine. Scientists have proven the relationship between the negative symptoms of a severe hangover and the composition of alcohol. Signs of poisoning are much stronger if alcohol-containing drinks contain flavoring additives:
- flavorings;
- dyes;
- fusel oils;
- sugar.
When drinking alcoholic beverages, a person empties his bladder more often. This is the result of the pathological effects of acetaldehyde on the kidneys. When hungover, people experience extreme thirst, but cold water or compote does not bring the desired relief. The fact is that there is plenty of fluid in the cells of the body. It’s just distributed in a rather peculiar way - there is a deficiency of it in the bloodstream, and a clear excess in some tissues. Such injustice is clearly evidenced by bags under the eyes and swelling on the legs and arms.
Toxic breakdown products of ethanol have a negative effect on the cardiovascular system. A few hours after drinking alcohol, a person experiences signs of a severe hangover:
- cardiopalmus;
- increased sweating, chills;
- tremor of the upper extremities;
- dizziness.
Experts associate these symptoms of intoxication with the loss of magnesium, a trace element necessary for the active functioning of the heart and central nervous system. Death and damage to a significant number of neurons (brain cells) lead to a hangover: emotional instability, increased anxiety, nervous excitability. In especially severe cases, a person cannot remember how yesterday’s party ended.
Treatment of the consequences of alcohol intoxication
Specialized doctors - narcologists - know how to get rid of a severe hangover. Paid clinics offer their services in treating the consequences of alcohol poisoning using solutions for parenteral administration. For a fee, the doctor will come to the patient’s home to help him stop drinking. This condition occurs in a person who prefers the treatment of “like like,” therefore, in a state of hangover, he drinks another portion of alcohol. But most people do not practice this method of “therapy”, but use time-tested methods of getting rid of nausea and hand tremors.
Complex medicines
On pharmacy shelves there is a wide range of drugs that help treat severe hangovers. Manufacturers produce them in the form of capsules and tablets for preparing solutions. The multicomponent composition of the drugs allows you to quickly get rid of a whole range of negative symptoms of alcohol poisoning. The following drugs are most effective:
- Antipohmelin. The dietary supplement contains succinic acid, a known adaptogen that increases the body's performance. Antipohmelin also contains vitamin C, fumaric and glutamic acids, which have the ability to bind and remove toxic breakdown products of ethyl alcohol from the body. The medicine can also be taken to prevent a hangover;
- Alcoseltzer. Effervescent tablets with a self-explanatory name consist of acetylsalicylic and citric acid, as well as sodium bicarbonate. Aspirin helps eliminate severe headaches and reduces platelet aggregation in the bloodstream (under the influence of ethanol, the blood thickens). Sodium bicarbonate, when dissolved in water, reacts chemically with citric acid. The result is a drink saturated with carbon dioxide bubbles, which soothes the irritated mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract;
- Zorex. The capsules and effervescent tablets contain unitol and calcium pantothenate. The drugs are used for detoxification therapy for hangovers at home. Zorex is able to bind ethanol metabolic products circulating in the bloodstream - acetaldehyde, fusel oils and acetic acid and remove them from the body.
These remedies should be used in case of a severe hangover in accordance with the attached instructions. The dosage should not be increased in order to speed up recovery. This will increase the unwanted load on the liver, which has already been negatively affected by alcohol-containing drinks.
Rehydron relieves the symptoms of a severe hangover, replenishes the supply of microelements
Removing toxins from the body
While the harmful breakdown products of ethyl alcohol circulate in the blood vessels, a person will experience all the signs of a hangover. Gastric lavage with a weak pink solution of potassium permanganate will help reduce the severity of symptoms of intoxication. But this procedure is lengthy, unpleasant, and its implementation is made difficult by the lack of products in the digestive organs. Adsorbents and enterosorbents will come to the rescue. These pharmacological drugs have the ability to bind toxic compounds on their surface. What medications can be used to treat a severe hangover:
- Smecta;
- Polyphepan;
- Polysorb.
The undoubted advantages of these drugs include the absence of side effects. After the adsorption of waste and toxins, they are excreted unchanged from the body with each emptying of the bladder and intestines. Adsorbents and enterosorbents not only cleanse tissues, but also relieve a person from nausea, vomiting, and excess gas formation during a hangover.
Headache treatment
A very severe hangover always occurs against the background of a painful headache, localized mainly in the back of the head. If your home medicine cabinet does not have a comprehensive drug to treat the consequences of alcohol intoxication, then you can get by with regular acetylsalicylic acid. A headache caused by a hangover will be quickly eliminated by a product designed to prepare an effervescent solution (Aspirin UPSA).
Warning: “Acetylsalicylic acid should not be abused - the tablets have a negative effect on the gastric mucosa, which is in an inflamed state due to the toxic effects of ethanol.”
Citramon quickly and effectively relieves a person of severe headaches due to a hangover. The tablets contain caffeine, which has a tonic effect. Good for headaches:
- Spazgan;
- Spasmalgon;
- Ketorol;
- Baralgin;
- Nurofen.
Paracetamol is undoubtedly in every first aid kit, but it should only be used as a last resort. This drug is intended more for reducing fever and has a significant number of side effects and contraindications.
Restoring water-salt balance in the body
In the morning after a fun party or get-togethers with friends, a person suffers from severe thirst. The cells and tissues in his body experience no less torment during a hangover. Along with the liquid during urination, useful microelements and vitamins are removed from the body. And these biologically active substances are necessary for metabolic processes. The following drugs will help restore water and electrolyte balance and normalize the metabolism of fats, proteins and carbohydrates:
- Hydrovit;
- Reosolan;
- Trihydron.
The powders contain mineral compounds necessary for the body and dextrose to replenish energy reserves. Abuse of alcoholic beverages often causes indigestion - vomiting and diarrhea, which further increases dehydration. In this case, taking Regidron and its analogues is vital, otherwise the person’s condition with a hangover will greatly worsen.
Traditional medicine recommends restoring the water-salt balance with brine from pickled cucumbers or tomatoes. It contains natural mineral compounds and sugar, has a pleasant taste and smell. Narcologists do not object to this use of brine for a hangover, but only if vinegar was not used in the process of making homemade pickles.
Treatment of neurological disorders
Despite feeling unwell and weak, a person with a hangover experiences irritation and increased nervous excitability. His hands tremble, fear and anxiety appear. This is how the body’s nervous system reacts to alcohol intoxication and damage to brain cells by ethanol. What to do in case of a severe hangover to eliminate neurological symptoms.
