from the why-do-people-whisper-so-LOUD? dept.
Each Saturday morning, a grand Australian tradition takes place: Thousands of people nursing hangovers drop an orange disc into a glass of water, down the resulting bubbly drink, and hope for a quick end to their sorrows.
The orange disc is called a Berocca. It turns a plain glass of water into a concoction full of B vitamins, vitamin C, zinc, and sometimes caffeine. Somehow this product turned into the preferred hangover cure in Australia and a popular one in South Africa, England, Korea, and France, along with dozens of other countries. Now the imbibers in the U.S. can try their luck with Berocca, too. Bayer has just brought the product stateside and is selling it in stores like Safeway, CVS, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, and Target. “It was the right time and the right moment,” says Laura Pinkett, the senior brand manager for Berocca at Bayer Healthcare.
So, fellow Soylents, what hangover “cures” have you tried? How did they work for you? What do you recommend? Have you found something that prevents a hangover? Given that it's the weekend and some may be in non-optimal shape at the moment, please share your experiences and help out a fellow Soylent!
(Score: 2) by middlemen on Saturday September 06 2014, @02:03PM
Have sex when you're hung. over...
(Score: 1) by PReDiToR on Saturday September 06 2014, @05:36PM
Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger.
(Score: 2) by nitehawk214 on Sunday September 07 2014, @03:26AM
... and out.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 1) by hendrikboom on Saturday September 06 2014, @02:03PM
One cause of hangover is dehydration. Metabolising alcohol takes a lot of water. So I drink lots of water. This mitigates the hangover. I'm told a painkiller such as aspirin can also help, but haven't used it myself.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Saturday September 06 2014, @02:36PM
Drink water while drinking alcohol, and drink water before going to sleep. Wake up MUCH happier.
Then start drinking again. Continue being happy! :)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by MrGuy on Saturday September 06 2014, @02:38PM
Agree! I've never met a hangover "cure" that's worked better for me than Gatorade, though admittedly it's a small sample.
I read somewhere (read: "I believe someone smarter than me said this, but I'm too lazy to verify it, but believing it to be expert opinion comforts me that my beliefs are right and yours aren't") that the 2 asprin you take do less to ease your hangover than the glass of water you wash them down with.
(Score: 1) by Wierd0n3 on Monday September 08 2014, @05:45AM
Agreed. Down a gatorade right before bed, (or just after rising, if you had no say in falling asleep) and that hangover is non-existant quickly. or if your a bit more frugal, the propel packets at the grocery store take less space, and (i think) taste better.
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Saturday September 06 2014, @03:28PM
Hangover cures which work typically involve large quantities of water. The problem is that people with hangovers usually drink anything except plain water. So, many of these cures are made more exotic. For example, water with painkillers or tomato juice. The extra ingredients may have some benefit but the most important parts are water and maybe some electrolytes.
1702845791×2
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday September 06 2014, @06:19PM
I've already said this in another discussion, but what works for me is chugging unsweetened, unflavored coconut milk during and after drinking. The calcium carbonate in it soothes your stomach, and it has vitamins and minerals which replenish at least some of those lost from drinking.
Dimebag Darrel of Pantera swore by Pedialyte and cheap Mexican food, but Pedialyte really doesn't contain all that many electrolytes for a human adult. What it does do is hydrate you while preventing you shitting your britches.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Joe Desertrat on Saturday September 06 2014, @05:49PM
I've found that preventing dehydration helps as well. Twice a year I attend multi-day events which end up with me drinking quite a bit while still photographing and reporting on the events afterwards. I've found several things that help. Drink water of course. Before going to bed, have a can of chicken broth or chicken noodle soup, or some other such soup that has a higher liquid to solid ratio. If I wake up during the night (with a high liquid intake you likely will!) I take a pint glass, fill it with water and drop an Airborne tablet in it. When that is almost done dissolving I add an Alka-Seltzer tablet (actually I use generic equivalents of both) and drink it down once that dissolves. It seems to me that is similar to Berocca as described. You need to hydrate and replace electrolytes, so just drinking water alone I do not feel is sufficient. What I do avoid is caffeine, at least until I actually arise for the day. That affects my sleep more than getting up to use the bathroom, leaving me more tired and drained as a result the next day.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 06 2014, @06:45PM
> One cause of hangover is dehydration. Metabolising alcohol takes a lot of water. So I drink lots of water.
I've recently started drinking about 4 liters of water a day, kind of on accident as it is a side-effect of me starting to diet - drinking water helps me feel fuller and reduces hunger pangs.
Since I've started drinking all this extra water I've noticed that I don't get hung over. I'm not a heavy drinker, but a couple of drinks used to slow me down the next morning. Now I don't notice any difference between the morning after a few drinks and a morning after no drinks. The downside of drinking 4 liters of water a day is that I am always having to take a piss. But if you work from home that's not much of a problem.
I used to make a habit of drinking a huge glass of water before going to sleep after a night of drinks, but that still left me groggy in the morning. Being constantly "super-hydrated" is a lot more effective.
And, in case anyone is wondering, I looked it up and it would take about 12 liters of water a day to get water poisoning so 4 liters is well within the limit
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 06 2014, @02:20PM
Wait until the fun is over, drink some water, don't go to sleep
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 06 2014, @02:24PM
More alcohol!
(Score: 1) by malloc_free on Saturday September 06 2014, @06:31PM
Yep, hair of the dog that bit you last night never fails.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday September 07 2014, @04:13PM
However, I don't do that for the hangover, as I don't get hangovers, I just do it because I like it.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 06 2014, @02:24PM
My hangover remedy is not to drink in the first place. 100% effective.
(Score: 1) by jon3k on Sunday September 07 2014, @03:06PM
I bet you're fun at parties.
(Score: 2) by unitron on Sunday September 07 2014, @03:12PM
"My hangover remedy is not to drink in the first place. 100% effective."
Until you get older and find that you can wake with a hangover just fine despite not having consumed alcohol at all during the preceding several years.
something something Slashcott something something Beta something something
(Score: 4, Insightful) by evilviper on Saturday September 06 2014, @02:47PM
We're in the 21st century. It boggles the mind that old-wives tales about "hang-over remedies" still persist.
A hangover is predominantly a case of severe dehydration... You remember urinating like a race-horse after drinking a lot of alcohol, don't you? Well it wasn't the alcohol that was going out, it was water in your system.
When doctors have severe hangovers, they don't try bullshit homespun remedies, they give themselves saline IVs. You can squeeze the IV bag and watch as the walking dead spring back to life. That's the fastest way to go, but it's a bit dangerous.
For the average person, you just need to drink as much water as you can stand, with a few electrolytes (salt) in there, or alternate between water and flavored drinks that have salt and sugar in them. Force yourself to get as much water into your system as you can, as early as you can, then don't slack off on it later, and you'll do far better than any hangover remedy.
Of course some aspirin helps, too.
Hydrogen cyanide is a delicious and necessary part of the human diet.
(Score: 1) by drgibbon on Saturday September 06 2014, @02:56PM
Exactly. Nurses do the IV trick sometimes as well (apparently that restores them pretty fast). Of course the only remedy is hydration, which for most people means drinking water. Prevention then involves a) not drinking like a madman in the first place, and/or b) spacing your drinks with water.
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(Score: 3, Informative) by hankwang on Saturday September 06 2014, @04:11PM
"It boggles the mind that old-wives tales about "hang-over remedies" still persist. A hangover is predominantly a case of severe dehydration... "
Wikipedia seems to disagree: "While the causes of a hangover are still poorly understood, several factors are known to be involved including acetaldehyde accumulation, changes in the immune system and glucose metabolism, dehydration, metabolic acidosis, disturbed prostaglandin synthesis, increased cardiac output, vasodilation, sleep deprivation and malnutrition. Beverage specific effects of additives or by-products such as congeners also play an important role."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangover [wikipedia.org]
Who is spreading tales, now?
Avantslash: SoylentNews for mobile [avantslash.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by evilviper on Saturday September 06 2014, @04:43PM
Ability to use Google is not a substitute for knowledge.
In fact the WP article doesn't really disagree, and lists re-hydration as the top remedy. You'd know that, if you actually read it, as opposed to grabbing a random quote just to be contrarian.
It has a terribly pessimistic tone to it, and plays-up the lack of research angle, but hey, I've seen so many worse articles on WP that this one doesn't even raise my blood pressure.
Hydrogen cyanide is a delicious and necessary part of the human diet.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Saturday September 06 2014, @05:41PM
You need to use Google to find an article in Wikipedia?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 1) by hendrikboom on Saturday September 06 2014, @07:15PM
For many sites, I find Google finds things in them better than the site's own search tool.
This seems to hold for Wikipedia as well.
-- hendrik
(Score: 4, Interesting) by opinionated_science on Saturday September 06 2014, @05:27PM
Genetic studies show there is a very large variation of human variability (in ADH the enyzme that breaks down EtOH), and so your personal tolerance is that.
Dehydration is not the sole issue, beer is 95% water! Salt balance is probably more critical to health...food holds water in the gut longer.
There are impurities in the actual drinks - the major one is methanol, but there are many others. Depending on the brand, there can be as much as 0.1% (FDA level), but of course less processing goes into cheaper Et0H. Watch out for the moonshine...!
If you binge drink (anyone who drinks more than normal...), you have too much ADH, and then "hair of the dog" next day may help...
The liver can only process so much alcohol, if it is busy doing something else, it will be less effective at removing EtOH. e.g. after intense exercise, certain medications.
If you wake and do not have a hangover, you might still be drunk...! Yes, this is a really problem (DUIs in the morning)
The definition of hangover is non-uniform. if you feel nauseous that can be caused by loss of balance (due to EtOH causing a cytokine reaction in your brain), but also you may cause the gut nerves to become quiescent (think slight anaesthetic), and then waking up with the last nights abuse to process....!
You might also have changed the composition of your gut flora - yes, the microbes matter. A general point about alcohol production in Britain (Europe) beer is not pasteurised, though that may be a small/big brewery boundary. In the USA often it is pasteurised. Wine often has sulphites added to suppress the flavour of off (cheap) grapes, although sulphites are naturally occurring, the level clearly has an effect on the wine!
Generally speaking, drinking slowly enough for your personal metabolism to keep up, is the definition of how to not have a hangover....!
(Score: 2) by evilviper on Saturday September 06 2014, @06:46PM
...curing the disease by killing the patient. Hair of the dog is something of a rocket-sled to alcoholism. I wouldn't ever recommend it.
Hydrogen cyanide is a delicious and necessary part of the human diet.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 06 2014, @06:50PM
> Hair of the dog is something of a rocket-sled to alcoholism.
Alcohol dependency isn't caused by too much drinking.
Dependency is caused by having a hole in your life that you try to fill with something else.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 06 2014, @07:32PM
Physical alcohol dependency is completely predicted by frequency*quantity*(ADHpotency**-1)*(normalizationFactor). The dangerous symptoms last about 2 days ,the pain fulls ones 1-3 weeks... However, if you had that hole in your "soul" the cravings last forever...
(Score: 2) by tathra on Saturday September 06 2014, @08:53PM
no, alcohol dependency is caused by too much drinking, where the "too much" is "every day (for at least a week)". your body adjusts its homeostasis to include alcohol, because of having alcohol in it all the time, so it expects to have alcohol in it all the time. once you reach that state, when alcohol is no longer present your body adjusts its homeostasis to include the current lack of alcohol, which is commonly known as "withdrawal".
(Score: 2) by SlimmPickens on Saturday September 06 2014, @10:12PM
I'm commenting here because you're the first person that said methanol. That's one of the things I learned when working in wineries, VERY expensive alcohol has less methanol.
As above, water, water, water!
ADH breaks down alcohol into acetaldehyde, but that goes on to be processed by aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), the people with broken ALDH are the ones with serious issues because it's much m ore poisonous than ethanol itself.
And no-ones mentioned eggs benedict. That deserves a whole post of it's own.
PS the sulphites are mainly to preserve the colour of red wine, and sometimes as a preservative in low acid whites.
(Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Sunday September 07 2014, @02:19AM
well wine does produce some, but distillation concentrates it. It is why kettle and grey goose are much nicer to drink than . They make a point of triple distillation.... Great single malt scotch has had a *long* time to settle...! I'm not sure of the specific experimental tests for methanol in brands...but I digress ;-)
The suphites are used as a means to hide the odour and taste of decaying grapes - all wine might contain some, but that is the reason it is added. It is hard to ban it and it makes wine cheaper.
Wine needs grapes, the yeasts that grows on them and time...
If you worked in wineries you will know that there is grape mash from the market, you probably had your own proprietary yeast, and a probably other compounds to keep it stable in large batches and reduce phenolic and tannic compounds.
Al Murray has the bacon sandwich cure - and he's not that wrong. bacon egg toast, with coffee oj and water - just add chillis for the perfect hangover tonic...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Spook brat on Saturday September 06 2014, @03:03PM
In my U.S. Army days one of the "readiness" measures used during exercises was to take the hung-over soldiers to the combat lifesavers and administer a liter of intravenous Lactated Ringer's solution [wikipedia.org] from the field rescue kit. Rumor has it that some units have as much as 80% participation in that program on Saturday/Sunday mornings, although I wasn't in that kind of unit.
Really, it's just a stop-gap to counter the dehydration that's causing the hangover. As mentioned elsewhere, drinking water together with the alcohol and some more after the alcohol works better since it's preventative; why get the hangover in the first place?
Travel the galaxy! Meet fascinating life forms... And kill them [schlockmercenary.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 06 2014, @03:32PM
And, optionally, ibuprofen. But what do I know? I'm an alcoholic and don't get hangover.
(Score: 2) by mmcmonster on Sunday September 07 2014, @02:00AM
Mine: Water, sleep, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen.
(Score: 1) by wcvanhorne on Wednesday September 10 2014, @01:24AM
Well no one is probably going to read this in this old thread but I just had to respond to this very bad, actually dangerous, advice:
***DO NOT*** mix acetaminophen and alcohol (ibuprofen and ASA relatively OK). You are going to kill your liver. The alcohol is already taxing the poor thing and then the acetaminophen hits it. Strongly contraindicated! As nicely summarized in Wikipedia: "Paracetamol (acetaminophen) toxicity is the foremost cause of acute liver failure in the Western world".
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Saturday September 06 2014, @04:39PM
Like others have said, the most important thing is to drink as much water as you can before going to sleep. Way too late if you try drinking water in the morning. I always just puke UK up in about 10-20 seconds, but that can help get the nauseating bile out of your stomach. If you're puking up that neon yellow bile in the morning you are a hurting unit. :-(
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 2) by goodie on Saturday September 06 2014, @05:08PM
Drink lots of water between drinks, especially if you mix, know your body and pick drinks you can withstand, not from an alcohol pov but from a taste/stomach ache perspective. For me, that's not excess of red wine but pure vodka is a lot easier to handle. Beer is good too. Sweet mixed drinks can be tempting but I always regret it later after 1 or 2 sips, it's too sweet, and the taste is hardly ever that pleasant, unless there are few ingredients (e.g. Tom/John Collins).
An ex-colleague of mine used to make sure he'd have a greasy lunch after no matter how bad he felt and said it does help soak up the alcohol and retain water while triggering thirst, something which is not obvious when you're hung over. Personally I consider myself old enough not to do that anymore (I am younger than that guy though :) )
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 06 2014, @05:43PM
I alternate alcoholic beverages with small glasses of water while I'm drinking. Aside from that, I've found if I drink things that I make myself (homebrew, homemade wine, etc) they don't give me a hangover. My suspicion is that commercial products are filtered and thus have no vitamins or minerals to replenish my body after the diuretic effect of alcohol has flushed it all from my system. Brewer's yeast is very high in B12, potassium, and folic acid among other things.
(Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Saturday September 06 2014, @07:14PM
many commerical brews have all the yeast removed, as they are part of the industrial secrets...!
Yes , the yeast really matters!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 06 2014, @08:38PM
Most commercial beverages, alcoholic included, use copious amounts of salt to increase your consumption by making you thirstier. Homemade usually leaves that out and is much healthier.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 06 2014, @09:25PM
I didn't know they added sodium, that's interesting.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday September 06 2014, @05:52PM
Before drinking, take aspirin and guzzle water. Before bed, more aspirin and water. Repeat upon waking up. Follow with coffee and food.
Or there's the Groucho Marx solution "so don't do that!"
(Score: 2) by Tork on Saturday September 06 2014, @07:31PM
Or there's the Groucho Marx solution "so don't do that!"
I normally despise that suggestion, I hate out elitist it sounds... but I'll be a hypocrite and say that's what I've done. I keep track of how many drinks I have and when I get a crappy hangover. I have a pretty darned decent idea of how many I can have and how I'll feel the next day. If the occasion outlasts my drink budget, then I pinch back one drink, save it for just before the end of the event. The result? I don't need a hangover cure. Now I do get hangovers from time to time still, mainly because I'm human my self-discipline is far from legendary. At that point I just suffer the hangover so I can learn not to do it again.
I've also learned that being sober while everybody else is drunk is often amusing. :D
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Saturday September 06 2014, @06:02PM
At core:
* If at a good place order a coffee or an irish coffee as last drink
* Always throw up as soon as I get home (get rid of any residual alcohol, I won't enjoy it while being asleep anyway)
* Eat something, preferably something that has a salad and lots of fat (kebab works)
* Drink something (mineral water or a soft drink does the trick for me)
[Sleep]
If still hung over then
* Take a combined mineral/vitamin tablet
* Drink salt-replacement fluid
* Eat breakfast (the more repulsive eating seems the more I need it)
* Do a workout/go for a jog.
If it isn't cured by now I probably caught a cold..
The logical breakdown is: Increase methabolism, get rid of excess toxins, give the body what it needs to recover, and remember to rehydrate (and in case this fails - just hit the body with more resources, fluids and increased metabolism)
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday September 07 2014, @04:08PM
I think legal cures would be more useful for the wider audience, no matter how tempting the above sounds as a pick-me-up.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by digitalaudiorock on Saturday September 06 2014, @08:11PM
I haven't consumed any alcohol in over 22 years...that's guaranteed to to work ;) Seriously though, when I did drink the biggest factor always seemed to be preventing dehydration by drinking a lot of water before going to bed the night before.
I also recall reading somewhere that mixing various different types of drinks can in fact be pure evil for good reasons...because different types of alcohol can tend to have different types of minute traces of the various poisonous types of alcohol etc. From what I recall those can interact and significantly exacerbate the bad effects. Not sure if that's true or not, but it would explain why ending New Years eve with champagne after drinking all sorts of other stuff can end up making you wish you just died in your sleep :D.
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Sunday September 07 2014, @01:30AM
I believe there is an old adage to not mix grape and grain. So, beer and rye whiskey should be alright. Sherry and champagne should be alright. But beer and wine may lead to a world of pain.
1702845791×2
(Score: 2) by cosurgi on Saturday September 06 2014, @09:20PM
lots of Scrambled eggs. The chemical reaction quickly removes C2H5OH
#
#\ @ ? [adom.de] Colonize Mars [kozicki.pl]
#
(Score: 1) by panachocala on Saturday September 06 2014, @09:25PM
Everyone always says drink water.
Seriously, that doesn't work. Drinking 10 pints of water before bed also means you will need a piss at 5am (with an ugly hangover) instead of 8am (with an ugly hangover). Yes sure there is dehydration and water is the answer but it mere treats the cause and not the symptoms ;) To treat the symptoms, I have been told that Adderall works but haven't had a chance to try it yet. Bear in mind, this is basically amphetamine. Other class A drugs would probably work.
(Score: 1) by panachocala on Sunday September 07 2014, @05:05AM
Actually speaking of class A's, I do recall one effective hangover cure. It's a prescription cough syrup called Zutripro (or it's identical generic). Basically a narcotic pain killer (hydrocodone) plus some cosmetic bullshit. Take 1-2 teaspoons before going to bed and you will sleep like an angel and wake up feeling like Jesus. Again, as with Adderall, you can't get too into this stuff but for hangovers *it just works*.
(Score: 1) by kai_h on Sunday September 07 2014, @05:51AM
2x Asprin.
1x Berocca.
Dissolve in a large glass of water and drink quickly.
Follow it up with either vegemite on toast (more B vitamins) or a big, greasy fried breakfast (if your stomach can handle it)
Truly the breakfast of champions.
(Score: 1) by mrkaos on Sunday September 07 2014, @11:49AM
You guys are in for a treat - it's great stuff - even without a hangover.
My hangover cure was the devils work. 6 beers, 6 burbons, 6 waters - that worked pretty well. A decent breakfast of eggs bacon, mushys - avo, snags and toast nom nom and I was all set for a great chilled out sunday!!!!
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
(Score: 2) by halcyon1234 on Monday September 08 2014, @09:47PM
... don't get drunk?
100% success
Original Submission [thedailywtf.com]