(Not) Fun with Alcohol

[luckton]

I have no problem with a mod nuking this thread if they deem so, but I figured a general discussion about this might help others too.

I'm not one who drinks a lot.  An occasional beer when dining out, a rum and coke every now and then, nothing too extreme.

Last Friday, I did a bit of over drinking...mixed together rum, vodka and tequila a little too much.  Woke up Saturday with a hangover, typical stuff, right?

Problem I'm having now is that it's Wednesday, and I'm still having that fuzzy/disconnected from reality feeling.  Like I just can't get a grip on what's going on around me.  I don't have a headache, everything else physically is fine as far as I can tell, but I'm foggy-headed and I feel like I'm loosing it.  I'm trying to stay hydrated, I've had no alcohol since Friday, but even driving to work I feel somewhat intoxicated.  I made an appointment with my doctor for this Friday, as I just don't feel right.

Any thoughts on what I may have done or what else I could do to remedy?

[01101010]

Yeah... I got nothing. Your liver should have filtered everything out by no later than Sunday. Sounds like something else is going on that perhaps a binge evening unleashed. Just relax though, it's not Lupus.

[Paelos]

My thoughts go to hydration, blood sugar, and vitamin deficiency.

What have you been eating or drinking in the last few days? Are you overweight? Do you smoke?

[luckton]

My thoughts go to hydration, blood sugar, and vitamin deficiency.

What have you been eating or drinking in the last few days? Are you overweight? Do you smoke?

Eating: Pasta, beef, cinnamon roll, pizza
Weight: Overweight yes, but not obese
Smoke: No.

I have been taking a One-A-Day vitamin since Sunday, and even a 5-hour energy or two.

[Lantyssa]

Last Friday, I did a bit of over drinking...mixed together rum, vodka and tequila a little too much.  Woke up Saturday with a hangover, typical stuff, right?

Did you maybe bump your head?  You could have BPPV.  Between that and an ear infection I lost over a month this summer.  It took me a week to realize I wasn't fuzzy so much as suffering vertigo.  It very much felt like I had been heavily drinking.  Not moving my head was the only way I felt 'alright'.  Driving seriously aggravated it.

Also, never mix your liquors.

[Merusk]

How much sleep are you getting on top of all this.  If you're chugging 5-hour energies I'm guessing it's not enough to begin with.   

Also, from personal experience with using them once in a while they advertise there's no sugar crash, but they always left me feeling "off" unless I'd taken at least 7-8 hours of sleep the night after I'd used them.

[Paelos]

My thoughts go to hydration, blood sugar, and vitamin deficiency.
What have you been eating or drinking in the last few days? Are you overweight? Do you smoke?

Eating: Pasta, beef, cinnamon roll, pizza
Weight: Overweight yes, but not obese
Smoke: No.
I have been taking a One-A-Day vitamin since Sunday, and even a 5-hour energy or two.

Keep taking the vitamin. Go eat a banana for the potassium, grab some gatorade and drink that along with water. Do NOT drink any caffeine until you feel better. Water and Gatorade to fully rehydrate until you find yourself urinating enough that you go, man I'm peeing a lot today. My guess is that you are also not sleeping enough and could be slightly exhausted and/or dehydrated.

[Numtini]

Pedlialyte from the baby section of the supermarket is supposed to be even better than gatoraid.

Eat some veggies.

[luckton]

I somewhat doubt the vertigo thing...I don't recall falling or hitting my head, nor do I feel dizzy or feel weird when I tilt/turn my head.  But it is an interesting insight.

I will redouble my water/gatorade intake.  Will try and get some more sleep as well, which will probably upset the wife, but I need a remedy at this point.  Thanks for the advice thus far, gang.

[Paelos]

My other advice would be to take a B vitamin supplement with B12. Helps with nervous system and brain function.

[Nebu]

I'm with the rest.

1) Hydration

2) ion balance (Na, K, Ca, Mg).  A multivitamin should do it.

3) Take a B complex (or a 5 hour energy shot, B vitamins + caffeine)

4) Avoid gatorade.  It's crap for rehydration (too much sugar, too little sodium).  Use pedialyte or the recipe below (copy/pasted from my lecture slides)

In an emergency situation where a pre-formulated solution is unavailable you can use this for oral rehydration.  It tastes like shit though.
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons sugar
1 liter (about 1 quart) of safe drinking water
Measure accurately! incorrect amounts can make the solution less effective or even harmful. Have someone check your measurements for accuracy.
 

[K9]

(about 1 quart)

...

Measure accurately!

 

[Nebu]

A quart is a large quantity.  Human error there means less than on the solids 

[Goumindong]

its relative error all around Nebu. If you measure accurately 1 quart you're about 5% under on all your other ingredients (Measure accurately!) which seems like it would be a lot harder to do with a decent set of measuring cups and a knife.

Also, you are recommending caffeine and then suggesting that gatorade isn't good enough for hydration because it has a tad too much sugar. Which just boggles the mind. Caffeine is a diarrhetic. I.E. it makes you piss free water. If you want to hydrate its the last thing you want to be drinking for two reasons. First it will do the opposite effect and make you less hydrated, second it will make you piss more and that will make you think that you are more hydrated than you thought.

Also, if you had bothered to check, the "recovery" gatorade (I.E. the rehydrate stuff, and not the "you need sugar so you can run" stuff) has about 105 calories of sugar for a litre of drink (rest is in protein). Your drink has 145. The Gatorade has, in fact, the exact same amount of sugar as regular pedialyte. (half the sodium though, so at least you're right on that front).

Seriously, gatorade is fine, sugar is fine and won't dehydrate you unless you're a child. The excess will make you fatter, but a few thousand calories of extra carbs in a week(as a one off for recovery from being sick) is not going to be the end of the world and you'll probably burn it off via increased energy anyway. Excess sugar does not have the same effect on adults as it does on children, avoiding it for dehydration is not necessary(this information taken from the pedialyte website discussing how to rehydrate yourself).

P.S.
Per Litre info for pedialyte (recommended by experts!)

105 calories of sugar, 1059mg of sodium = 1 to 1

Per Litre info for you concoction (recommended by fucking Nebu)

145 calories of sugar, 1700mg of sodium = < 1 to 1 (which as an adult with extra tolerances to sugar compared to children seems like it would be best to go the other way on the balance)

So what I am saying is drink gatorade or pedialyte and you'll be fine.

[Merusk]

WTF now you're a medical expert? That dual Finance-MD degree must be a bitch on free time.

[Arthur_Parker]

Drink everything you drank in reverse order to see if it fixes it.  Or be boring and wait to see what the doctor says.

[Abagadro]

Ya, go with some hair of the dog. Always works for me, but then again I'm probably an alcoholic.

[Jeff Kelly]

I've never suffered from a sustained hangover. Usually the physical effects last for a day or two at the most.

If you can exclude the fact that you physically hurt yourself while intoxicated then I find it unusual that the after effects last that long.

If the (great) suggestions of the other posters don't help.

Do you take any medication that might interact with alcohol.

and the not so obvious question when you are a guy:

Are you certain that nobody else had access to your drinks? The only time I've seen "hang-over" effects that lasted that long was when somebody (gladly unsuccessfully) tried to roofie my sister at a party. (She was with enough of her friends so that she was never alone but she was completely out while still being able to walk)

Spiking drinks is a great way to steal from you.

[luckton]

Since my last post I've down 24oz of Gatorade, plus 3x that amount in water.  I'm starting to feel a little better...a good night sleep would probably work better at this point. 

No, no one spiked my drink.  Was drinking with the Mrs, who hardly had any at all due to her distaste for Tequila.  I still love her though.  I went to bed Friday night, and woke up six hours later in the bathroom on the floor with a blanket and pillow.  This, after I apparently threw up as well.

[Paelos]

Sleep 10 hours.

[SnakeCharmer]

I always chug a bunch of water and then immediately get some food in me.  Usually chinese buffet or the biggest, nastiest, greasiest bacon cheeseburger with a huge order of fries (and probably a beer).  But I rarely drink anymore so the hangovers rarely hit me.  But oh boy when they do?  I feel like somebody ran over me with a truck.

[Nebu]

its relative error all around Nebu.

You're right.  I'd rather just list everything in grams and mLs, but the US doesn't believe in either global warming or the metric system.  I was just trying to throw something quick in the thread before giving a biochem lecture.

My personal fav was always IV Ringer's and a B shot in the ass. 

[Sky]

I'd rather just list everything in grams and mLs, but the US doesn't believe in either global warming or the metric system.  

NORML should get behind this as a marketing tool. Every pothead knows how many grams are in an ounce.

[ghost]

Sounds like a helluva hangover.   

I would recommend an IV.  That works wonders. 

[TheWalrus]

And for fucks sake, drop the damn 5 hour energy crap!

[Xanthippe]

I always chug a bunch of water and then immediately get some food in me.  Usually chinese buffet or the biggest, nastiest, greasiest bacon cheeseburger with a huge order of fries (and probably a beer).  But I rarely drink anymore so the hangovers rarely hit me.  But oh boy when they do?  I feel like somebody ran over me with a truck.

I don't know why this works but it does for me too.  My old favorite was scrambled eggs with chicken livers, fried potatoes (hash browns or homefries), and a berry milkshake.  (Bacon works too if chicken livers aren't your thing).

And sleep until the headache's gone - even if it means sleeping all day around.  

Water, fat and sleep.  I don't know which part of it works best, but all in combination works great.

[Soln]

listen to Nebu

and have a tepid bath.  Absorb moar.

[Hawkbit]

I always try to drink a ton of water before going to bed when drunk.  It does wonders for me, though I have to wake up a few times to piss it all out in the night.

Next day, fruit juice for the first few hours, with a hearty breakfast.  If you don't have a lot going on, try a touch of Malibu in an orange/grapefruit juice mix.  Steadily drink those, adding a little more Malibu in each glass.  It's called Mom's cure, and Mom is a lady who owns/owned a hole in the wall bar in the French Quarter, NO.  She took pity on me one morning and set me right.  Took a few hours, but it worked.

Also, caffeine is bad, but sometimes one or two Excedrin work wonders on a hangover.

[Goumindong]

WTF now you're a medical expert? That dual Finance-MD degree must be a bitch on free time.

No, but I am able to do basic research on things which are public record. Which this is.

[Paelos]

WTF now you're a medical expert? That dual Finance-MD degree must be a bitch on free time.

No, but I am able to do basic research on things which are public record. Which this is.

Yep, glad you're arguing with the biochemist in the forum. That'll go well.

[ghost]

WTF now you're a medical expert? That dual Finance-MD degree must be a bitch on free time.

No, but I am able to do basic research on things which are public record. Which this is.

Yep, glad you're arguing with the biochemist in the forum. That'll go well.

He's a full of shit college student.  I think I know who I'll pay attention to when it comes to these issues.   

[Yoru]

I've had multiday hangovers twice; both of them involved multiday sustained drinking binges and one of them involved Schild.

In both cases, time and rest got me shipshape within two or three days, while eating decently and drinking plenty of juice and water. A little tea might help too.

These days I don't drink enough to do the multiday hangover thing, although once or twice a year I'll still get "write off the day" hungover. In those cases, the cure is always water, bedrest, repeat until you can sit up straight and eat.

[Goumindong]

Yep, glad you're arguing with the biochemist in the forum. That'll go well.

If the biochemist wants to be a nutritionist and is going to give out information it can at least be accurate. We aren't arguing about biochemistry, we're arguing about how much salt and sugar are in gatorade and pedialyte. And yes, I am going to take their word for it(and pedialytes word on what nutritionists recommend for re-hydration) over a biochemist on this forum.

[Nerf]

It's a shame that Nebu is just a lowly biochemistry professor and not actually a doctor or anything, then we'd all know for sure that you're talking out of your ass.

Oh, wait.  

ETA: To add something useful, and to thank everyone for reminding me to take my damned vitamin.  Last year I was having some pretty bad fatigue issues, and one of the things my doctor recommended was vitamins from these folks: http://www.coopercomplete.com/.  They seem to help more than the basic one-a-day ones if I remember to actually take them every day.  I take the iron-free flavor, as I've got an odd blood condition that can sometimes cause a slight anemia (that I don't suffer from, last few blood tests at least).  I can't remember why it was he wanted me to /not/ take iron, which was the opposite of what I had been told previously.  Whatever, they work.

Whole Foods carries them locally, but I don't know if they do nationally or not - the Cooper Clinic is in Dallas so it may just be local.

Derail: Hey Nebu, if you've got time to check out their website, IS there actually any difference between these and the normal cheap vitamins at wal-mart?

[Nebu]

Yep, glad you're arguing with the biochemist in the forum. That'll go well.

He was right.  I threw something down quickly in an effort to help.   I should have just stayed with the pedialyte recommendation and left out the homemade stuff. 

I'll be more thorough in the future.  


Nerf: I'll look into it when I get a minute and PM you what I find out.