(Not) Fun with Alcohol

[CmdrSlack]

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

Enthusiast.

[Strazos]

Only really been hungover twice in my life, but they were doozies:

1st time was after a night of basically straight tequila (most of a bottle to myself). I later realized that it was actually a problem that the tequila was eventually indistinguishable from water to me.  That stunt put me in the hospital for a day with extreme dehydration - two or three IV bags and something to calm my stomach eventually did the trick.

2nd time was years later. Earlier this year on St Pat's day, a bunch of us went out and I was drinking heavily...which isn't normally a problem. Unfortunately, someone slipped me a shot of tequila that I thought was just terrible rail vodka...whoops. I was vomiting for the better part of the next day into the late afternoon. This one I just dealt with by forcing gatorade until I could keep it down.

[Paelos]

I managed to put down about 14 beers in a row at a brewfest in my college days outdoors in Georgia July heat over the course of 4 hours while drinking no water at all.

I was hung over for about 3 days. The first day I just slept and couldn't move. The second day I was able to eat applesauce and crackers. The third day I rose from the dead.

[Rokal]

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.

Vertigo sucks. I've been getting recurring vertigo for the last year or so that lasts ~10 days and then goes away for a couple months. It's amazing how large of an effect your sense of balance can have on the rest of your body. You can google search 'epley maneuver' for a quick exercise that might knock your inner-ear back in balance if this were the case.

It sounds like luckton legitimately just has a serious hang-over. The best advice is pro-active water (or gatorade/pedialyte) consumption before you go to sleep, or preferably while you are drinking even.

Hair of the dog is also a valid option in conjunction with water... it doesn't take much. Lately if I wake up with a hangover after a night of drinking, I try to stay hydrated and I usually have a small drink as well. Half a beer is enough to make me feel normal again, and then I can just let my body do the rest of the work re-hydrating itself.

[Tale]

With things like energy drinks and isotonic drinks (Gatorade etc), remember that they are a recent invention and human beings performed just fine throughout history without them. They are never the best solution to a problem. Tens of thousands of kilometres on bicycles taught me that there is nothing better than H2O and a balanced diet.

The only times I use isotonic drinks are when I'm cycling very long distances, to minimise the chance of leg muscle cramps. Even then, I ride with one bottle of water, one bottle of isotonic drink, and sip from each. I also experienced in the Australian desert, travelling in 47 degrees C, that powerade/gatorade should not be regarded as something you can drink instead of water, even if all you have is foul-tasting bore water.

[tgr]

I would've thought that you'd need to replace your salts when biking over a long period of time, or when walking in a high heat, not just replace the water itself.

[DraconianOne]

With things like energy drinks and isotonic drinks (Gatorade etc), remember that they are a recent invention and human beings performed just fine throughout history without them. They are never the best solution to a problem. Tens of thousands of kilometres on bicycles taught me that there is nothing better than H2O and a balanced diet.

The only times I use isotonic drinks are when I'm cycling very long distances, to minimise the chance of leg muscle cramps. Even then, I ride with one bottle of water, one bottle of isotonic drink, and sip from each. I also experienced in the Australian desert, travelling in 47 degrees C, that powerade/gatorade should not be regarded as something you can drink instead of water, even if all you have is foul-tasting bore water.

I don't know how far you're talking about when you say "very long distance" nor wether you mean a race or a gentle sightseeing tour. But I'll just throw this link into the mix from a recent discussion I had about hydration, overhydration, electrolyte imbalances, hyponatremia etc http://www.ultracycling.com/nutrition/drinking_too_much.html All a digression though - I don't think it's relevant here.

My two cents worth, not-a-doctor-but-most-definitely-a-drinker opinion on Luckton's issue is that alcohol could quite possibly be a red herring and that you may have picked up a virus or something. If you didn't drink yourself unconscious on the Friday then I'd be quite surprised that you were still feeling that shit a few days later just because of a hangover. Go see a doctor.

[lamaros]

You could have hearing loss in an ear. I have some in one of mine and it flared up again years after the event and mDe me dizzy and nauseous. It comes back sometimes when I don't sleep enough and drink too much.

[Lantyssa]

I'm betting on something with the vestibular system.  Hopefully they figure it out tomorrow.

[ghost]

The worst hangover I've ever had was after some tequila that we'd brought back from Mexico.  I think it lasted for a week. 

If you are a person that has trouble with nausea after drinking dramamine seems to really help me a lot.  It makes me sleepy as hell but no more feeling sick.  I typically don't get headaches, but then again I haven't had a bad hangover in years, so it may be different for me now.

[Sky]

I solved hangovers completely. I know my limits and stay within them 

[Lantyssa]

I do, too, until there's a cute girl involved.  Then all bets are off.

[luckton]

I'm feeling better today...still hydrating like a fish.  Will keep my appointment for tomorrow and have them check me out just to be sure.  I picked up a B Complex vitamin and a B12 liquid vitamin at the CVS last night...it was all BOGO free 

Thanks again all for the advice.

[Tale]

I don't know how far you're talking about when you say "very long distance" nor wether you mean a race or a gentle sightseeing tour. But I'll just throw this link into the mix from a recent discussion I had about hydration, overhydration, electrolyte imbalances, hyponatremia etc http://www.ultracycling.com/nutrition/drinking_too_much.html All a digression though - I don't think it's relevant here.

Oh look, it's hyponatremia. Always quoted back at me whenever I write common sense about consuming water.

[Crumbs]

I just want to build on 2 things that were said already:

B Complex:  changed my life.  Fatigue issues eliminated.  Of course everyone is different but if it works, it's so much better for you than the 5 hour energy.  I have a feeling that in a few years we'll find out that shit causes black holes.

Veggies:  I found a fun and tasty way to increase the veggie intake.  Not being a salad guy, or even really a veggie guy, I had a chopped salad at an Italian restaurant once and since then I've been chopping my own salads.  Sounds simple, but for me the entire aesthetic changes.  One can eat massive amounts of salad and it's all good.  Add a little vinaigrette and olive oil, and whatever you want really (except cinnamon rolls).  Use spinach and different kinds of greens.  Fun times.

Little things will help in the long run, especially later in life (cough)

[DraconianOne]

I don't know how far you're talking about when you say "very long distance" nor wether you mean a race or a gentle sightseeing tour. But I'll just throw this link into the mix from a recent discussion I had about hydration, overhydration, electrolyte imbalances, hyponatremia etc http://www.ultracycling.com/nutrition/drinking_too_much.html All a digression though - I don't think it's relevant here.

Oh look, it's hyponatremia. Always quoted back at me whenever I write common sense about consuming water.

So you think your common sense about water applies 100% of the time? Forgive me if I choose to ignore you on certain occasions.

[Nebu]

There are different types of dehydration that occur with different circumstances and probabilities.  I didn't come to appreciate that myself until I had worked in a clinic.  I also don't mind people being critical of my suggestions.  I like it when I am questioned.  It keeps me thinking. 

[Abagadro]

Pffft, your such a scientist with your scientifical methods.

[Nebu]

Pffft, your such a scientist with your scientifical methods.

I object!

[01101010]

Pffft, your such a scientist with your scientifical methods.

This is in no way significant.

[tazelbain]

Pffft, your such a scientist with your scientifical methods.

This is in no way significant.

That's just a theory.

[Furiously]

My four-year-old likes to inform me, "Dad, I have a hypothesis."

[Ingmar]

"Humans got by for X thousands of years on just <substance Y> and did fine!" is always kind of an iffy argument to make. Humans also had a life expectancy under 30 years for most of that time, after all.

[MuffinMan]

I, for one, thank Gatorade every day for extending our life expectancy.

[WayAbvPar]

My four-year-old likes to inform me, "Dad, I have a hypothesis."

Bust out his Tinker Toys and tell him you have a hypotenuse  

I, for one, thank Gatorade every day for extending our life expectancy.

It probably preserves our corpses at least!

[MuffinMan]

"Humans got by for X thousands of years on just <substance Y> and did fine!" is always kind of an iffy argument to make. Humans also had a life expectancy under 30 years for most of that time, after all.

I'll add more substance to my earlier snark. If anything, what we have been eating and drinking for the last 100 years has been lowering our life expectancy, not helping it.

[Ingmar]

The last 100 years, in the US, maybe. The last 10,000? Not so much, and in any case we're still learning more about nutrition every year. The idea that we just need to return to our caveman diets or whatever (where these sorts of statements often crop up) is just wistful pastoralism, for the most part, not science.

My point, obviously, is not anything specific about Gatorade.

[MuffinMan]

Maybe I'm just a luddite when it comes to food but it just seems food science/nutrition always comes up short. So many modern diseases and just obesity in general can be tracked down to the food that we eat at the same time we are supposedly learning so much more about nutrition. (Large scale) nutrionists and food science exists, in my opinion, not to actually make us healthier but to sell and market the wonder food/vitamin to us.

[DraconianOne]

My point, obviously, is not anything specific about Gatorade.

It's got electrolytes! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vw2CrY9Igs 

[Tale]

"Humans got by for X thousands of years on just <substance Y> and did fine!" is always kind of an iffy argument to make. Humans also had a life expectancy under 30 years for most of that time, after all.

Um, you're talking about WATER. The thing that you consist mostly of.

[Margalis]

Maybe I'm just a luddite when it comes to food but it just seems food science/nutrition always comes up short. So many modern diseases and just obesity in general can be tracked down to the food that we eat at the same time we are supposedly learning so much more about nutrition. (Large scale) nutrionists and food science exists, in my opinion, not to actually make us healthier but to sell and market the wonder food/vitamin to us.

Nutritionists aren't the ones making, selling and marketing the food. There is a huge disconnect between what we know is healthy (scientifically speaking) and what we eat, for a variety of reasons mostly related to money.

...but I'm foggy-headed and I feel like I'm loosing it.

What were you loosing? Some sort of wild beast? 

[Sheepherder]

Judging by this thread, yes.

Hangover may be caused by any combination of dehydration, toxicity from alcohol metabolites, your body over correcting stimulant hormone production, toxicity from shit that dissolves in alcohol, hypoglecemia, and withdrawal symptoms.

Basically everything that's been suggested works to some extent some of the time.  Even the hair of the dog that bit you will alleviate the last two or three.

[Sand]

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.

No he wasnt. While caffeine has a diuretic effect the effect is generally so small that when drinking a normal American cup of drip coffee, the water you imbibe with the coffee offset by the caffeine's diuretic effect is still a net positive.

Luckton' as for your multiday hangover its simple, welcome to getting older.

[Cheddar]

This thread has inspired me to add Vitamin B Complex into my morning routine - started Friday.  I could use more energy.

[Strazos]

Have a physical on Tuesday. Wouldn't be surprised if, among other things, my blood comes back as being low in Iron and other assorted vitamins. Also the blood pressure is a bit elevated, but that's probably due to stress and lack of exercise.