Hangover Remedies from the Forward Deployed
Today's Stars and Stripes includes coverage of hangover treatments sworn to by soldiers, men, women, and Germans.
Note that the first coupla people the article speaks to (and the only ones pictured if you're reading the electronic edition) are from intelligence units. Also note that they were found at a local bar. This ought not surprise anyone. Not at all. Ah, memories.
For my part, I don't get hangovers. Even when I drank to excess on a regular basis, I was never hung over. I woke up bone tired, achey, and feeling half starved, sure, but that was more likely due to the astonishing volumes of vomit, and concomitant effort to hurl same, than purely the spirits themselves. Never a headache. Unless I'd been cracked in the head.
Tell you what though, that one young stud swearing by a raw egg in a Bloody Mary or some such- geh. Imaginative, but much too gross in the application. What I have seen is medics drink all night, then instead of just crashing for an hour or two before PT, would give themselves IVs of vitamin C and sugar solutions. They were right as rain, in a clear example of nutrition science trumping alchemy.
Does anyone else dabble in the alchemical pursuit of hangover remedy?
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From my vast expierence in
From my vast expierence in drinking, and when i say vast i mean only a few heavy drinking times in a few years. I have found that after your session of drinking large quantities of alcohol you should drink water after it....you won't get sick...however i usually never get sick regardless
by the way Happy New year Son!
Heavens, yes!
Heavens, yes!
Not being blest with your constitution, I have spent much time in pursuit of a hangover remedy. This is odd, really, considering my heritage is, in descending order, Irish, Welsh, German, English, French, Scottish, miscellaneous (did I mention, I'm white?), most of which are peoples renowned for their prowess when imbibing. I can match you drink for drink all night, but then I fall down and begin to suffer.
Our own Mr. Buckethead actually introduced a very useful concept to me about ten years ago; that of a "spacer." For every two drinks you have, sip a glass of water before ordering your next. I have since modified this, and try to drink a spacer between EVERY drink after the first few if it's a marathon session of partying or bullshitting. The spacer has certainly saved my ass on numerous occasions, not least notably the infamous "jello shot incident" so kindly referred to recently by Buckethead. That night that B and I hung out with a bunch of ex-Cleveland Browns and each drank a suitcase of beer, it was spacers what saved the day come sunrise.
In the last six years or so, I have started drinking Greyhounds when out at bars, on the theory that the grapefruit juice mixed in with the vodka is providing essential electrolytes and vitamins. It's like a spacer with alcohol in it. Riiiight.
But in the event the spacers fail, I still have recourse. Personally, I know when all the alcohol has left my system because I wake up shivering and feeling crushing guilt (over nothing). At this point, it is crucial to drink water, pee, and go back to sleep no matter how difficult it is.
Then, food. Sancocho. Bagels with cream cheese. Greasy keilbasa omelets with lots of fried potatoes. Coffee. Tomato juice. A Sunday New York Times.
Then a nap.
By 4 PM or so, I'm usually fresh and ready to go.
I'm such a pansy.
FYI the following do not work
FYI the following do not work:
multivitamins.
Vitamin C tablets.
Vitamin E tablets.
Antacids.
More alcohol.
Tobacco.
Tylenol.
A raw egg.
Toast.
The following DO help, somewhat:
Ibuprofin or naproxen sodium
Gatorade
preemptively induced reverse peristalsis
getting out of those smelly smoky clothes
showering.
The most direct cause of the
The most direct cause of the headache is usually dehydration. So, the "spacer" will prevent the worst hangovers - drink a glass of water between every drink. Failing that, drink a couple glasses before crashing, along with some aspirin.
Even better is red bull. Designed by a swiss chemist, this stuff really works. I have never had a hangover the morning after drinking some of this along with the booze. Moderate drinking - a few beers - one red bull. Heavy drinking - at least two red bulls.
However, these are all preventative measures. I've never seen anything that will actually get rid of a nasty hangover once you've got it. You can speed the recovery process by rehydrating and taking aspirin or advil but not Tylenol. Gatorade is probably the best for rehydrating.
I have to give the nod to
I have to give the nod to sancocho as a dehydration remedy as well. Since it's a broth containing many, many meats and starches, it's got all the carbos you could want in addition to some protein from the gelatin in the meats, fats, salt, and a soothing nice flavor.
Red Bull, on the other hand, is the drink of Satan. It can be used well, but even the careful user may end up finding that Red Bull amplifies the intoxicant effects of vodka, leading to a situation where the user starts the night in the Lower East Side and ends up back home in Queens in bed fully clothed with no recollection of having got there.
It's a drink with a message, and that message is "Beware."