25 Jun Hangovers Symptoms and causes

The steam and warm water can make you feel more alert and refreshed. A cool shower might reduce inflammation and ease headache pain. A shower—no matter how good it feels—won’t cure your hangover or speed up your body’s alcohol metabolism. If you want to minimize the length of your hangover or avoid severe hangover symptoms, stick to moderate drinking. If you find that you’re unable to control your alcohol consumption despite your efforts, you may be facing alcohol use disorder (AUD).

The world’s oldest drinkable champagne

Repeated drinking can lead to liver scarring, known as cirrhosis. Certain inflammatory chemicals increase in the blood and affect various natural hormonal pathways. The stomach lining may become irritated, increasing nausea and the chance of bleeding. The extra calories consumed often become converted into fat. As stated in the “Causes” section, certain alcohols have different hangover-causing properties based on their congener content.

Addictions

And they help to explain why certain beverages can leave some of us feeling worse than others. Grace Walsh is woman&home’s Health Channel Editor, working across the areas of fitness, nutrition, sleep, mental health, relationships, and sex. In 2025, she will be taking on her third marathon in Brighton, completing her first ultra marathon, and qualifying as a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach. However, everyone has a different alcohol tolerance level and susceptibility to the other factors that make up a hangover, so it’s not really possible to say for certain. We’ve all woken up with a heavy head asking this question after one too many the night before. It may last longer or shorter, depending on your unique biology and how much you’ve had to drink.

Five: disrupted glucose production lowers blood sugar levels

But there’s no easy way to know how much you can safely drink and still avoid a hangover. Some medications interfere with sober house your body’s ability to properly metabolize alcohol. As a result, you’re more likely to throw up and have your hangover linger for a longer period. If you’re prone to migraine attacks, you’re also more likely to have problems with hangovers, particularly hangover headaches, because alcohol is a common migraine attack trigger.

Stick to one type of alcohol

“As we get older, our cells age, and we might not be able to process toxins as we did when we were younger,” he says. So while three drinks was fine back in the dorms sophomore year, that amount may feel like double that 10 years later. In a 2019 study, Scholz asked students in the US whether they had spoken to anyone about their recent experiences involving alcohol, and whether those conversations were positive or negative.

Conversations with friends can influence how much we drink

These are just a few of the most common factors that can affect the length of your hangover. There are many other variables that can also worsen alcohol’s impact on the body, resulting in more long-lasting hangover symptoms. Unfortunately, there’s no magic drink that instantly “kills” a hangover. Some people swear by “hair of the dog” (more alcohol), but this only delays the hangover. The symptoms of alcohol withdrawal are typically more intense and potentially life-threatening and they occur in people with alcohol dependence.

Foods to Avoid Before Drinking

While these medications can be helpful for headaches and muscle pains, they may also irritate your stomach lining, causing nausea. The best way to avoid a hangover is not to drink alcohol in the first place, even when it might seem like a good idea at the time. But, even if you stick with the recommended one drink per hour, you might end up paying for it the next day. Hangovers begin when your previously raised blood alcohol level drops and nears zero. Dr. Imran Abbasi, DO, UnityPoint Health, offers his advice to help you get on your feet faster.

• The signs of persistent nausea/vomiting are feeling nauseated for many hours along with multiple episodes of vomiting in which you cannot keep down any fluids.
• Hangovers begin when your previously raised blood alcohol level drops and nears zero.
• Typically, hangovers only last the morning (like, until you finally get around to eating breakfast)—at most 24 hours.
• There are no instant hangover cures, but doctors recommend waiting at least 48 hours before drinking again to give your body time to recover.

Taking pain relief medication, such as ibuprofen, can provide relief from headaches and muscle https://northiowatoday.com/2025/01/27/sober-house-rules-what-you-should-know-before-moving-in/ aches. Avoid taking paracetamol if possible, as this can be hard on the liver when combined with alcohol. Drinking plenty of water, or fluids that are rich in electrolytes such as sports drinks and coconut water, can help to counteract the effects of dehydration.

While mild to moderate symptoms are common after a night of drinking, chronic excessive alcohol consumption can lead to more severe hangover symptoms. A hangover is usually caused by excessive drinking (drinking to intoxication). The typical course of a hangover is that it begins after the symptoms of intoxication have worn off. A hangover is usually first apparent when the blood alcohol level begins to fall and peaks in severity once the level is 0 and all the alcohol has been metabolized.