The Hangover Part Ewwwww: crowdsourcing a cure
January 1st, 2013
04:45 PM ET
Share this on:

We're typing very, very quietly.

Many of you may have rung in the New Year in a wholesome, healthy fashion. You raised tankards of kombucha tea while hot-yoga posing in the form of a celestial stag and then rose at dawn to hike to the top of the nearest promontory and bask in nature and celestial majesty. That's wonderful. Good for you.

The rest of us crammed as much onion dip, pigs-in-a-blanket and stale Christmas candy as physically possible into our gaping maws, and then spilled bottom-shelf booze, beer and cheap Champagne in there so it wouldn't feel lonely. Today huuuuurrrrts, and the only surefire cure would be to journey back in time to stop the damage before it began.

The main source of pain is dehydration and most of the preventative work (chugging water and not drinking so darn much) has to be done before you go to bed - but a few things can be done to ease the suffering.

Take ibuprofen if there are no signs of nausea or upper abdominal pain - after you have drunk a fair amount of water. Per our friends at CNN Health, taking an acetaminophen-based medicine in conjunction with alcohol can cause liver damage, while taking aspirin in conjunction with heavy daily alcohol use has bleeding risks.

Coffee can help relieve the side effect of sleep deprivation that often accompanies a long night of revelry, but it doesn't tackle the main problem. Your best bet is to eat something light as soon as you can, drink some water (or Gatorade, Pedialyte or coconut water to help replenish some electrolytes) and slip back under the covers. That fuels your body to repair and re-energize itself.

Unfortunately, many popular food cures, scientifically speaking, seem to just be window dressing for the actual problem: the dehydration. But if they distract you from your state of misery, who are we to stand in the way? We asked our readers how they cope after an evening of excess.

Some revelers advise crawling into a carb and comfort cave:

@CarolBlymire: Salty french fries, Coca-Cola with lots of ice cubes, small sips of chocolate milk, then back to bed.

@dimsumNYC: Gotta be some dimsum and dumplings! #chinesefood #carbs

@mylastbite: Bangers, Beans on Toast, Fried Eggs & Black Coffee!

@OnBlank: Four slices of toast with butter and Vegemite.

@misstanya: pierogie also helps

There are those who hatch their recovery plans over eggs:

@Carolineoncrack: Americano, eggs in purgatory and lots of water

@j_cohl: #hangovercure corn waffles with fried chicken,topped with chili and poached eggs..

@ItsTripp: Eggs and peanut butter.

Others take a more virtuous path to healing:

@SashaLyutse: yoga + kombucha #hangovercure

@noshfecksphoto: i need a banana smoothie (sugar and potassium) and then i need to get a russian/turkish bath or sauna & sweat that booze out!

@Beekman1802Boys: don't drink so much?

Many turn to the burn of spicy food to sweat out what ails them (though experts doubt the veracity of that, hey - whatever works):

@FarmerRussell: warm bath w eucalyptus followed by a big bowl of pho

@mexicanity: try spicy food to sweat the alcohol out of your system, like chilaquiles or hot menudo #mexicanwisdom

@anthony_lamas: Posole!!!

Plenty turn and face that nipping dog again, armed with some liquid courage:

@CarveSlayer: favorite hangover cure: coconut water, a giant icy mimosa, grease, & a CSI marathon on TV.

@cookinwithchris: bacon and toast with a Bloody Mary

@westpatravel: Champagne (a la James Beard)

@bronacos: Irish Coffee, it's the Holy Trinity cure... alcohol, caffeine & sugar!

@cookwithcheftom: More booze, a couple of Advil, and a ton of water.

It's all business, no brunching or boozing for those who just wish to be done with it:

@danmericaCNN: Pedialite, but it works for late night fiscal cliff work, too.

@culinologist: 3 excedrin and a big glass of water before you go to sleep-

And there's always another route:

@RedTamara: chocolate milk, huevos rancheros and/or nasty sex. But you probably can't use that last one. #hangovercure

@chulegre: Once in Mexico- "veril de toro"- a bull's penis chopped up in tomato juice. I swear I'm not lying. #hangovercure

And we raise a cup of tea in our feeble, trembling hands to CNN Newsroom producer Ed Meagher for hipping us to this passage from Kingsley Amis's 1954 comic novel "Lucky Jim":

"He lay sprawled, too wicked to move, spewed up like a broken spider-crab on the tarry shingle of morning. The light did him harm, but not as much as looking at things did; he resolved, having done it once, never to move his eyeballs again. A dusty thudding in his head made the scene before him beat like a pulse. His mouth had been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night, and then as its mausoleum. During the night, too, he’d somehow been on a cross-country run and then been expertly beaten up by secret police. He felt bad."

Cheers!

Got a surefire hangover cure? We're all ears in the comments below.

Previously:

10 hangover remedies: What works?
Hanging tough: relief from over-imbibing

Posted by:
Filed under: Hangovers • Sip


soundoff (24 Responses)
  1. Weeds

    Bloody Mary followed by a great Mexican inspired breakfast served with a good hot sauce, I swear. Baadah boom, you'll be 10 by 10 before you get your check.

    January 2, 2013 at 3:54 pm | Reply
  2. Brad76

    wow, there's me passing out at my keyboard. Good stuff CNN! ;D

    January 2, 2013 at 5:17 am | Reply
  3. CJ

    Fruit juice first thing followed by McDonalds egg Mcmuffin of Big Mac menu

    January 2, 2013 at 4:51 am | Reply
  4. jimmyd

    40ml/kg lactated ringers' solution, 6.25 mg phenergan, 4 mg zofran, 25G dextrose, 100mg thiamine

    January 2, 2013 at 2:53 am | Reply
  5. Nicole

    I've never had a single hangover in my life. My husband gets them, and we usually drink shot-for-shot. I think it must be a genetic thing because my brother doesn't get hangovers either. I don't really do anything special–just drink a cup of water before I go to sleep like I normally would.

    January 2, 2013 at 2:53 am | Reply
  6. reality check

    Here's how to cure a hangover. Don't drink.

    January 2, 2013 at 2:41 am | Reply
  7. MashaSobaka

    Don't want a hangover? Don't drink too much. Quite simple.

    January 2, 2013 at 1:31 am | Reply
  8. gummyballz

    @ alka seltzer, 3 glasses of water and sleep... also a bit of natures medicine helps as well

    January 2, 2013 at 12:38 am | Reply
  9. Niklas Blanchard

    Bacon reduces the affects of a hangover by replenishing amino acids. And water, of course.

    Or just more booze.

    January 2, 2013 at 12:38 am | Reply
  10. Joe

    Smoke some weed and eat a good breakfast.

    January 1, 2013 at 11:35 pm | Reply
  11. Got Wine?

    Coconut water before and after, ibuprofen and back to bed.

    January 1, 2013 at 11:34 pm | Reply
  12. Charlie

    There's no "magic cure" for a hangover, and these yearly articles drive me nuts. A hangover is your body's natural reaction to dehydration and the toxic effects of alcohol. Assuming all the alcohol is out of your system (the only thing worse than a hangover is waking up still drunk), all you can do is drink plenty of fluids and rest. It's also a good idea to keep your electrolytes in balance. I would avoid sugary drinks and instead focus on sports drinks & water. Caffeinated drinks like black coffee / diet soda can help, too – caffeine breaks down into theobromine (amongst other things), which acts as a vasodilator. Stay away from NSAIDs if you can (NSAIDs like Tylenol / Advil + heavy alcohol usage = possible liver damage, if it's repeated over and over). When I've had a bad hangover, I've found warm showers, even sitting in the tub with the shower head pouring down on me, helps ... probably the combination of the soothing warm water & the droplets hitting my scalp & massaging it. Do NOT have "some hair of the dog that bit you" to cure a hangover ... all you're doing is getting drunk again, which means when you finally do sober up & deal with your hangover once and for all, it's going to be even worse.

    January 1, 2013 at 11:09 pm | Reply
    • Smokey

      what'da a mean a hang over is worse than waking up drunk? When you wake up drunk you have a base buzz and you should keep it rolling all day long. Its A Ho' Novva Lebel.

      January 2, 2013 at 4:01 pm | Reply
  13. obsthetimes

    I've had a few really bad hangovers and I don't wish them on anyone. I can't promise myself that I won't ever suffer one again.
    Whenever I have avoided one, I have managed to do so by ingesting literally liters of waters while drinking. I will often excuse myself and drink water in copious quantities to avoid a hangover.

    January 1, 2013 at 10:55 pm | Reply
  14. Bill

    Number 1 cure for a hangover: don't be a bitch.

    January 1, 2013 at 10:35 pm | Reply
  15. Michael Decker

    Gatorade, Coffee with cream, Alka-seltzer and a diet Dr Pepper. Vomit, rinse and repeat.

    January 1, 2013 at 10:27 pm | Reply
  16. Oswald

    Honestly, marijuana. Immediately curbs nausea and headache, but probably not the best idea for anything that involves leaving the house or operating a car. Leaving that aside, anti-motion sickness over-the-counter drugs like Dramamine work wonders, as well.

    January 1, 2013 at 10:20 pm | Reply
    • edgyone

      Weed people! Weed is awesome! Cured every hangover I ever had until I was not allowed to smoke it anymore cause of stupid social stigma against it. spread the word, stop the racially motivated ban and legalize it!

      January 1, 2013 at 10:55 pm | Reply
    • Joe

      +1

      January 1, 2013 at 11:36 pm | Reply
    • john

      yeh man smoke weed, and get high !! It tricks your body into not recognizing the hangover and then you can get on with your life

      January 2, 2013 at 12:11 am | Reply
  17. GiGi Eats Celebrities

    Eat an artichoke, lol!

    January 1, 2013 at 6:00 pm | Reply
  18. James

    Water with red clover extract and rhodiola, ibuprofen, bee pollen, vitamin C, pepto bismol, breakfast (with coffee AND beer), hot shower, bubble bath with epsom salt/lavender and a nice, warm massage to finish!

    January 1, 2013 at 5:46 pm | Reply
    • randoid1234

      By the time you got done doing all of the stuff on this list it would be the next day and you wouldn't have a hang over anymore anyways.

      January 2, 2013 at 4:49 pm | Reply

Post a comment


 

CNN welcomes a lively and courteous discussion as long as you follow the Rules of Conduct set forth in our Terms of Service. Comments are not pre-screened before they post. You agree that anything you post may be used, along with your name and profile picture, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and the license you have granted pursuant to our Terms of Service.

 
| Part of