Treating a hangover

Nearly every home hangover cure involves drinking lots of liquids.
By LAURA MEYN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
The American Heritage Dictionary calls it the "unpleasant physical effects following the heavy use of alcohol."
And it doesn't need to be any more specific than that, because we all know a hangover when we see one: the dry mouth, the throbbing head, the sensitivity to light.
When the time comes to contemplate breakfast, food either looks great or really, really awful.
The conventional wisdom is to treat your aching body with "a hair of the dog that bit you," in other words, to have a small drink.
This sounds like a bad idea to me, so I began searching for a remedy other than more drinking, to more gently deliver Vindicator readers from the pains of overindulgence this holiday season.
I solicited advice from a couple of professionals, but mostly from friends who've nursed a hangover or two. At their request, I've used nicknames to protect the not-so-innocent.
3-step approach
"There are three steps I take," said Lucy. "First, planning ahead so that you can sleep as late as possible the next morning. Second, before I go to bed on the night of drinking or upon rising early and queasy the next morning, I take two Pepto-Bismol capsules. Third, I give the next day up to eating a lot [eggs Benedict is especially good] and drinking lots of nonalcoholic fluids."
Another friend, Kirby, has a similar routine. "A bottle of Gatorade and two Advil before I hit the sack [if I can remember] and then the same right when I wake up. I usually go back to bed for just a little while to let the Gatorade and Advil take effect," she said, "Then, straight to a restaurant to get a greasy omelet and potato breakfast! Seriously, the ingredients in Gatorade [or another similar sports drink] are supposed to hydrate your body [and hung-over head] better than water. It really works."
Note, however, that medical studies show there's a danger in using painkillers and alcohol together.
I had heard of this trick before from a college roommate, who used to brag about her ingenious combination of Gatorade and a Butterfinger candy bar, which she said worked every time. So I called up another college buddy of ours to see if her advice would be any different. "Water, water, water and lots of ibuprofen!" said Kincaide.
What pharmacist said
That seemed sensible enough, and it nearly matched the instructions from the Giant Eagle pharmacist I contacted. "A lot of people just take Advil or Motrin," she said, unable to cite any over-the-counter remedies worth recommending.
Nurse Marcia Gould (her real name) reminded me how important fluids are after drinking alcohol. "I'd say the symptoms of a hangover are partly due to dehydration, so drink lots of juices and water and maybe take some Tylenol or aspirin for that whopping headache," said Gould. "Other than that, only time will take care of the rest. The body needs time to detoxify."
WebMD (www.webmd.com) noted that some people's cure of choice is burned toast; the site says that the carbon in overdone toast helps to filter out impurities in the stomach left over from a drinking binge.
There was just one more call to make -- my cousin Bo, who back in his college days was famous in our family for his suave recoveries after not-so-suave nights.
I was sure he'd know what to do. His advice? "Hair of the dog: two Bloody Marys, a good breakfast and then a nap."
I give up.