Ridding Yourself of Hangovers Forever

Hangovers will leave you feeling sick as a dog. You’re better off without them. (Javier Brosch/Shutterstock)

One of the worst parts of getting drunk is inarguably the hangover. You think that you’re having some fun night out on the town, but then you wake up to a hangover that just won’t quit. You may have methods of trying to get rid of it, but these methods will usually fall flat. At the end of the day, that hangover isn’t going away until it has run its course. The only way to truly cure a hangover is simply to not experience one in the first place.

On some level, you probably already knew this. Maybe it was a revelation when you first started drinking, but it should be old news by now. Then again, those who have relapsed have probably discovered this time and time again. You may find yourself continuously surprised that the morning after a huge binge fest is not half as enjoyable as the night before. And even the night before is less enjoyable once you have begun to truly process the night’s events and everything that you did while you were intoxicated.

Needless to say, one of the many benefits of entering sobriety is that you will no longer have to deal with hangovers and their many physical and mental effects. You will not have to deal with the false cures, which almost never seem to work as well as you expect. A life without alcohol is a life without hangovers, and a better life for that basic fact. If you are sick of waking up each morning with a crippling hangover, then it should be easy to avoid a relapse by simply reminding yourself that you never have to wake up in pain again.

Physical Effects of Hangovers

The more you drink, the worse your headache will be in the morning. (wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock)

The physical effects of a hangover are immense, to the point that many will embark on a night of drinking while already expecting to wake up in pain. The effects of a hangover are similar to the symptoms of dehydration, which is sensible given alcohol’s tendency to dry out the body. You will wake up with a great headache, and everything may seem a little bit louder. You will be sore all over, especially in your joints. And because of this soreness, it may be a bit difficult to pry yourself out of bed.

Unfortunately, hydrating yourself will not necessarily be easy. As much as you may want a glass of water, the mere sight of any fluids may disgust you. If you go to drink a glass of anything, you may soon find yourself hunched over the toilet bowl, throwing it back up. You are stuck in the unfortunate position of absolutely needing to drink something healthy, yet feeling completely disgusted by the very thought of consuming anything. This is the effect that a hangover can have on you, and it is a most unfortunate one.

The physical effects of a hangover will often vary, but the general thread is that you will find yourself feeling sicker than you have felt when taken with most real illnesses. If you have been on a particularly nasty binge, then this sensation may sometimes last for most of the day. Even two days after drinking, you might still be feeling it. Hangovers this bad are not necessarily common, but they definitely happen. If you are ready to lay these experiences to rest, then sobriety just might be for you. All you must do is admit that you are tired of the soreness, the nausea and the pain, and you will be well on your way.

Mental Effects of Hangovers

Being hung over will leave your emotions a little closer to the surface than usual. (Irina Kozorog/Shutterstock)

The hangover is known well for its physical effects, but it carries many mental effects as well. It slows us down, leaves us sluggish and dull. We are not our best selves when we are hung over. We are poor performers, and our minds are virtually as weak as our bodies. This makes drinking during the week a disastrous proposition, especially if our jobs demand that we be sharp and alert. Those of us who must be quick on our feet cannot afford to slow ourselves through the constant consumption of alcohol.

Not only do we have a tendency to be somewhat dim-witted when grappling with a hangover, but our emotions can be somewhat questionable as well. Things will rise to the surface a bit easier. We will be thin-skinned, and it will not take much to provoke us to anger or depression. While we might be able to exert a bit of mindfulness in our everyday interactions, the hangover will weaken us to the point that any remark of which we do not approve may feel just a bit like a personal attack—even if it was not truly meant to hurt us.

Hangovers are not always associated with this type of paranoia, but we must still be watchful for this sort of behavior. The hangover is not unlike being drunk in that our inhibitions are virtually nullified. We will not be able to make decisions with the same level of caution with which we would normally care to proceed. As a result, we will seem a bit impulsive at times. On the flipside, we may sometimes neglect to make decisions at all. No matter what, one thing is for certain—the versions of ourselves that the rest of the world sees when we are hung over are not the best versions that we have to offer.

Trying to Cure a Hangover

Drink as much milk and coffee as you want. That headache isn’t going away until it’s good and ready. (NinaMalyna/Shutterstock)

When saddled with a hangover, one of the first things you might try to do is cure it. Everyone has home remedies that they believe to be perfect. They think the “hair of the dog” will cure them by relieving their symptoms, or there are those who believe that they can cure a hangover by consuming greasy foods. Whatever the remedy, we will usually feel 100% certain that it will be effective whenever we try it. Unfortunately, we are usually deluding ourselves with these beliefs.

See, the problem with these cures is that they aren’t exactly healthy. Eating foods with poor nutrition or consuming extra amounts of alcohol when alcohol was the substance that hurt us in the first place are not sensible cures. Sure, they might make us feel a little bit better at first. But after this initial, synthetic benefit, we will find that we are actually much worse for wear. Continuing to consume alcohol or doing anything else that involves not looking after our bodies and minds will only do more harm than good in the end. And if we continue to live a lifestyle that includes hangovers, we will likely continue trying these false cures over and over again.

Exercise is one of the few common remedies that might actually do us good, but we will not usually feel like exercising. And anything other than cardio will be dangerous, for we will not have the composure for weight training. In fact, we might hurt ourselves if we even try. In short, there is really no workable hangover cure when we are at our worst. For no matter what we try, we only risk doing greater harm to ourselves. The best course of action is simply to avoid hangovers altogether.

A Life Without Alcohol

Cutting this out of your lifestyle will not be the worst decision you’ve ever made. (igor.stevanovic/Shutterstock)

A life without alcohol is a life without hangovers, and this is a life that should suit you well if you are tired of waking up every morning with a splitting headache. If you are tired of feeling your brain quake every time you look at a well-lit window, then you may be among those people who are ready to never suffer from a hangover again. If you are tired of watching your work suffer because you are unable to perform at your best level, then you may count yourself among these people as well.

Those who have suffered few real consequences aside from the occasional hangover may not consider themselves to be alcoholics. But if you recognize that your consistent hangovers have had a negative impact on your life and have done nothing to remedy this fact, then it is safe to say that you are probably not a normal drinker. Normal drinkers do not constantly hurt themselves through the consumption of alcohol, only to continue the next day. Normal drinkers do not consume alcohol in the morning as a futile attempt to make their hangover go away. These are the behaviors of an alcoholic, through and through.

Sobriety ensures that you will never have to put up with the pain and discomfort of a hangover again. You will never have to deal with the blackouts, the detective work to see who you called while you were all but unconscious. You will never have to make apologies for instances you do not even remember, all while grappling with soreness and light sensitivity. A life without hangovers will do you well. If your last hangover left you wondering if you might be an alcoholic, feel free to contact us today. Once you enter recovery, you will find yourself waking up each morning with renewed energy and purpose. You may never have to deal with another hangover again.