Too often university students are plagued with the horrors of a raging hangover and the hangxiety that comes coupled with hazy memories of the night before. A banging headache, a smudged stamp, accessories lost, and dignity out the window are all common side effects of being hungover. The question is: how can we rid ourselves of this tragic form of torture as quickly as possible, because let’s face it, no one wants to suddenly come on with a case of the shaky sweats halfway through their 11am tutorial on a Thursday morning after a Wednesday night out.
Obviously if you have the ability to attempt to prevent the hangover emerging before sleep that is the clear first step. A friend of mine always manages to avoid the curses of hangxiety by drinking a pint of water and indulging in a big bowl of cereal before ultimately crawling into bed. However, for the majority of us who can barely take off our makeup or get into pyjamas before collapsing on the bed, we need some quick remedies.
Ibuprofen, paracetamol and buckets full of water is a good way to start to replenish the water lost from your body after a night out as alcohol does dehydrate you- which is what causes the treacherous headache! Whilst patiently waiting for this to take effect, greasy food is crucial in soaking up the alcohol and satiating the appetite. No matter how nauseous you are, you must push through to eat. Sometimes the idea of a bacon sarnie is the worst thing in the world but after eating it ravenously, your mood can be significantly boosted.
Besides food, water and painkillers, either a hot shower or exercise do a great job of sweating out the alcoholic toxins from your pores. The hot shower can help you feel a bit fresher and less grimy from the potentially overwhelming memories flooding back, and the exercise whilst seeming ostensibly impossible will also release endorphins which helps to increase how alert you feel and improve your mood.
All in all, there are a variety of ways to cure a hangover. If it comes round to the next day when you are expected to go out but still suffering in despair, you can always just have one extra day in bed to nurse your pride and replenish your vitamins lost. Some hardcore partiers may just drink anyway to replenish the alcohol withdrawal. However, this does not help the recovery but perpetuates the cycle of pain, leading to a longer lamenting sense of upset in the long run. So, be careful.
Photo by Yuris Alhumaydy on Unsplash