Hangover Helpers

Here's the deal, sometimes, despite our best intentions, we can occasionally party a little too hardy.  What I mean is, a hangover is real life and it's not classy but it happens!  At my age, I feel the symptoms of a hangover after about 2 beers and too little sleep.  I rarely ever plan for a night of crazy drinking so instead, hangovers happen unexpectedly after a particularly fun dinner with friends (or a surprise engagement party!). 

And not to boast but I think I've devised a solid game plan to pull myself together the next morning and feel/look like a functional adult.  Up first is your immediate plan of attack upon waking up.  The next post will be some beauty tips to spruce up and make yourself presentable in public.    

Let's talk about feeling good.  You need to attack it from a few angles.  

1.  Hydrate.  Dear god, you need to hydrate yourself.  You're so parched.  But the problem is, water probably tastes funny (at least it does for me).  Welp, get over it and start chugging because your poor body needs hydration, desperately.  Coconut water is also a great alternative and I've got some friends who even use Pedialyte to hydrate.  Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

2.  Alka Seltzer.  Depending on how much fun you had the night before, your stomach maaayyyy be a little off.  Keep Alka Seltzer on hand and drink it first thing in the morning.  It adjusts the pH of your stomach (science?) and, frankly, makes you burp, which feels great.

3.  Advil.  Or Alleve.  Or Tylenol.  Any painkiller of your choosing.  Take one right when you wake up to preemptively stop a headache that is likely to form from too little sleep and too little water.  

4.  Caffeine.  I don't know why this works (especially since it can actually dehydrate you) but I've found that I feel noticeably better after I've had some coffee or a Diet Coke.  Or both.  So pick your poison.  

 5. Carbs!  Glorious carbs.  Especially of the refined variety.  Now is not the time to be health-conscious.  You can do that tomorrow.  Today you need french fries or hash browns or pad thai.  You need something satisfying and heavy to soak up all the mistakes you made the night before.  So many mistakes.  

6.  Nap.  Duh.  I think a good nap may be the key to making it through a rough day.  That's just a general life philosophy I have but it's especially true for hangovers.   

7.  Optional B12 Supplement.  I have no confirmed proof that this can truly help a hangover.  Some friends swear by it and I've even done it a few times.  The problem is, you have to remember to take it the night before.  You're relying on your intoxicated self to remember to take B12.  It seems unlikely.  But it certainly can't hurt and if all you get is a placebo effect that it cured your hangover than that's all you really need.   

These tips generally make the day more bearable for me but if you've got any other tips, please share them in the comments!  Of course, it goes without saying that I'm a very classy lady and I rarely, if ever, need to employ the strategy above.  #dontjudgeme

All pictures were pulled from Google Images