Whilst it might make you "feel" better, the reason for that is that it is stopping an intense detoxification. The greasier is not the better, at least where your liver is concerned. The body detoxifies alcohol before anything else, and fats will not be processed by the liver. The liver requires hydration to process those fats, the opposite of what alcohol does to the body.

If you want to drink copious amounts and balance it out as best you can, it isn't that difficult(depending upon your genetics - blue-eyed people have been shown to have generally the highest tolerance for processing alcohol, and those with no history of alcohol have very little tolerance):

1/ Eat a decent meal before drinking
2/ Rehydrate whilst drinking. I.e. a glass of water or two during a drinking session goes a long way
3/ Kickstart your liver after you've finished drinking and before you sleep by adding freshly squeezed lemon juice into a glass of water
4/ Vitamins B & C before drinking, before bed and on hand in the morning. A bit of magnesium and zinc can help too. If you want to go the non-supplement route, a banana and an apple or freshly squeezed juice can really help. Just be wary of the sugars adding to the hangover effect. Sugars will exacerbate a hangover when mixed with alcohol.
5/ Caffeine will potentiate the effects of alcohol and vice versa.

I just ended up sleeping it off. It feels like I beat my head against a wall a few times though lol. All in all I drank about a liter of 70 proof rum by myself. I got blackout drunk for the first time. I woke up still drunk at about 10 (when I posted here for the second time) Went back to bed and woke up at 2:00. It was certainly an interesting night though I don't think it deserves repeating anytime soon.

Sleep is the best hangover cure :) Sweating it out is the next best but can place a strain on the kidneys, especially when dehydrated.

Blackout drunk...ah I remember(or do I?) those days :)

Beware of taking too much paracetamol/acetaminophen(Tylenol in the US) to cure that hangover as it is the leading cause of acute liver failure. Your liver has had a challenging time as it is. The B vitamins will do far more for your head in a healthier way :) I post this stuff to encourage others to drink a little more healthily than I used to. Harm minimisation plus hedonistic maximisation has always been my motto in life.

It sounds like you've had quite an experience!

I was wondering when this thread would head back into hangover cure territory.

My own isn't that controversial. Headaches from booze are usually caused by the dehydration process due to all the sugars in alcohol. The leeching of water from the body as it attempts to deal with all that sugar is akin to walking around in the hot sun for a couple of hours and getting a heat headache. So the solution for that is water, lots of water, preferably before the passing out phase begins.

Also, I've heard and found to be true the high carb food cure. When waking the next morning, no matter how good or bad you feel, force yourself to have a really big breakfast... like the kind that you'd shake your head at if you were working to get fit. I'm talking biscuits and gravy, eggs, sausage, bacon, anything with lots of protein and carbs. Heavy foods. It seems to help build the body back up to a stable level and keep the hangover shakes and pains away. Could be a placebo, but it seems to work for a lot people. Then again, it could just be an excuse for someone to eat a really yummy breakfast for no reason.

A little info on why that heavy breakfast that is recommended by many possibly works, irrespective of the added strain on the liver:

"Cysteine is found in most high-protein foods, including: Animal sources: pork, poultry, eggs, dairy" and has been shown to counter the effects of acetaldehyde(the byproduct of alcohol intoxication).

Given I'm vegetarian the closest I used to come to this was frying up an egg. Nice to learn something new :)

oh biochem, how I love and hate you at the same time
and yes to what Tarnicus said about Tylenol. So many people think it's this safe drug you can just pop like candy. you do not want to be in the hospital with acute liver failure. it isn't pretty.

I've heard N-acytelcysteine works (precursor the glutathione)

I'm more of a herbalist than chemist but have a meagre understanding of some things :)

I'd be a little concerned about the side effects of N-aceytelcysteine and would use Milk Thistle, the best liver cleansing herb I know of, and its relatives can be found very easily(just as True Dandelion, a wonderful herb for the liver is found in almost every yard or nature strip I've seen where I live - it did wonders to help get my liver back to better function after I spent years poisoning it). Given the promising results shown in Death Cap poisoning, the mushroom that accounts for the majority of mushroom related poisonings(I love mycology!), "scientific proof" might be on its way.

Yeah, I dont know much about herbs :p it's hard in the US b/c they aren't regulated so you can't be 100% sure of what you get. oh that's cool about the death cap/milk thistle thing. too bad there is nothing published yet :(
what are the side effects to milk thistle? Yes, one always has to be worried about side effects, but there are possible side effects to most anything you put into your body.

Yes and we have the Therapeutic Goods Association here which is wreaking havoc on legally practising herbalism. We're following the US medicinally in some unfortunate ways with our health care system. When I mention 'herbal medicine' I prefer to go for fresh wild-harvested or stuff that is certified and grown professionally. I'm not a fan of supplements or pills if I can help it but they certainly can be life-saving in many cases. Trying to find a synergy and balance between orthodox and traditional medicine is a challenging one but is making some progress(Europe, especially Germany do so well) that is hindered by greed. You can't patent a plant but you can patent an extract or synthetic reproduction. There are so many 'quacks' in both fields that it is challenging for people to disseminate what might be the right path forward for healing oneself. My advice is always to choose one's own path based on the evidence one has and what feels right, after all we should be able to choose what we do to ourselves, be it healthy or harmful if it does not adversely affect another.

I haven't experienced any side effects myself with Milk thistle. I don't have many of the scientific links that I used to on this computer but a quick search shows that it is considered to be 'safe' according to and it lists quite a few references. [url=http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/milk-thistle-and-mushroom-poisoning/]This article is an interesting read from a scientific perspective on Milk thistle and provides case studies.

Who would have thought such a conversation would ensue on a 'drunk thread'? :)

ugh, don't get me started on drug patents... How people can do that to one another (make medicine unaffordable) is horrific. And yes, many plants have given us great drugs: willow with asprin, poppies for opium. Hahaha, and yes, who would have thought this conversation would have happened here, all because you looked up info in cysteine lol :)

Hahahaha I forgot about that video. So funny. I want to know how long it took him to get to the convenience store to begin with.

That's an oldie but a goodie. I think the only way he made it to the store is if the place where he got wasted is no more than 25 meters away with a wall to lean on all the way. (A meter is near enough a yard in this case for the Americans in the audience.)

Happy Canada day everyone! I name you all Honorary Canadian until it's midnight in the "westest" part of Canada.

We don't have that conversation in this dojo. This is the drunk thread. All others are open to intellectual debate. This one is for discussing hangovers, beer, and midget ninja movies from Latin America.

So, in keeping with the theme of this thread, I urge you all to drink alcohol (if of legal age) and watch this clip...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EiHxQ8RhcQ

Bump with Dr. Pepper and tequila :D