If you wake up with a headache after a night of overindulging, sometimes figuring out what painkiller to take can make the headache even worse. I've heard that it's bad to take acetaminophen (aka Tylenol), because it can lead to liver damage, but take note: you're also not supposed to drink while taking ibuprofen.
Ibuprofen is part of the anti-inflammatory drug family known as NSAIDs, which can cause tears in the stomach lining if taken on an empty tummy. Add alcohol to the mix, and the potential danger is heightened. If you take ibuprofen when drinking more than the recommended amount for women (about two to three drinks), you increase your risk of stomach irritation and bleeding. This is especially true for people who are prone to ulcers.
But wait! Taking Tylenol when you're hungover isn't such a good idea either. To find out why, read more.
Acetaminophen can lead to liver damage if you take it in large doses (that's 4,000 milligrams, or eight extra-strength Tylenol) for more than a couple of days. Heavy drinkers who take acetaminophen and don't eat enough can overtax their livers. However, the risks associated with taking Tylenol after recreational drinking are somewhat blurry. According to The Straight Dope:
I'll spare you the biochemistry, but basically acetaminophen and alcohol in combination overwhelm the liver's ability to remove toxins from your bloodstream. . . . It's not clear from the medical literature what happens if you take acetaminophen after a one-time bender (as opposed to chronic alcohol abuse). But don't substitute some other painkiller — aspirin and ibuprofen can have side effects too. Better to be suffering than dead.
So what's a hungover, headache-plagued gal to do — besides not drinking so much in the first place? Since the jury is still out on the exact effects of combining Advil or Tylenol with booze, probably best just to tough it out. Maybe even try a natural remedy like yoga. Got one that works for you? Share it in the comments.
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Carrera
Citizens of Humanity
I've never had a hangover, so I don't know really what to do after the fact.
But I *have* taken ibuprofen BEFORE drinking alcohol, because I had a headache beforehand [usually stress headaches], and nothing's happened yet. Is this bad as well?
My father tells me I'm going to get ulcers from that, but I've been doing it for years, the doctors haven't seen anything out of the ordinary, and I haven't felt any effect from it yet.
The best way to avoid hangovers and such is to either not drink so much or at least prepare your body for the alcohol beforehand. The best advice I've read and use was to have a complex carbohydrate [pita and hummus, for instance, or whole-wheat pasta, or a sandwich rich with grains - PB&J, anyone?] before you drink. The carbs help line your stomach so the absorption isn't as quick.
1This also helps with taking the medications to lessen the upset to your stomach. Take the Advil or Tylenol with food or milk!
Lots and lots and lots of water!!!! Rehydrate!!
2Interesting... I don't drink as often as I used to and don't really get hangovers anymore, but for me plenty of water, light foods, and some rest always worked for me.
3And margokhal is so right. It always helps to eat the right foods beforehand, too.
no painkiller helps like water. it's the only real "cure" since the hangover headache is caused by dehydration, if you are still dehydrated numbing the pain receptors will not help whatsoever.
as far as yoga for a natural remedy, it's a great idea just choose your class wisely... a friend of mine has a really bad hungover-hot-yoga story that involved profusely sweating vodka and no small amount of vomit hahaha... eeeeeew
4yeah, i know myself on a hangover day, yoga really doesnt sound all that appealing to me. Bed, liquid and darkness does.
5I know it isnt good for you, but I probably wont stop taking Advil for my hangovers along with a lot of water...I just cannot deal with the pounding head. I wont usually take it unless it is really bad, but still.
Cure for hangover: Mimosas. Works every time.
6eek, I've been taking ibruprofen in the middle of the night recently because of wisdom tooth pain... had NO idea about the risks of doing this!
why does it not say anywhere on the packaging or in the information leaflet about this??
7huh - interesting that our cure to a hangover may not be such a great cure afterall. taking 8 extra strength tylenol for any reason though is a lot don't you think?
8hahaha - the last thing I want to do when I'm hungover is get up, get dressed, drive to the gym and do a yoga class.
Best hangover remedy - wake up, take two Excedrine Migranes and drink as much water as you can stand, and get back in bed.
9since i only get hangovers every once in a while...i always take 4 advils the next morn and drink tons of water....since i've done it several times...and i'm still here..typing away..no problems..i'll continue doing so
10I've never been hungover, either. But I've also taken ibuprofen before having a drink because I had a few muscle aches from a tough workout. I didn't really notice any bad effects from it, so maybe the problems come from taking too much ibuprofen with more than one drink at a time. Hangovers generally happen when you drink more than you can tolerate, so I'm guessing that if you don't get a hangover, you're probably not drinking to excess.
11Sleep and water usually cure a hangover for me.
12no painkillers. when i get a hangover....gatorade and bananas!
13a ton of sleep and water
14Tylenol I did know about, but I wasn't aware of not being able to take Ibuprofen. I definitely don't want my stomach to bleed. :/
15In general, I take acetaminophen or enteric-coated aspirin, which doesn't aggravate my stomach the way ibuprofen can. But when I have a hangover I don't bother with painkillers, since they just don't work for me then. If I drink tons of water and get a little light exercise, I'll feel better. Not well, but better.
16When I have a really bad hangover I drink a BIG bottle or 2 of Gatorade throughout the day - may not be the best calorie-wise but it cures the hangover better than anything else I have tried.
17I like to take a Vitamin C pill or drink lots of orange juice, seems to help.
18Hah I tried ibuprofen to cure a hangover for the first time on 1 Jan, and, well, it wasn't a good idea (let's avoid details). I'll stick to my sleeping-carbs-drinking water method.
Haven't been able to even smell alcohol since that episode anyway, which means I should just stay away from alcohol for a little while..
19I always make sure to chug water before I go to bed and eat some burnt toast. It's rare I drink that much or even get hangovers so I don't have to worry about this all too often.
20You can drink and take ibuprofen, you probably wont die but obviously you know it its not good for your body.
21Smoke some nice dank marijuana to relieve a hangover!
A cup of coffee, a big sausage and eggs breakfast, a joint, and constant water will put you right. A hangover is a battle you can win if you just put your (damaged) mind to it.
"Last time I was sober
Man I felt bad
Worst Hangover
That I ever had
It took six hamburgers
Scotch all night
Nicotine for breakfast
Just to put me right
'Cause if you wanna run cool
Yeah if you wanna run cool
You've got to run
On heavy, heavy fuel
Don't care if my liver
Is hangin' by a thread
Don't care if my doctor
Says I ought to be dead
If my ugly brown car
Won't climb this hill
I'll write a suicide note
On a hundred dollar bill...
- "Heavy Heavy Fuel" by The Dire Straits
22I have a great remedy that won't hurt any internal organs, but you apply it topically. Head On the homeopathic headache medicine. It works for me, and I like that I don't have to eat something before I take it or worry about liver issues or stomach pain. Try it, it's great for hangovers...cause sorry yoga won't cure any of my hangover headache.
23It seems I abused painkiller-alcohol combo a number of times in my youthful days. I haven't had too many hangovers in my relatively short life but back in the day I would just take painkillers without paying attention to whether they were all ibuprofen or acetaminophen based. As far as I understand the worst thing one could do is to drink alcohol and take acetaminophen based substances AFTER -these damage the liver by putting strain on the liver-the body cannot produce enough of the enzyme (something that starts with a glu) to metabolize the alcohol or the acetaminophen.
with ibuprofen the main danger is to the stomach and partly to the kidneys.
I have taken tylenol and/or advil and then gone out to drink and nothing ever happened but apparently especially in the case of tylenol, there can be liver damage built up over time apparently. However, most of those times that I had a headache and ended up taking something and then drinking I only took 2 pills (recommended 1 time dosage) and then drank 1-2 glasses of wine (not a hard alcoholic substance to begin with and 1-2 glasses is Ok for a woman it seems).
as for cure for hangovers, I'd probably go with ibuprofen if I needed something and lots and lots of water, bed rest. Worst is that I'm prone to migraines after drinking too much and so I can't NOT have any pain medication-so the lesser of two evils I think is ibuprofen.
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