How to recover from alcohol intoxication at home?

Alcohol intoxication is a generalized concept that can have different manifestations depending on the amount of alcohol consumed. Even doctors support the use of small doses of quality alcohol without coloring and flavorings as a preventive measure against cardiovascular diseases and thrombosis. It is believed that in such doses ethanol does not lead to erythrocyte sticking, but stimulates blood circulation, preventing congestion, atherosclerosis of blood vessels and some other pathological processes in the body.

This is by no means an agitation for alcoholization and regular consumption of alcoholic beverages. Not all doctors support the idea of alcohol prophylaxis. Moreover, more often than not, such prevention turns out to be another misfortune. During alcohol consumption, many people find it difficult to stop at a safe norm, and gradually they are drawn in and turn into moderate alcoholics. Others, having started "treatment" in the morning, finish only in the evening (or even after several days), at best by themselves, but often with the help of relatives who know how to bring a person out of alcohol intoxication.

It is not so much the intoxication itself that is dangerous, but the overdose of ethyl alcohol that causes severe intoxication, which is called a hangover. Everyone has his or her own dose, but it is worse for yourself to exceed it.

Yes, not everyone and not always manages to calculate the dose correctly, but just in case it is better to have an idea how to remove alcohol intoxication with the help of the simplest methods and means that help to ease the hangover, reduce the manifestations of intoxication, relieve painful symptoms. Otherwise, later the memory of a wonderful and fun spent time will be marred by memories of hangover syndrome.

In case of a mild degree of alcohol intoxication, which is tolerated differently by different people, you can bring yourself back to normal by taking a walk in the fresh air. Ethyl alcohol is a volatile substance, so with intensive breathing and gas exchange will be actively removed from the lungs to the surrounding space. This will reduce its concentration in the body and significantly alleviate the condition.

Alcohol is not recommended to mix with sweet dishes, but honey is an exception. With the help of this delicacy you can significantly reduce the likelihood of intoxication symptoms, or at least reduce their severity and duration. Honey is considered an activator of metabolism due to the organic acids in its composition, and the more active the metabolic processes in the body, the faster it removes all the excess.

It is clear that on a hangover is unlikely to want to eat something sweet. But you can deceive your body by offering it honey with sour lemon in equal proportions, adding honey to herbal decoction based on rose hips and St. John's wort, adding honey to mint tea, which perfectly relieves nausea and stimulates digestion. Such recipes help both with a hangover and on the eve of the appearance of excruciating symptoms of intoxication.

But in the morning, when all the alcohol from the digestive system has already gone into the blood, it will be good to try a homemade "antipohmelin" in the form of a cocktail of milk, honey and banana.

Eating about 100 g of honey in pure form or as part of general health dishes can help your body to cope with the poison introduced into it and at the same time add a drop of health.

To alleviate a hangover, people recommend a hot (or cool) shower, abundant drinking, hot broth, raw egg. To this list you can add 100 g of good vodka, beer, kefir, which are recommended even by doctors, though with some reservations. So, vodka (and only it) can be drunk if there is no disgust and there is unmotivated anxiety caused by a lack of dopamine. Kefir (as well as brine or other acidic drinks) in its pure form is recommended only if there are no signs of acidosis (nausea with vomiting, frequent breathing), otherwise it should be drunk with a pinch of baking soda or alkaline mineral waters (not more than 500-600 g).

But beer should be chosen only "live", which preserves the B vitamins so necessary for the CNS. The second requirement is that beer should be non-alcoholic. This drink provides diuretic effect and helps to remove water from the body, which is visible to the naked eye in the form of edema. It will help reduce headaches and reduce the strain on the heart. The tranquilizers in the composition of hops in turn will help normalize the mental state.

It should be said that it makes sense to use the above remedies in case of mild alcohol intoxication. In case of severe intoxication, such an activity may be a waste of time. Severe alcohol intoxication is a condition that requires the intervention of specialists, because it is a potentially dangerous phenomenon that can lead to the death of a person.

Medications for alcohol intoxication

If you had a little too much to drink in the evening, and the morning rest, walks and the above means do not help you to get back on your feet (after all, each person's body is unique), you can resort to the help of medicines. Today on sale you can find specialized drugs that help in one fell swoop to get rid of all the symptoms reminiscent of yesterday's raucous feast. "Alka-Prim", "Alka-Seltzer", "Antipohmelin", "Medichronal", "Alko OFF", "Alcodez IC", "Korrda-K", "Alkoneitral", "Glutargin Alkoklin", "Alekol", "Alko-Sorb" - this is not a complete list of such pharmacy remedies, which should be stocked on the eve of the feast. Such hangover remedies as "Medichronal" and "Alecol" will not only help to fight a hangover, but also prevent its appearance, if the drug is taken the day before or during drinking alcoholic beverages.

What to do if at the time of the appearance of distressing symptoms of suitable medicines were not at hand. A home first aid kit can help. It is certain to contain such drugs as "Activated charcoal", "Aspirin" (acetylsalicylic acid preparation), "Loperamide", "Loratadine", "Citramon", "Paracetamol", "Ibuprofen".

Instead of activated charcoal, you can use any other sorbents: "Smecta", "Polysorb", "Enterosgel", "Polifepan", "Atoxil", "Liferan", "Lignosorb" and others. Their effectiveness in relation to alcohol is different, but relief still comes, because these drugs are designed to absorb and remove toxins from the body, one of which is a dangerous derivative of ethanol - acetaldehyde.

It should be said that the effectiveness of activated charcoal in the fight against hangover is questioned by many. Nevertheless, it helps to clean the blood and liver in alcohol intoxication, but it is important to realize that charcoal should not only be introduced into the body, but also removed from it in time.

The standard dosage of charcoal to cleanse the body of toxic substances is 1 tablet for each kilogram of body weight. After taking it, you should try to cleanse the intestines within a couple of hours after taking the sorbent. Usually in the morning there are no problems with this, especially if the food was rich in fiber, but if necessary, you can help yourself with a laxative. For these purposes, "Senadexin" or soft laxatives based on lactulose: "Normolact", "Dufolac", etc., will be suitable.

Treatment with the drug "Enterosgel" consists of taking a single dose of 45 g. This rate is recommended to take in the evening after the end of libations and in the morning. In the case of severe acute intoxication, the powder is diluted with water and washed stomach, then take the standard dose twice with an interval of at least 8 hours. This will help to remove the residues of alcohol from the digestive system and what has entered the blood.

"Polysorb" with a hangover is taken in a dosage corresponding to the weight of the person. With a body weight of 40-60 kg, the recommended dose is 3 grams, over 6 kg - 3-6 grams. Powder before use is necessarily diluted in 100-150 ml of water.

In case of severe alcohol poisoning (as evidenced by hangover symptoms), you will have to take the drug for a couple of days. On the first day, the rate of the drug will have to be taken at an interval of 3 hours, on the second day the interval can be reduced to 4 hours.

When taking any sorbents you need to remember to cleanse the intestines. True, diarrhea after a feast is usually more common than constipation. But even here there is a danger, because along with the stool (as well as during prolonged vomiting) is removed and fluid from the body, causing the phenomenon of dehydration: there is dry skin, thirst, increased headache, etc. Usually sorbents help normalize the stool, but if this does not happen, you need to take antidiarrheal drugs (eg, "Loperamide"). And here the main thing is not to overdo it.

In indomitable vomiting, which is also not uncommon in intoxication, especially if during the feast in the body got a whole "cocktail" of alcoholic beverages (and even in combination with sweet sodas), antiemetics (for example, "Metoclopramide") help. Usually 1-2 times vomiting removes all the contents of the stomach, so vomiting does not help to cleanse the body, but only removes fluid.

One of the most distressing symptoms of a hangover is headaches. Rest is the best cure for a hangover, but try to sleep if your head is splitting in two. Both analgesics and NSAIDs can be used as headache medications, and doctors recommend favoring the latter as the most effective medications.

Recognized by many as popular for headache "Citramon" is questioned when it comes to hangovers. The drug is weak in this case, and in large doses can only increase unpleasant symptoms (nausea, vomiting). In addition, this is a multicomponent drug, which includes paracetamol. This substance is considered one of the safest NSAIDs, but it is not combined with alcohol. As a symptomatic therapy for headache after drinking "Citramon" or "Paracetamol" can be taken, of course, but it is worth observing a safe interval, which is 6 hours. In other words, the medication can be taken only 6 hours after the infusion of the last drink.

Ibuprofen" also helps relieve morning headache. With minimal toxic effects on the liver, which it favorably differs from other NSAIDs, this drug in moderate doses (single dose of 1-2 tablets) significantly alleviates the condition, although the effect of the drug is relatively short-lived.

The most popular hangover drug is "Aspirin" or "Acetylsalicylic acid". Despite all the disadvantages of this drug (toxic effect on the liver and damage to the mucosa of the GI tract), it has a couple of very useful properties. First, reliably relieves headaches, and secondly, improves the rheological properties of the blood, preventing the formation of blood clots. This explains the popularity of the drug. But abuse it for obvious reasons should not be abused, because it is a double blow to the organs violated by alcohol. In addition, there is information about the effect of the drug on the concentration of cancer cells in the body.

By the way, reading the composition of "Citramon", you can find that one of its active substances is also acetylsalicylic acid in a fairly high dose.

Vitamins (particularly B6 and B12), sports drinks and glucose can help you get over a hangover much easier and even prevent its occurrence. Vitamins are nutrition for the CNS, sports cocktails are excellent energizers, and glucose is a well-known food for the brain and heart, which reduces the "side effects" of ethanol and normalizes kidney function by activating the hormone vasopressin, provides control of fluid excretion and prevents dehydration.

To fight a hangover and its consequences, 2 tsp. Of glucose (sold in pharmacies) per glass of water is enough. Glucose can be replaced with sugar or honey and it is good to add vitamin C to the drink (ascorbic acid and lemon with zest or other sources of this vitamin, which has a beneficial effect on the blood and the general condition of the body). Sweet drinks should be drunk in large quantities (at least 6 glasses a day). There is no need to fear possible interaction with alcohol, as in the case of paracetamol.

Exogenous alcohol, although similar to our own, can still be perceived by the body as a foreign substance. An allergic or anaphylactic reaction to alcohol is not common, but it is possible. And here antihistamines can help. For example, a drug with minimal risk of side effects "Loratadine" may be useful in allergies to alcohol, but it is worth using the least effective doses, because by affecting the liver ethanol is able to increase the concentration of the active ingredient of the drug in the blood. And this is an additional load on the organ.

As for "No-shpa", which is also sometimes recommended as a hangover remedy, there is no particular benefit. The drug does not help with hangover headache, and its antispasmodic properties are of no use when it comes to ethyl alcohol, which has the same properties. It makes sense to take the drug only in case of intestinal or hepatic colic resulting from a generous meal.

Of all the above medicines, of course, preference should be given to enterosorbents, because without them any symptomatic treatment of intoxication will have a short-term effect. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the medicinal neighborhood. The interval between the reception of sorbents and other drugs should be at least 1.5-2 hours, otherwise the effectiveness of the latter will be noticeably lower.

Drugs for hangovers and alcoholism treatment

If a person has had too much to drink and passes out at the table, so that it is impossible to wake him up, ammonia will help. Ammonia is a ten percent solution of ammonia, which has a caustic, irritating odor, stimulating blood circulation and respiration. It is this substance that can bring a person in severe alcohol intoxication to consciousness in seconds. It is enough to put a absorbent cotton moistened with the solution to the nose of a drunk person or smear it on the temples in case of severe intoxication.

When the person regained consciousness, ammonia is also recommended to take orally. If it is about the average severity of intoxication, 2-3 drops per glass of water is enough, with severe intoxication, the concentration of the drink is increased (up to 6 drops of ammonia). Further relieve the condition of the victim will help fresh air, rest, abundant drinking (we have already mentioned useful drinks), vitamins.

Ammonia solution is also used to bring a person out of a hangover. Three times during the day a drink of a glass of water and 10 drops of ammonia helps to solve the problem, but it is very important to observe the dose so as not to provoke respiratory disorders.

By the way, treatment with ammonia is contraindicated in epileptic status.

Another interesting substance that helps with alcohol intoxication is succinic acid. In pharmacies, it can be found in the form of tablets with the same name or preparations with other trade names ("Mitomin", "Yantavit", etc.). The useful property of succinic acid to accelerate the oxidation of acetaldehyde, turning it into relatively safe products, is also used in specialized preparations: "Antipohmelin", "Limontar", "Alcobarrier" and others.

In fact, succinic acid is the simplest solution to the question of how to relax well under the influence of alcohol without experiencing the consequences of intoxication. With its participation the processes of alcohol utilization in our body take place, but the amount that is produced endogenously is not enough if the dose of alcohol exceeds the body's capabilities. This is exactly the right time to help it by introducing succinic acid from the outside.

It is believed that taking a couple of tablets of "Amber Acid" half an hour before a feast helps to control intoxication and reduces the risk of symptoms of hangover syndrome. But such prevention is not useful for everyone. The property of succinic acid to increase blood pressure can be dangerous for people with weak blood vessels, if we take into account that alcohol itself affects the pressure, either increasing or decreasing it.

If there are concerns, it is better to resort to traditional treatment, taking the drug in the morning. The first tablet is recommended to drink as soon as you wake up, the second - after an hour and so on (up to 6 tablets). An enema and taking laxatives will help to strengthen the effect of the drug.

The tablets should be taken outside of meals (half an hour before or as early as 2 hours after eating). Ideally, it is better to let the stomach rest during these 5-6 hours, but wash down the drug with plenty of water or vegetable juice to reduce the irritating effect on the stomach.

The use of succinic acid in the treatment of alcoholism is not associated with a decrease in craving for alcohol. Nevertheless, the drug helps to qualitatively and quickly cleanse the body from the products of ethyl alcohol metabolism, which a long-term drinker has accumulated so much that it takes a month to eliminate them. There is a certain scheme of treatment, which provides for alternation of two-day intake of the drug in a dosage of no more than 3 tablets of succinic acid and a three-day break.

When taking succinic acid on its own, you should remember about its invigorating effect (do not risk it before going to bed) and its ability to increase blood pressure. When taking the drug in combination with tranquilizers, pancreatin preparations, glutargine it is necessary to observe a 30-40 minute interval.

It is not worth resorting to this treatment for people who have acute gastric ulcer, increased stomach acidity, high blood pressure, stones in the urine. Although these same people alcohol is not recommended at all.

A hangover is the result of excessive consumption of alcohol and its incongruous mixtures. It is quite understandable to want to quickly remove ethanol products from the body when unpleasant symptoms appear, but why such a desire does not arise earlier? You should always think about the consequences and realize that it is unlikely to be possible to noticeably accelerate the metabolism of alcohol by folk means, so you have to wait and be patient. All the above-described remedies are suitable for symptomatic therapy, and only time and adequate sleep can normalize the condition and restore the body's strength.