How to beat that hangover

A hangover is the combination of unpleasant symptoms you get around 10 hours after having large amounts of alcohol in your system.

These symptoms commonly include tiredness, muscle aches, headache, nausea and irritability. It’s not fully understood exactly what causes a hangover but it is thought to be a combination of dehydration, lack of sleep, stomach irritation, low blood sugar and a breakdown product of alcohol that causes inflammation.

Large amounts of alcohol causes dehydration and disrupts the balance of salts known as electrolytes in your system. This is through increasing the amount of fluid lost due to an increase in passing urine.

You can combat the dehydration by replacing lost fluids with water combined with electrolyte tablets. This helps rehydrate you quickly and effectively and helps to rebalance your salt levels. It might be after the event, but try to remember to keep hydrated during your night out – drink water along with your alcoholic drinks and take some before you got to sleep.

Over-the-counter pain relief such as paracetamol can help relieve common symptoms like headaches and muscle aches. Ibuprofen has an anti-inflammatory action to help combat some of the inflammation in your body caused by alcohol. It’s a good idea to take ibuprofen with food, as it can irritate your stomach.

Alcohol can cause your body’s sugar levels to be low, which can add to you feeling weak, tired and irritable. If you can stomach it, try to eat a balanced meal, but if not, just aim to eat something high in carbohydrates such as toast. The last tip is to get as much sleep as you can. Alcohol may help you fall to sleep quicker but it makes the quality of your sleep worse, so getting some extra hours' kip the next day can help you feel more refreshed.