7 inexpensive ways to handle a hangover

If you learn nothing else from me, please learn this: 8 glasses of wine in one evening is 6 glasses too many.

I don’t want you to learn the hard way. Like I did. Last weekend.

I’d love to share all the details with you but I don’t remember most of them so I’ll tell you what I remember. I went out to dinner with some friends, then to a bar. I drank wine. A lot of wine, apparently. Then I got sick and when I woke up, I was only somewhat clothed, sprawled out on my living room floor, wrapped in a blanket. But my eye makeup still looked fabulous (major props to Urban Decay on that one). I noticed this when I woke up due to a compelling need to brush my teeth. At 6 AM. Then I went back to bed.

I’ll spare you the rest of what I learned by talking to my friends and my husband because I still want you to like me but suffice it to say, I woke up with a phenomenally bad hangover. Probably the worst one I’ve ever had. Ever. And that says a lot because I’ve had some bad hangovers.

After I finally woke up for the day (at 1:30 in the afternoon) and took a shower, that’s when all the bad stuff started happening. You know—the stomach problems, the shaking, the screaming headache. All the fun parts that you miss when you’re asleep. But I had things to do and couldn’t spend the entire day in bed so I forced myself awake. And I let the home remedies begin.

My remedies for dealing with a hangover are a combination of free and not so much pricey, but they do cost money. For instance, water and sleep? Free. And I consumed both of those in ways that are almost shameful. The Advil I took trying to kill the headache? Free, because we always have some in the house (thankfully).  Don’t get me wrong. These are great. And they are usually enough because I don’t normally consume a gallon of wine.

So I had to bring in the big guns. The stuff we had to purchase. Like greasy fast food (onion rings this time. Normally fries). Soda (for the caffeine. I loathe coffee) because apparently my husband forgot that Gatorade also does the trick. I also had some peppermint tea (for the nausea). It’s not that all of this cost a fortune (under $10, most likely) but it still bothers me that we had to spend money because of stupid choice I made.

But all of this got me wondering: what do other people do to inexpensively cure a hangover? So I posed the question to my DMS Facebook family and got the following responses:

1. Sleep. I totally agree with this one because it works. And I use it extensively.
2. Water. Also agree. As I mentioned, I drank this in CostCo sized amounts from those giant sized souvenir cups you get at baseball games.
3. Milk. Never heard of this one before. I suppose it would only work if you drank stuff that mixes well with milk unless the intent is to make you throw up in which case it probably works with everything.
4. AlkaSeltzer. An old school remedy yet one I’ve never tried. I’m assuming it works or Pauline wouldn’t have mentioned it. The only reason I’ve never used it? The fizzing freaks me out. But she also mentioned sparkling water. I can probably get behind that one.
5. Fountain sodas. The Debt Princess recommended this one. Although I prefer Gatorade when I’m hung over, soda does do the trick. The carbonation settles the stomach. I just recommend that you go with something bland like Coke or Ginger Ale. The syrups in the flavored sodas are too sweet and just gross when you’re battling a hangover.
6. NUUN hydration tablets. This is a completely new product to me. My friend Jenniemarie at Another Housewife says they cost around $5 for 12 tablets, which isn’t too bad. I Googled them and they seem to be a tablet equivalent of Gatorade. Probably something to keep on hand.

But the best tip, tip #7, was from Ashley at Money Talks: avoidance. Avoiding a hangover is an excellent idea. To prevent a hangover, I usually drink plenty of water before bed, take some aspirin or Advil and stay awake until I feel sober enough to sleep (and get rid of the spins. Those? Are the worst).  It also helps to eat a meal with some form of protein in it as well as snack on things like veggies and dip while you’re drinking (if possible).  Or there’s always the option of not consuming any alcohol or consuming a reasonable amount.

Drinking like this is not a common activity for me (shut up, FinCon folks). I’m usually much more responsible than this and honestly, I’m a little ashamed that it got so bad. I don’t plan on letting that ever happen again but if it does, I can handle it inexpensively.