What Is a Hangover Exactly?

This causes you to urinate more often and can lead to dehydration. Thirst, dizziness, and lightheadedness are often indications of dehydration, just one of a number of causes of a hangover.

Your immune system may trigger certain agents that usually produce physical symptoms such as:

• Trouble concentrating
• Memory problems
• Decreased appetite
• Loss of interest in usual activities

Alcohol heightens the production of stomach acid and delays the emptying of the stomach. These factors can result in:

• Abdominal pain
• Nausea
• Vomiting

If your blood sugar becomes too low, you may experience:

• Fatigue
• Shakiness
• Weakness
• Mood disturbances
• Seizures

This can cause headaches.

However, it prevents the deeper stages of sleep and frequently causes a person to wake up in the middle of the night. This leaves them feeling groggy and tired.

Congeners are ingredients in alcoholic beverages that give flavor to many types of alcohol and can contribute to hangovers. They are found in larger amounts of dark liquors like brandy or bourbon than in clear liquors such as gin and vodka. Congeners are more likely to cause a hangover or increase the severity of a hangover. Still, drinking too much of any color of alcohol can make you feel a hangover the next morning.

Having an empty stomach speeds the absorption of alcohol by your body.

Combining smoking with drinking seems to increase the likelihood of a hangover.

Many researchers believe that some hangover symptoms are in some part due to the poor quality and short duration of the sleep cycle that typically follows a night of drinking.

If you have close relatives with a history of alcoholism, it may suggest an inherited problem with the way your body processes alcohol.

Drinks that are darker colored frequently contain a higher volume of congeners and may be more likely to cause a hangover.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), you are considered a heavy drinker if:

• Your sex is female at birth and you drink more than 7 drinks per week or more than 3 drinks per occasion
• Your sex is male at birth and you drink more than 14 drinks per week or more than 4 drinks per occasion.
• Your age is 65 or older and drinks more than 7 drinks per week or more than 3 drinks per occasion.

On average for the past year:

• More than 3 drinks but no more than 7 drinks per week for women
• More than 3 drinks but no more than 14 drinks per week for men

• At least 12 drinks in the past year, but 3 or fewer drinks per week on average for the past year.

There are more severe symptoms that accompany heavy drinking that may point to alcohol poisoning which is a life-threatening emergency. You should call 911 if a person is showing signs of:

• Confusion
• Vomiting
• Seizures
• Slow breathing (less than 8 breaths/minute)
• Irregular breathing (a gap of more than 10 seconds between breaths)
• Pale or blue-tinged skin
• Low body temperature
• Problems staying conscious
• Becoming unconscious and can’t be awakened

An individual who is unconscious or can’t be awakened is at risk of dying. If you think that someone has alcohol poisoning, even if the symptoms aren’t obvious, get immediate medical care.

When we constantly expose our brains to alcohol, they adjust to make up for the effects of the drug. When the alcohol leaves our body, the brain continues to make up for the drug even though it’s gone. After a while, the overstimulation of our brain leads to what is known as alcohol withdrawal.

• Over 200,000 Americans suffer from alcohol withdrawal annually
• Signs of alcohol withdrawal can start after 2 hours to 4 days
• Symptoms of withdrawal range in severity from mild to life-threatening
• Mild symptoms can begin within 6 hours of not drinking
• Individuals who have consumed heavy amounts of alcohol for years may experience more severe withdrawal symptoms
• Severe symptoms may appear within 12 to 24 hours (hallucinations) or 2 days (seizures)
• Moderate drinkers–males who drink 2 drinks or less per day or females who drink 1 drink or less per day aren’t likely to experience withdrawal symptoms if they stop drinking.
• Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) usually affects people who are chronic heavy drinkers.
• An individual who has experienced alcohol withdrawal once is more likely to experience it again, even if they have become moderate drinkers.

Since we know what alcohol withdrawal is, what are the symptoms? Remember, hangovers are not the same as alcohol withdrawal although some of the symptoms may be similar. Symptoms will vary per person but can include:

• Anxiety
• Elevated blood pressure
• Shaky hands
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Nausea and vomiting
• Irritability
• Sweating
• Insomnia

An uncommon but severe symptom of PAWS is delirium tremens (DTs). About 55 of people who attempt to quit alcohol experience delirium tremens. DT usually begins 48 to 72 hours after stopping alcohol.

After an individual stops consuming alcohol:

• Withdrawal symptoms begin within about 6 hours of the person’s last drink.
• After about 12 hours, they may start sweating, feeling nauseous, or becoming irritable. The body can tremor, as their heart rate and blood pressure rise.
• After about 12 hours, most people will experience insomnia.

At the 24 to 48-hour mark:

• Seizures
• Hallucinations
• DTs may be experienced. This is why quitting without medical supervision is not recommended. As time passes, the condition gets worse.

Between the 3rd and 5th days of withdrawal:

• DTs may continue
• Emotional distress continues

Fortunately, the withdrawal cycle only lasts about a week and begins to decrease after about 5 days. However, recovering from psychological symptoms of addiction can take weeks or months to ease off,  such as:

• Anxiety
• Irritability
• Insomnia

If you believe you’re struggling with alcohol use disorder, you are probably interested in detoxing. But don’t make the mistake of diagnosing yourself or trying to detox alone. The safest and best way to recover from alcohol addiction is by getting medical help from professionals who are experienced in addiction recovery.

A medically supervised detox in a detox center may be necessary depending on the severity of the withdrawal symptoms. During a medically assisted treatment (MAT) patients take medications like Naltrexone to lessen the discomfort.

In the United States, almost 15 million people aged 12 and up are struggling with an alcohol use disorder. Sadly, treating the symptoms of withdrawal is only a short-term solution. It’s necessary to get to the root cause of the problem that caused the substance abuse to begin with.

After detoxing, it’s important to continue with treatment. Compared to people who continued to receive treatment after detoxing, those who didn’t were less likely to achieve a 3-year remission and were, therefore, more likely to relapse.

Accredited addiction treatment centers typically offer treatment such as:

• Individual counseling
• Group therapy
• Family therapy program
• Trauma therapy program

Professional treatment centers supervise patients to protect their safety. Vital signs, as well as blood pressure, are closely monitored.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1976118/