What is a hangover headache?

Hangover is the many unpleasant physiological effects in the next morning after heavy consumption of alcoholic drinks. The most common characteristics are headache, thirst, lethargy, nausea and anxiety, light or noise irritability and restlessness. It is really an uncomfortable and unpleasant mood.

The usual symptoms are dehydration, low blood sugar level, vitamin B1 deficiency and possible acetaldehyde intoxication.

The duration may be up to three days depending on the type of alcoholic beverages consumed in the previous night.

Ethanol causes increased urine production and dehydration is the reason for headache, lethargy and dry mouth and this can be relieved by drinking water or soft drinks. Coffee is not a cure for hangover headache because it increases the production of urine and thus goes with only dehydration. A glass of milk or orange juice – calcium and vitamin C – can also combat the symptoms of a hangover if taken shortly after the consumption of alcohol.

It slows down the gluconeogenesis, the process of forming glucose in the liver from the non-carbohydrate substrates and this causes low blood sugar value. Glucose is the primary energy source of the brain and this causes the hangover symptoms, such as, fatigue, bad mood and poor concentration capabilities. Take fructose from honey or tomato juice which competes with the metabolism of alcohol, prevents the sudden fall of alcohol level in the blood which triggers the morning after headache.

The presence of higher alcohols and the by products of fermentation, causes hangover headache and they could be removed by distilling, particularly in the case of vodka. But it does not mean that you can drink vodka excessively. One drink for a woman, two drinks for a man or a glass of beer or wine or champagne is the gold standard for alcoholic beverages as a social drinking. But, it is better to avoid alcohol because it is not a food that plays a role in our metabolism and causes more problems for the family and society.

It is bad to drink any alcoholic beverage with empty stomach, it can reach the blood stream quickly, thus it reaches in the brain fast and the effects we experience immediately as well as in the next morning are serious.

Red wines have less congener than white wines and the hangover is less with white wine. There are persons who react very negatively with red wine and it can affect them within a short time of 15 minutes after drinking a glass; it is called the red wine headache. These persons must avoid the red wine.

Taking two aspirins before going to bed is not a cure for hangover headache. Aspirin and ibuprofen may irritate the stomach lining.

Caution: Paracetamol, the pain killer can cause severe liver problems when mixed with alcohol.

Exercise - a light jogging can help you to get over a hangover.

Excessive alcohol consumption can reduce the magnesium level in the blood and persons with low magnesium level may experience more severe hangover headache.

Vitamin B1 is mostly deficient in heavy drinkers.

Vitamin B6 can reduce the hangover symptoms.

What is ice cream headache?

When something very cold touches the roof of your mouth on a hot day, it triggers a headache and this is called the ice cream headache.

It is because of the dilation of the blood vessels in the head and this may be caused by the nerves above the roof of your mouth when they become cold.

It is also called brain freeze and to avoid this, keep very cold food or beverages away from the roof of your mouth.

Fortunately, this ice cream headache lasts only for thirty seconds.

What will happen if I quit taking caffeine suddenly?

It is applicable to persons who drink strong and much coffee. If you quit suddenly the possibility of getting caffeine-withdrawal headaches and other symptoms is there.

These symptoms include:

• Nausea
• Fatigue
• Muscle pain
• Mild depression

These symptoms may start within twelve to twenty four hours and may continue for a week. If you are a heavy coffee consumer, wants to stop it, it is better to consult your doctor. Otherwise, the symptoms can be interpreted wrongly and you may get unnecessary medicines which, in turn, bring more problems.

Frequent coffee drinkers usually get morning headache and after the morning coffee the headache disappears, the reason could be the caffeine withdrawal for several hours in the night. But, this is a devils circle which requires more intake of coffee.

It is possible to get caffeine-withdrawal headache if you consume more cups of coffee at your office and consume less in weekends and holidays. You must think about everything always because these small, but mostly unknown dangers are waiting for you.

What is the safe way to reduce or withdraw caffeine? Every few days cut a cup of coffee until you feel comfortable or you can mix regular coffee with decaffeinated coffee to reduce the amount of caffeine. It is very important to cut back of your other caffeine sources like colas and other caffeinated soft drinks.

If you are a smoker, the strategy is entirely different because nicotine lowers the half life of caffeine in our blood and smokers excrete caffeine more quickly from the body than non- smokers.

If you stop smoking, you must also reduce the amount of caffeine in your blood by drinking less coffee. More caffeine in the blood brings only jitters.