Alcohol and self-medication: a bad idea?

The dangers of self-medication when dealing with a hangover

In France, this phenomenon can quickly become problematic when it gets mixed up with boozy nights out. 

Thinking they’re doing the right thing, the patient heads to the pharmacy to stock up on medicine.

Their choice tends to fall on substances that can make things worse and are often useless against the symptoms caused by veisalgia (a hangover).

A few examples: 

• - Aspirin increases the concentration of alcohol in the blood
• - Paracetamol is heavily metabolised by the liver, which is already busy eliminating alcohol. This makes it toxic. 
• - Against nausea, certain antihistamines (Nautamine, Nausicalm, etc.) are used, but they reduce alertness because of their hypnotic properties. (1)

Bear in mind that more than 150 medicines interact negatively with alcohol, some of them causing a disulfiram-like (Antabuse) reaction. 

What is that?

The Antabuse reaction is an unpleasant physiological response caused by a build-up of acetaldehyde (a toxic metabolite of alcohol). It produces a clinical picture defined by facial flushing, hot flushes, diarrhoea, vomiting, etc.

So what should you do? 

Drinking alcohol causes dehydration. So it’s very important to stay well hydrated by drinking water.

Also worth knowing: coffee, as well as being acidic, can make the body’s dehydration worse. It’s better to wake yourself up with a black tea, which is just as rich in caffeine. 

(1) Médicaments sans ordonnance – Les bons et les mauvais, Editions de La Martinière (2011). 571 p.