Alcohol Hangover
All You Need to Know About an Alcohol Hangover
An alcohol hangover causes many problems for your body. However great you may feel the night before, your body pays for it the morning after.
Alcohol hangover is caused partially when the alcohol you are putting into your system causes your body to eliminate more fluids through urination. Alcohol inhibits the release of vasopressin from the pituitary gland, which promotes the production of urine. It follows that the reduced levels of this hormone stops the kidney from reabsorbing water, and so it increases the production of urine.
Another way that your alcohol hangover adds to dehydration is due to the diarrhea, vomiting and sweating that occur when you're hung over. This will cause your electrolytes to become imbalanced. You will experience symptoms of dehydration which include lightheadedness, dizziness, weakness and thirst.
Alcohol is an irritant to the intestines and the stomach, and it causes the stomach lining to become inflamed. It delays the emptying of the stomach, especially when more drinks are consumed with a higher concentration of alcohol. If you consume highly-concentrated alcohol, or high amounts of any alcohol, you run the risk of developing fatty liver. This is caused by fat compounds accumulating in the cells of the liver. Alcohol also causes the increased production of gastric acid, and increased secretions by the intestines and the pancreas. Any of these factors or a combination of them can result in your feeling of pain in your upper abdomen, in addition to vomiting and nausea, during alcoholic hangover.
A high content of alcohol in the body also results in low blood sugar, because the liver and other organs have an altered state during alcohol hangover. This can result in low glucose levels, also known as hypoglycemia. Alcohol can also cause a buildup of lactic acids in the fluids of your body, which is known as lactic acidosis. Both of these problems can have the effect of inhibiting the production of glucose. Hypoglycemia induced by alcohol usually occurs after a period of several days of binge drinking by alcoholics who also have not been eating as they should. This in turn affects the brain, because glucose is its primary source of energy.
Alcohol can actually promote the onset of sleep, in addition to fatigue, but it is a non-restful sleep. This is caused by a sleep period of shorter duration than your regular sleep pattern, or in the lack of REM sleep, which is when the body truly relaxes and rejuvenates. Alcohol can also cause your throat muscles to relax, and this can lead to sleep apnea, which is the ceasing of breathing while you're asleep.
These are only a few of the effects that alcohol can have on your body. Some are serious, some merely annoying, but add them together and they should give you ample warning that alcohol can destroy your body if continually used in excess.