Poisoning can occur if you drink alcohol faster than your body can process it. Watch for the following symptoms and 103 or 112 if you notice them in yourself or someone nearby:
- severe confusion;
- slurred speech or inability to speak;
- inability to coordinate movements, stand, walk, or lift objects;
- vomit;
- involuntary urination or defecation;
- pale or bluish skin;
- slow or irregular breathing;
- seizure or convulsion ;
- loss of consciousness.
How to Know When You Need to Sober Up
Sometimes it is difficult to objectively assess your condition, especially after drinking alcohol . Here are some signs of severe intoxication – these are the ones you should track to that you need to stop and sober up:
- Mood swings, pronounced disinhibition – this is the name given to a condition when a person loses control over his actions, emotions and what he says.
- Slurred speech and decreased coordination, with gait becoming increasingly unsteady.
- Decreased attention, memory and judgment, confusion.
- Drowsiness, dizziness.
- Nausea, vomiting.
- Visual and hearing impairments, uncontrolled eye movements.
- Possible memory lapses.
How to sober up quickly
First, the bad news. Intoxication occurs when alcohol is already in the blood. And way to instantly get it out of there .
How quickly alcohol is absorbed and eliminated depends on the volume and strength of the drink. But on average, it will take about to completely sober up . Ethanol is processed , and their work cannot be accelerated. Therefore, it is technically impossible to sober up faster than this period.
However, there are ways to stop further intoxication and to perk up – enough to call a taxi, get to bed, or at least refrain from doing stupid things.
Don’t drive if you’ve been drinking: firstly, it’s dangerous for your life and unsafe for those around you. Secondly, even if you think you’re sober and feel fine, any breathalyzer will show that you’ve been drinking. For this, you’ll be fined at the very least, and sent to jail at the most.
What needs to be done to make things better
First of all, stop drinking alcohol. This is the most obvious advice, but it is very important.
If you feel intoxicated, it means that your body no longer has time to break down and remove the alcohol it has received. The breakdown of alcohol three stages. First, enzymes convert alcohol into a substance called acetaldehyde, which is highly toxic, carcinogenic, and capable of destroying body tissue. In the second stage, it turns into less active and dangerous acetate. In the third stage, the latter decomposes into water and carbon dioxide, which are then removed from the body.
But you still have to live to reach the third stage. In the first, when acetaldehyde is released, the liver suffers first and foremost – simply because it is the liver that breaks down most of the alcohol you drink. However, alcohol is also metabolized in other organs and tissues – the pancreas, gastrointestinal tract, and brain. In fact, the toxic effect of acetaldehyde on the brain is what makes people feel drunk.
So, if you’ve reached the point where unmetabolized alcohol has started to damage your brain, adding more alcohol is the worst idea. Better to stop.
Drink water, tea, compote
Firstly, drinking alcohol itself leads to dehydration: alcohol is a powerful diuretic and makes the body remove moisture faster than usual. The loss of fluid, in turn, immediately the brain: a person’s reaction speed decreases sharply, he loses coordination, becomes clumsy, and thinks worse. If you restore the amount of water in the body, you will feel a little better.
Secondly, the extra liquid will dilute the alcohol already in your stomach, thus the final blood alcohol concentration somewhat. You won’t sober up, but you might feel a little better than you otherwise would.
Important point: it is better to avoid coffee and energy drinks . The caffeine they contain in large quantities the elimination of alcohol from the blood, but only makes you more alert. In addition, some people, feeling better, start drinking again – and as a result only increase intoxication.
But tea is okay: although it does contain caffeine, its content is not so high as to have a strong invigorating effect.
To replenish your fluid balance, you take rehydron: despite the small number of clinical studies, it contains all the necessary substances for the drug to work. But this remedy will not help you sober up.
Don’t resist nausea
When your vision is blurry and you feel a little nauseous, vomiting might be a good idea. If there’s any alcohol left in your stomach, it .
In addition, the body will not be distracted by digestion when it is already busy processing ethanol. This will not make you sober, but the oppressive feeling of nausea will subside, and this is better than nothing.
Eat bland food
Unless, of course, you feel sick. Food slows down the absorption of alcohol contained in the stomach. This means that the alcohol will enter the blood more slowly. And the liver will have time to metabolize and remove some of the “old” ethanol before it receives a new dose.
foods that are easy to digest and help calm your stomach: toast, oatmeal, bananas , applesauce, crackers. Avoid spicy and fatty foods that can irritate your stomach.
Move on
For example, take a walk in the fresh air as quickly as your condition allows. Walking will not make you more sober. But it will help you and come to your senses a little.
Take a shower
Keep in mind that a cold shower is a bad idea. It gives a false sobering effect. But if you plunge into cold water while drunk, you can a vascular spasm or even a heart attack .
To be on the safe side, limit yourself to a shower at room temperature.
Go to bed
All the half measures listed above help to come to one’s senses a little, but one can only sober up with time. It is clear that it is preferable to spend this time sleeping. It is even better to take a 30-minute in a chair to gain strength than to overcome oneself.
Important safety rule: do not go to bed if you are barely holding back nausea. Either wait until you feel better, or induce vomiting, or make sure there is someone nearby who can monitor how you sleep. Otherwise, there is a risk of choking on your vomit in a drunken sleep .
What not to do
There are many tips on the Internet about how to sober up quickly. In the vast majority of cases, their effect is based on one thing: while you try everything, some time will pass and you will feel better. In principle, a working model. However, keep in mind that some of these methods are dangerous to your health.
So, if you are drunk, you definitely don’t need to:
- Smoking. There is that nicotine can actually reduce the concentration of alcohol in the blood somewhat – on the same principle as a shower and coffee. But the false sobering effect of smoking is much more pronounced. As a result, a person sincerely thinks that everything is fine, the intoxication was “imagined” and therefore it is possible to drink more. It is not allowed. Unless, of course, you value your brain and liver.
- Take medication. Firstly, if you have such an idea, you are unlikely to be able to thoughtfully follow the instructions. Secondly, medications are excreted in the same way as alcohol – mainly by the liver and kidneys, which are already overloaded. Thirdly, being drunk, you will not be able to correctly assess your condition and seek help in time if the combination of pills and alcohol causes dangerous side effects.
- Go to the bathhouse. It can really bring you to your senses, but you shouldn’t go into a hot steam room drunk – risk of hypotension , cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death.
- Exercise. Intoxication reduces reaction speed and cognitive functions. This means that a drunk person has no sense of proportion and is clumsy. Therefore, exercise can lead to injuries.
Should I induce vomiting to sober up?
No, no need.
Vomiting you sober up because alcohol intoxication occurs because ethanol has already entered the bloodstream and reached the brain, and not because of the presence of alcohol in the stomach.
Some people claim that they feel soberer after vomiting. Here’s why this might :
- Reduces the amount of toxins. Vomiting removes the contents of the stomach, including alcohol, which has not yet been absorbed. This can reduce the likelihood of further deterioration in health.
- Endorphins and adrenaline are released. These substances cause a short-term feeling of relief or even energy, creating the illusion of sobriety. However, this state is temporary, and the intoxication effect soon returns.
Vomiting can be dangerous, however. There is a risk of choking, so if a drunk person is vomiting near you , stay close to ensure their safety.
Should I do an enema to sober up?
It’s also not worth it. The reason is the same as with vomiting: the alcohol has already been absorbed, and you won’t be able to remove it faster with an enema.
And alcohol into the blood through the mucous membrane of the stomach and small intestine. And an enema the large intestine and does not affect the areas where alcohol is absorbed.
Do I need to do an IV drip?
An IV drip can help the effects of alcohol poisoning, but it does not speed up the sobering up process itself. Alcohol is excreted from the body naturally through the liver, and no IV drips or medications can speed up this process.
However, IV drips can improve the general condition in some situations. For example, in case of alcohol intoxication, if a person has drunk too much and symptoms of acute poisoning have appeared, such as vomiting, dizziness, weakness. Or in case of dehydration, if a person cannot drink water due to nausea or vomiting.
The composition for the dropper should be selected individually depending on the patient’s condition. may be as follows:
- Saline solution with glucose. Replenishes fluid loss, helps the body restore balance.
- Thiamine (vitamin B1) Used for nutritional deficiencies.
- Magnesium: Necessary for arrhythmia or electrolyte imbalance.
- Benzodiazepines: Help reduce anxiety and restore sleep.
- Beta blockers. Reduce tachycardia and hypertension.
- Ascorbic acid. Supports immunity and accelerates recovery.
- Diazepam and droperidol. Used by a doctor to relieve symptoms of a severe hangover.
Each component is administered as prescribed by a doctor, based on the specific condition of the patient. There is no universal composition for all cases.
Can you take medication to sober up?
Firstly, we advise you not to rely on sorbents. It is believed that they help remove alcohol from the body, but there is no of this. The reason is the same: the drug acts in the gastrointestinal tract. It the substances that are there and prevents them from entering the blood. And then removes them from the body naturally through the intestines . But it is important to understand that sorbents cannot remove substances that have already entered the blood.
Any medication you want to take can react with alcohol and have a completely different effect than you expected.
| Preparation | Possible effect |
| Paracetamol | Liver |
| Aspirin and ibuprofen | Gastric and ulcers |
| Medicines for arrhythmia | side effects |
Anti-hangover pills, which can still be found in pharmacies and small shops, either . Although manufacturers claim that the drugs alleviate or prevent hangover symptoms, there is no evidence to support this.
The most common anti-hangover drug contains ascorbic and succinic acids and glycine . And sellers say that these substances should speed up the breakdown of alcohol. But how exactly is unclear:
- Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) may a general supportive effect by helping to combat stress and oxidative damage to cells caused by alcohol, but its effect on the rate of ethanol breakdown is minimal.
- Succinic acid is involved in metabolic processes and can slightly improve energy metabolism, but there is no evidence of its ability to accelerate the elimination of alcohol.
- Glycine has been mentioned as a neuroprotector that can improve the condition of the nervous system, but its effect on hangovers in general has not been studied enough to speak of its high effectiveness.
How to get rid of the smell of alcohol
It is impossible to completely remove alcohol from your breath to pass a breathalyzer test. But you can fight the smell of your mouth and body. The following :
- brushing teeth;
- smelly foods – garlic, fish, blue cheese;
- thorough washing;
- use of deodorant;
- clean clothes.
