The Hangover Cure

My husband and I definitely like to enjoy a drink or 2 or sometimes 5 together. We aren't wine snobs or even beer snobs. We like to keep it pretty classy with a Budlight can in our hands. But if we are feeling fancy we love to sip on a Moscow Mule (Ryan makes the best ones) or cheers to a Widmer Hef. If we are feeling crazy we might take a shot of Fireball.

Now that we have two kiddos, our party nights are few and far between. The other night our three year old was staying with Grandma and Grandpa and I had plenty of milk stocked up for Ryan to feed the baby so I decided to enjoy a few drinks. I started with a Moscow Mule and since I have become quite the lightweight I was already feeling tipsy and slurring some words after one. I should have known then that I had had enough but of course I went against my better judgement. After dinner I enjoyed another Moscow Mule, some Fireball, and I think I even threw a beer in the mix.

Being 31 and a pretty seasoned drinker you would think I would know better than to commit some serious party fouls. 1. Drinking before having food in my stomach. 2. Mixing alcohol types.

My raging party fest lasted all the way until about 10:00pm. I know, such a party animal. We headed off to bed and in the middle of the night, around 2:00am my stomach started to hurt. I thought for sure I was going to regain my title from my college days of "Toilet Hugger." I quickly ran to my bathroom; don't worry not to puke but to grab some Digize to drop two drops into a capsule. I washed it down with a little bit of water thinking 'I'm probably going to barf no matter what so why the hell not try.' I laid in bed and practiced my mind over matter deep breathing and sure enough 15 minutes later I felt better and was back to sleep.

The next morning I woke up with a pounding headache and it felt like a boxing match was occurring in the depths of my stomach. I was quickly reminded why I don't drink very often anymore. I grabbed my phone and googled "essential oils good for hangovers." Peppermint was one the first things that popped up so I rubbed some on my temples and did the hand-tent thingy (which makes me feel like a druggy who snorts cocaine). I also applied some Digize directly on my stomach. Within very little time my headache seemed to lessen and my stomach hurt much less. I thought "Ah-ha." I found the cure.

Unfortunately about 30 minutes to an hour later I felt the headache coming back and the boxers reentering my stomach. I know I could have applied more oils but I just wanted to go back to what I have been doing for years. That's when I started my usual hangover regimen. Drink as much water as I can stomach, 4 Advil, and some caffeine. Usually a nap is part of my routine but I was meeting up with friends so the nap had to wait. McDonald's breakfast is also a usual part of my routine but it doesn't fit in my current diet plan.

Throughout the day, the hangover symptoms came and went. I continued to sniff the peppermint, but stayed away from Digize because the smell was getting to me and I didn't have the patience or energy to make any more capsules. I pretty much felt like shit all day.

So what have I learned? Well I think God intended for there to be no true hangover cure to prevent us from drinking every day. The only real hangover cure is simply to not drink or at least drink less or at least not drink a random mix of alcohol types with little food in your stomach. I can't say that any of the oils really helped but they definitely didn't hurt and the peppermint at least woke me up a little bit. I hear the NingXia Red (look I finally figured out the name) can help with hangovers but I didn't have any, so you bet your ass I ordered some that afternoon. In all honesty, I have just come to terms with the fact that if I drink, I will feel like shit and sometimes, not often, but sometimes feeling like shit is totally worth it.