You had a big night out the night before and had a blast. But now that the day has dawned, you have the impression that your death is near, so much you are dying. Your headache is unbelievably violent, and your stomach is doing acrobatics in a vacuum.
How many drinks did you have the night before. You no longer know exactly, but you regret all that. “Never again”, you say to yourself…. “At last until next time”.
You would be ready to do anything to get rid of this unpleasant feeling that is spoiling the start of the day for you. You run to the medicine cupboard and pull out two paracetamol pills, hoping that the unbearable hangover symptoms will subside for a bit.
But what seems like a life-saving gesture to you might actually hurt you more than you think.
But why is paracetamol bad for a hangover?
The liver is a bit like the washing machine of the human body. It filters and removes harmful substances such as drugs and alcohol from the blood.
And when you drink alcohol, liver enzymes get to work breaking down the substance, but can only handle about one drink per hour.
So if you drink a lot of alcohol in a short period of time, your liver won't be able to keep up with the pace you put it on it and the alcohol ends up entering your bloodstream. This is when you can be considered drunk.
Even without alcohol, it is still important to stick to the correct dose of paracetamol prescribed for you, because your liver can only take care of breaking down a certain amount of this painkiller in a given time.
So if your liver has been overworked by a very drunken night, and you push it even more to the limit with paracetamol, you risk damaging it. Be careful!
