Cold hangover – a ‘deadly’ trick of the nervous system

But the “tragedy” of the man working in the food business did not lie at the banquet table, it started the next morning. Tung said he woke up feeling like his “soul left his body”, his head hurt as if someone had used a steel wire to tighten it, his mouth was bitter and nausea tormented his empty stomach.

The first time, he thought he was just tired and lacking sleep, not believing he was drunk because “when you’re drunk, you have to fall over and vomit on the spot.” During an examination at Phuong Dong General Hospital, doctor Doan Du Manh, Deputy Director of the Stroke Center, explained to Tung that this phenomenon was cold sickness. This is a condition in which the body is soaked with alcohol toxins and reacts violently (drunk, tired, exhausted) at a late time (usually the next morning when waking up), as opposed to getting drunk immediately at the drinking table.

Nam, 30 years old, was also proud of his “heaven-given” body. Thinking he had a high tolerance for alcohol, he consumed three times more alcohol than other people. While his friends “got drunk quickly, woke up quickly”, he was overwhelmed by a large amount of toxins, and the fatigue lasted two to three days. Head aches, limbs lethargic, every movement feels like “a fish out of water”. “Sometimes when you get drunk quickly, you know to stop at the right time. But when you get drunk cold, it causes your body to work overtime, like standing on the brink,” he shared.

Dr. Manh believes that cold intoxication is actually a “trick of the nervous system”, causing drinkers to misunderstand their alcohol tolerance, leading to the intake of a huge amount of alcohol, far exceeding the liver’s processing threshold. In fact, the feeling of being awake when you drink is just a fog covering up the poisoning process that is taking place silently. According to research on alcohol metabolism, when ethanol enters the body, the liver can only process an average of about one unit of alcohol per hour (equivalent to 10 g of pure alcohol, or a 330 ml can of beer). When alcohol intake exceeds this rate, ethanol accumulates in the blood and is converted into Acetaldehyde – a powerful toxin that causes inflammation and cell damage.

Paradoxically, the worst symptoms of hangover often peak when the blood alcohol concentration has dropped to zero. This is a consequence of the “rebound effect” of the central nervous system. Alcohol is a nerve depressant and acts as a sedative. When the body eliminates all alcohol, the nervous system that has been suppressed will “explode” again with excessive stimulation, causing extreme sensitivity to light and noise, along with feelings of restlessness and anxiety.

Doctor Nguyen Duy Toan from the Emergency Department, Duc Giang Hospital, added a biological mechanism perspective that cold sickness is even worse due to reabsorption. Alcohol remains in the stomach and intestines before being fully metabolized, plus consuming foods high in lipids disrupts the pyloric sphincter, forcing the body to continue passively absorbing ethanol. This is the reason why fatigue can last for many days, turning into a form of chronic neurotoxicity.

Medical statistics show that abusing “good alcohol tolerance” as a shield is a fatal mistake. Cold hangover is the liver’s last cry for help before the risk of exhaustion. To minimize this effect, the golden rule is not to drink hangover pills or add caffeine – substances that only increase the burden on the liver and cause more severe dehydration. Instead, the body needs to be compensated with water and electrolytes through oresol, salted lemonade or vitamin C-rich fruit juice to support the liver in speeding up the process of eliminating toxins.

Experts recommend that men should not drink more than two units of alcohol and women should not drink more than one unit per day. A carbohydrate-rich meal before drinking and a protein supplement afterward can help slow alcohol absorption and aid muscle recovery. Most importantly, “alcohol tolerance” is not a measure of bravery or health; Sometimes, knowing when to “get drunk” at the right time is the body’s way of protecting itself from irreversible damage.