How to sober up quickly at home

Almost every adult periodically allows himself to drink some alcohol. Skipping a glass or two is not at all scary, sometimes even useful. Each person has their own characteristics of drinking alcohol. However, owning the ability to quickly get in shape after a fun evening is a skill that can be useful to everyone. It is worthwhile to learn more about what is intoxication, why it occurs and how to quickly get rid of this condition.

The effect of alcohol on the body

To understand the processes that occur in the body during intoxication, you need to know how alcohol works. This is a solution that contains alcohol, water and other impurities. The more alcohol in the drink, the stronger its degree, and the stronger it is. For example, vodka contains 40% alcohol and 60% water. For alcoholic beverages, only ethyl alcohol is suitable. Alcohol surrogates containing methyl alcohol and formaldehyde are dangerous to life and health.

Alcohol, getting into the gastrointestinal tract, begins to be absorbed in the stomach. About a fifth of its total volume enters the body from the stomach, another 80% from the intestines. This process is quite lengthy. 100ml, ingested, can be fully absorbed only 1 hour after ingestion. From the intestines, alcohol enters the liver through the venous system. Here its main conversion occurs - to acetaldehyde.

Alcohol is most tropic to adipose tissue. There is a lot of fat in the brain, because two-thirds of all alcohol taken, which did not immediately turn into acetaldehyde in the liver, rush there. That is why the first signs of intoxication arise.

In the liver, only 10 ml of alcohol is converted per hour. It turns out that a glass of vodka (40 ml) will completely turn into acetaldehyde only after four hours. Acetaldehyde is also a toxic substance, it determines the presence of a hangover in the morning after a fun evening. Weighted these symptoms and alcohol, which is not completely eliminated.

Alcohol affects all organs and systems of the body, but worst of all - the brain and liver. In the brain, alcohol accumulates and acts on dopamine and serotonin receptors. These are the receptors that are responsible for our “happy” state. That is why during alcohol intoxication a person feels cheerful and liberated, is not afraid of anything.

In the liver, processes of intoxication occur. Even a single use of alcohol can cause the death of a certain number of liver cells. However, they regenerate quickly, because if you drink rarely, the liver can recover to its original state. In alcoholics, hepatocytes die irrevocably, which leads to cirrhosis.

Symptoms of intoxication

It is important to understand when intoxication began, what stage it reached and when to stop drinking alcohol. In addition, there is such a thing as “pathological intoxication,” you also need to know about it.

Intoxication is an intoxication syndrome caused by alcohol intake and consisting of both subjectively pleasant and unpleasant symptoms. In total, seven stages of intoxication are distinguished, which depend on the amount of alcohol consumed. In addition, individual characteristics of the body, the frequency of alcohol consumption and the properties of food taken with alcohol also affect subjective sensations.

There is the following gradation of the stage of intoxication by the alcohol content in the blood (in g / l or ppm):

• Up to 0.3 - Intoxication is not observed;
• 0.3-0.5 - Minor symptoms;
• 0.5-1.5 - A slight degree of intoxication;
• 1.5-2.5 - Medium intoxication;
• 2.5-3.0 - Severe intoxication, severe intoxication, development of a coma;
• 3.0-5.0 - Coma, death is possible.

According to subjective sensations, three degrees of intoxication are distinguished: mild to moderate and severe.

Easy intoxication
It is characterized by subjectively pleasant sensations: warmth throughout the body, ease and emancipation. Such a person becomes more active, speaks louder, moves faster. In general, this condition corresponds to the excitation of the central nervous system. The appetite is strengthened, the skin becomes more red. Thinking is accelerated. The gradual excitation of the central nervous system turns into oppression. The person begins to sleep, motor activity slows down.

Moderate intoxication
Here, only brain oppression is already observed. In this case, a significant cognitive deficit is formed. Thinking becomes stiff, devoid of logic. Attention is stuck on one subject. Criticism to one’s state and actions disappears. The speech becomes slurred and very loud. Movements are difficult, coordination is significantly impaired. The personality traits are changing, aggression is increasing. This condition often leads to drunken fights. After a few hours, headache, nausea, and vomiting occur.

Heavy intoxication
This is a life-threatening condition that can be fatal. There is a deep depression of consciousness. A coma may occur. Such intoxication is characterized by a lack of motor and mental activity, urinary and fecal incontinence. In this case, it is necessary to conduct intensive care in a hospital hospital.

Atypical intoxication

Alcohol does not work on some people as it does on others. Such people need help as soon as possible, regardless of the dose drunk. There are several forms of atypical intoxication:

1. Dysphoric. It is characterized by a sharp depression of mood with possible signs of irritability, aggression, inability to restrain affect.
2. Paranoid. Typical for him is suspiciousness and suspicion, distrust and conflicts with others.
3. Hebephrenic. In this case, alcohol causes foolishness, childish behavior.
4. Hysterical. It is characterized by theatrical, deliberately revealing behavior with a sharp change of mood.
5. Depressive. Prolonged and intense depression of mood.
6. Explosive. One of the most dangerous types of intoxication. It is characterized by sharp flashes of aggressiveness, which are then replaced by a calm and frustrated state.

How to get out of a state of intoxication

First you need to determine whether it is worth resorting to sobering methods. In the event that a pleasant mild intoxication is observed, these methods are best avoided. It is enough to stop drinking and alcohol will be removed on its own. After using any of the sobering methods, driving is not recommended. If the degree of intoxication is more severe or atypical intoxication is observed, you should use one of the following methods.

The most effective are the following methods:

1. Gastric lavage. Simply put, the artificial induction of a gag reflex. It does not reduce existing symptoms, but will help to eliminate alcohol that has not yet been absorbed. Effectively immediately after drinking alcohol and makes no sense after a few hours.
2. Cold shower. Effective, but dangerous to health. It is important that cold water gets on your head and body. As an alternative, you can wipe your face and body with snow. Quickly brings to feelings, speeds up thinking and improves attention.
3. Water. It has an excellent compensatory effect. To reduce the consequences of the feast, it is recommended to drink alcohol with water in a ratio of 1: 1. Instead of water, you can take juice or milk.In this case, the effect of a simple dilution of alcohol is observed. If you did not drink it immediately, you can drink an equivalent amount of water after.
4. Sleep. A short, but sound sleep promotes faster sobering up. Firstly, at this time you definitely will not drink. Secondly, during sleep, the alcohol that was consumed will be eliminated. Thirdly, while the brain is resting, it is less exposed to alcohol than when awake.
5. Coffee. Promotes rapid subjective sobering, but does not remove ethyl alcohol from the body. It is also worth remembering that coffee increases diuresis and helps to remove large amounts of water. Therefore, when sobering with coffee, water consumption should be increased. Otherwise, you will find severe hangover in the morning.
6. A lot of carbohydrates. There is a joke, saying "the more you eat, the less you drink." In fact, to quickly bring yourself to life after drinking alcohol, you really need to eat. Moreover, preference must be given to carbohydrates. And the point here is not so much in the amount of alcohol consumed and consumed, as in the competition of glucose and alcohol for the right to “settle” in your brain and adipose tissue. Glucose in this case is much more preferable.
7. Enterosorbents. Activated carbon, enterosgel, sorbitol and other sorbents are able to remove the alcohol that has already left the stomach into the intestines. However, it makes sense to drink them immediately after alcohol. Remember that every hour 100 ml of drunk is absorbed into your blood.

Thus, we can conclude that the severity of alcohol intoxication directly depends on the amount of alcohol consumed and the individual properties of the body. Ethyl alcohol can affect the body in different ways. There are three subjective stages of intoxication, which are important to distinguish between themselves. In addition, it is important to understand when to resort to sobering methods, and when it is better not to. There are two directions in the process of quickly removing intoxication: preventing the absorption of alcohol (gastric lavage, enterosorbents) and reducing alcohol intoxication.

Video: The Most Effective Sobering Up Techniques