Find out why it’s coming out at both ends…
There’s nothing like a night out drinking with the gals, especially after a long week of work. You can just kick back, knock back a few drinks, and party the night away. If you don’t remember what happens near the end of the night, well that’s just life as an adult, right? Then the next morning hits like a ton of bricks! You can hardly pull yourself out of bed, your head is pounding like a marching band is playing in your skull, and your stomach feels like you’ve been on every roller coaster in the entire world. But when you go to vomit, you feel the pressure building in your intestines as well. You have the classic “at both ends” scenario–one of the very worst feelings ever!
You know why you’re vomiting, but why are you suffering from diarrhea as well? Hangover diarrhea is not a fun thing to have, and it’s important to understand the truth about why it’s happening.
Hangover Diarrhea Explained
Diarrhea can be caused by ethanol ingestion, which, put simply, means that drinking too much booze can cause diarrhea.
Few people know that the word “ethanol” is the name given to the main type of alcohol in your alcoholic drinks. When sugar and yeast is fermented (which is exactly what happens in just about every type of alcohol you drink), ethanol is produced.
READ MORE: Hangover Cure–Irish Cheddar & Banger Eggs
So when you drink that ethanol, it stops your body from being able to absorb water. This inability to absorb water is the reason that you feel so achy when morning dawns, as the hangover is really just a combination of dehydration and alcohol poisoning.
But when your body cannot absorb water, where does it all go? Right down your intestinal tract and out the waste disposal exit! The alcohol is absorbed by your stomach and your intestines, stopping water from being absorbed. You feel the buzz of the alcohol all night long, but during that time, the other liquids you have consumed are being sent through your intestines toward your poop chute. The alcohol stops the villi in your intestines from being able to absorb that water, so the water that would have been absorbed by your body is going to waste.
As the fluid passes through your intestinal tract, it gathers with it all the waste materials clinging to the intestinal walls. The water brings all that waste material right to the “exit”, where it begins to build up until it threatens to explode. That is why you feel the desperate urge to use the bathroom as your stomach is contracting to empty its contents. The “hangover diarrhea” is the result of drinking too much alcohol and liquid.
So how much alcohol do you need to consume in order to develop this problem? The truth is that the amount differs from person to person. Some people can go through a night of partying and end up with no diarrhea, while others have problems after just a few drinks. It’s all about the sensitivity of your intestinal tract and your body’s ability to cope with the alcohol you are drinking.
But, if you’ve been partying hard and you feel the need to use the bathroom, DO NOT ignore it! The last thing you want to do is have an accident someplace where you can’t do anything about it. Many people find that they feel the urge to pass gas, but let that gas go and it may turn into something else altogether. For the rest of the day, it’s probably a good idea to hang out somewhere in close proximity to a bathroom!
