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I read this post when it was new and immediately put "get activated charcoal pills" on my to-do list. I put them on my bedside table and recently started putting two in a small plastic ziploc bag in my wallet because as far as I can tell, these work really well for me and I want to make sure I always have at least a few on-hand.
On some nights when I've drank enough to definitely have a hangover the next day, I'll take 1 or 2 pills right before sleeping and many different "elements" of the hangover are either extremely reduced or gone entirely, but other parts of it are definitely there.
To elaborate, every time I've remembered to take the pills:
- I haven't had the painful, lasting headache.
- I have been able to easily wake up on time after a normal amount of sleep, or sometimes earlier without any alarms thanks to circadian rhythm.
- I haven't had any "hangxiety" that accompanies particularly bad hangovers.
- I usually don't get this type of anxiety for normal hangovers, but if it's been a night with a lot of drinking and the hangover is particularly bad the next day, I get what I can only describe as a sense of impending doom that persists the back of my mind and only very gradually goes away throughout the day.
There are still some hangover "elements" that activated charcoal doesn't seem to handle:
- I'm still more tired than I should be for the amount of sleep I get - if I get a good 7 to 9 hours of sleep, I'll feel like I got 5 or 6 hours, but it's a very "alert" sense of tiredness where I can still operate at full mental capacity, but easily take a nap in the afternoon or sleep very well the next night, vs the usual delirious sense of tiredness I would have if I had a sober 5 to 6 hours of sleep.
- This was particularly useful when I went to a destination wedding on a weekend and flew out the next morning - I was able to plan the Uber to the airport and make my way through international security without making any mistakes or feeling flustered, then sleep as soon as I got on the plane
- I still feel physically "slow" e.g. I consider myself to be a fast walker (I live in New York and I end up overtaking most people on the sidewalk when I'm casually getting from point A to point B, even if I'm not in a hurry), but when I have only a half-hangover thanks to the charcoal pills, I'm suddenly a slow walker, slow dresser, physically slow in general, even though I'm mentally very awake. This might have more to do with the general tiredness I already mentioned.
What I suspect is happening is that hangovers are a collection of different effects, and the activated charcoal takes care of whatever negative effects are caused directly by methanol and/or its byproducts, but can't take care of the effects that I assume are being cause by less-quality sleep and overexerting my energy capacity the night before. I think it would be reasonable to assume that headaches, anxiety, and mental exhaustion are more likely to be caused by chemicals in your blood passing through your brain, and general physical tiredness is more likely to be caused by lack of quality sleep.
Overall, I would recommend people to at least try this. I have convinced two of my friends to try activated charcoal after a night of moderate drinking. One says that it definitely worked for her and got some pills of her own, while the other is still skeptical, though she admits she maybe should have taken two pills that night instead of one.
If what is happening is that these pills are removing literal poison from my blood instead of making my liver do it, that is amazing and I am very happy for the mitigated negative health effects. What is happening for sure for me is that I am getting some time and energy back into my life. I guess an alternative could also be "never drink again", but that also (for better or worse) severely restricts my options for what I can do and who I can hang out with.