Got A Hangover: This Makes It Worse

Hangovers are painful. Headache, nausea and fatigue can be tortuous on a morning after you’ve had too much to drink. Some drinkers suffer more than others. And researchers now think that one common habit can make your hangover more painful.

The bad habit is smoking cigarettes. Researchers at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University in Providence, R.I. found you’re more likely to suffer hangover symptoms after a heavy drinking episode if you smoked more heavily on the day you drank.

It isn’t simply because you smoked more when you drank more.

“At the same number of drinks, people who smoke more that day are more likely to have a hangover and have more intense hangovers,” says researcher Damaris J. Rohsenow.

There are already plenty of reasons to avoid both smoking and heavy drinking. But Rohsenow says these findings suggest that if smokers are going to indulge in heavy alcohol use, it’s wise to at least cut down on cigarettes.