After alcohol, the right side hurts: causes, symptoms, treatment, recommendations of specialists

Even small doses of alcohol to the body are poison. Few people think about it, because drinking alcohol is firmly entrenched in modern culture. Meanwhile, intoxication occurs for a reason. This is a paralysis of the nervous system, due to which neurons die in the amount of tens of thousands. And after a certain milestone, the amount goes already to hundreds of thousands. In the Soviet years, alcohol was equated in its effect with narcotic substances. If after alcohol the right side hurts, the head is spinning, the orientation in space is lost, you should think about a complete rejection of the bad habit.

The effect of alcohol on the body

It is difficult to overestimate the negative impact that ethyl alcohol has on all systems of the human body. Not a single organ remains that would not be affected by poison. The metabolites that form after the breakdown of ethyl alcohol, no less negatively affect the body. It takes about three weeks for the body and brain to more or less "recover" after the fact of abuse.

1. The right side under the ribs hurts after alcohol - this liver signals its dysfunction. After the hangover syndrome is removed, you should definitely contact your gastroenterologist or hepatologist and undergo an organ examination. Not only the liver, but also the gall bladder, stomach, intestines and even the esophagus - it is necessary to examine all the organs of the gastrointestinal tract. After the diagnosis is made, the necessary treatment should be taken. In some cases, you will have to take medication for many months.
2. The stomach hurts in the epigastric region or lower, under the umbilicus, due to the aggressive effect of alcohol on the walls of the mucous membrane of the stomach and esophagus. If a patient has previously been diagnosed with peptic ulcer or gastritis, alcohol abuse is almost guaranteed to cause an exacerbation of the disease.
3. A headache is a direct symptom of a hangover or withdrawal syndrome. If it is possible to take an analgesic, you should do this. In the morning after abuse, 95% of people have a headache, this is a completely normal condition.
4. Mental discomfort - anxiety, hallucinations, unmotivated aggression - is characteristic mainly of men in the second and third stages of alcoholism. To get rid of this unpleasant condition, you should take a course of tranquilizers or sedatives. A prescription for such medicines may be prescribed by a psychiatrist or narcologist.

Three stages of alcoholism

In narcology, there are three stages in the development of alcoholism:

1. At the first stage, the patient himself does not yet believe that he is sick. Meanwhile, only at this stage is the treatment most effective. In order to convey to the patient the idea that he has problems with alcohol, in some cases, a consultation with an experienced narcologist is needed. At this stage, the side after alcohol does not hurt, but problems with the psyche and nervous system are already beginning. Ordinary people may not notice this, but the professionals of drug treatment clinics correctly notice all the "oddities" of alcoholics in the first stage.
2. In the second stage, the disease more and more tenaciously takes the person into his "embrace." He begins to hang out in the morning. The hangover syndrome comes. Binges begin. A person already understands that he is sick. But in the second stage, you can’t get rid of addiction yourself. The physical manifestations of the disease begin - the side hurts after alcohol, the stomach, blood and bile with vomiting are secreted, and after digestion the digestion process is always disturbed.
3. In the third stage, the patient suffers from chronic diseases of the internal organs, which were caused by constant drinking. A person is no longer trying to choose drinks to taste or cost - he is glad even to moonshine, even cheap alcohol tinctures. At this stage, as a rule, a lethal outcome occurs either in connection with chronic diseases of the internal organs, or in connection with accidents that occur in a state of acute intoxication.

What is withdrawal syndrome?

This is a condition that is familiar to every alcoholic in the second stage. Characteristic symptoms:

• tremor of limbs or trembling of the whole body;
• Strong headache;
• inability to concentrate on anything;
• loss of standard and familiar skills - writing, driving, fulfilling one's professional duties;
• after alcohol, the right side hurts in the back;
• the emetic reflex either leaves, or returns stronger than before, and in the vomit, the patient notices a sacrum, bile;
• unmotivated aggression;
• visual and auditory hallucinations.

Liver and alcohol: an unequal struggle

When the right side hurts at the beginning of the second stage after drinking alcohol, the patient attempts to stop his condition. If a person works, he worries about his health, reads articles about death from cirrhosis and buys bundles of the most modern hepatoprotectors.

But this is an unequal battle: if you continue to drink alcohol, then pills will not help. Yes, they can delay the onset of cirrhotic disease for several years. But at the same time they will not change the situation radically. Why does the right side hurt after alcohol? Because the liver has already begun fatty degeneration, the cells are mutating - the body is no longer able to cope with its duties. Most likely, the outflow of bile is also impaired. The patient can only be helped by a complete, irrevocable refusal to drink alcohol, a medical diet and, after these conditions, the use of medicines.

Drugs for the treatment of the liver

A class of drugs called hepatoprotectors has been specifically developed to maintain healthy liver cells. There are several classes of drugs for the liver. Not all of them are hepatoprotectors, but most of them help if the right side hurts after alcohol.

To protect the liver, drugs of various pharmacological groups can be prescribed, including:

1. Vitamin-mineral and amino acid complexes that increase the detoxification capabilities of the liver. The same group includes adsorbent preparations - Enterosgel is one of the most popular drugs of this class.
2. Cholagogue drugs will help stabilize the outflow of bile - this will be of great benefit, including the liver. For example, Ursosan promotes the outflow of bile, but it is considered a hepatoprotective drug, as it also has a positive effect on hepatocytes.
3. Immunomodulators are necessary in the complex treatment of hepatitis C. If the body's defenses are in decline, then the liver is weakened. The risk is very fast to get a diagnosis of cirrhosis.
4. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs will help relieve cramping and relieve pain during withdrawal symptoms. They do not have a direct therapeutic effect, but if after taking alcohol the right side hurts, they will help stop the pain syndrome.
5. Antioxidants are dietary supplements. If there is a problem with finances and there is a choice of what to buy, then it is better to give preference to specialized medicines for the liver.
6. Hepatoprotectors are directly medications that can restore liver cells. They differ in composition and principle of action. One thing unites them - the ability to restore liver cells.

After alcohol the right side hurts: how to treat

What drug to choose? If it hurts in the right side after alcohol, then the organ is in poor condition. The liver begins to hurt and grow in size only with a diagnosis. In chronic alcoholism, this is most likely either toxic hepatitis or fatty degeneration of the organ. An accurate diagnosis can only be made by a doctor.

An integrated approach to liver treatment is the right decision. You should choose one or two hepatoprotectors and take them in long courses for at least one month. It can be a herbal medicine - silymarin - "Karsil" is very good in this regard, artichoke - "Hofitol", or funds with essential phospholipids - "Essential".

List of effective hepatoprotectors

If the right side hurts after drinking alcohol, you should choose one of the following drugs:

1. Herbal preparations - Gepabene, Karsil. Hepatologists do not prescribe them very often - these drugs are more good for preventing the development of serious liver diseases than for treating existing problems.
2. Homeopathic medicines rich in plant extracts, which include Hofitol, Liv-52. Doctors consider such drugs to be ineffective, in fact, herbal medicines can be of real help and improve the liver.
3. Hepatoprotectors of animal origin, in particular "Sirepar" or "Ursosan". Their action is clearly expressed - in particular, the choleretic effect is very good. Cases were recorded where a long course of Ursosan helped the patient get rid of gallstones without surgery in a year.
4. Means containing essential phospholipids. These are substances that are capable of having a therapeutic effect on liver cells.
5. Amino acid hepatoprotectors are relatively new in the pharmaceutical market. For example, "Heptral" - a means of restoring liver cells, while also has an antidepressant effect. This double action makes the drug very effective in the period of withdrawal syndrome in chronic alcoholism.

Therapeutic diet for a sick liver

Patients often belittle the importance of proper nutrition. But even taking the most expensive pills will be useless if you continue to eat randomly and abuse alcohol. If after taking alcohol the right side hurts - this is a signal that it is time to take up the mind and adjust your diet.

The principles of proper nutrition to maintain healthy liver:

1. Refusal of fatty meat - pork, lamb, as well as red salmon fish. In order not to overload the liver, you should reduce the presence of fat in the diet. Increase the proportion of protein.
2. Eat no more than one egg yolk per day. At the same time, proteins can be eaten in unlimited quantities and add them to various dishes - cabbage soup, green borsch, omelettes and so on.
3. Refuse completely from fatty sweet foods. These are cakes, pastries, ice cream, marshmallows and so on. Simple carbohydrates will certainly be deposited at the waist in the form of a "lifebuoy" - this will not benefit the state of health.
4. Drink as much plain water as possible. Refuse coffee, tea, any alcoholic beverages. Even non-alcoholic beer and kvass are undesirable.
5. Eat as much raw or stewed vegetables as possible. Fruits are useful, but it should be borne in mind that citrus fruits can worsen the patient's condition with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract due to too concentrated juice.

Which doctor should I go to?

If the right side below hurts after alcohol, you should definitely consult a doctor, you can not leave your condition unattended. If you start the disease, toxic hepatitis develops over time, followed by cirrhosis. And this is a deadly and incurable disease.

You should make an appointment with a gastroenterologist and undergo the necessary examinations. This is an ultrasound, FGDS, biochemical blood test. Most likely, the indicators ALT, AST and total bilirubin will be off scale. This indicates a liver dysfunction - it cannot cope with the load and cannot, as before, cleanse the blood of toxins and poisons. This very often happens in people with chronic alcohol dependence - the organs slowly refuse, lose the functions that nature had laid in them. To stop this process, you need to change your lifestyle.

A doctor who treats the liver directly is called a hepatologist. You can contact him immediately, bypassing examinations by a therapist and gastroenterologist. In every major city there are private diagnostic centers - you can get an appointment there, bypassing the lines and reception. If the patient wants to get a consultation for free, you will have to contact a budget medical institution. If you have an insurance policy, you can get advice from both a gastroenterologist and a hepatologist.

Symptoms in the presence of which you should immediately call an ambulance

Do not hesitate - if you have the following symptoms during the period of withdrawal syndrome, you should contact an ambulance:

• blood is released from the rectum, while the right side hurts after alcohol;
• sharp cramping pains in the right side and abdomen;
• the presence of blood in the vomit;
• nausea and profuse vomiting of bile and anemia;
• loss of consciousness, fainting, severe nausea and pallor of the skin;
• inappropriate behavior and severe pain in the epigastric and abdominal region;
• blood in the saliva.

All these symptoms can indicate the onset of internal bleeding - this condition is very dangerous and in most cases leads to death. Most often, such a patient needs urgent surgery, and the time is not counted for hours, but for minutes.