If you or someone near you has had too much to drink, the most important thing is to assess how serious the situation is. Most episodes of overdrinking result in an unpleasant night and a rough morning, but alcohol poisoning kills hundreds of people every year, and the line between “too drunk” and “dangerously drunk” is not always obvious. Here’s what to do right now and in the hours that follow.
Know When It’s an Emergency
Not every episode of heavy drinking requires a trip to the emergency room, but alcohol poisoning does. The difference comes down to a few specific warning signs. Call emergency services immediately if the person shows any of the following:
- Slow breathing: fewer than eight breaths per minute
- Irregular breathing: gaps of more than 10 seconds between breaths
- Skin that looks blue, gray, or pale
- Low body temperature (skin feels cold and clammy)
- Can’t stay conscious or can’t be woken up
- Repeated or continuous vomiting, especially while unconscious
Blood alcohol levels between 0.30% and 0.40% typically cause loss of consciousness and alcohol poisoning. Above 0.40%, the risk of coma and fatal respiratory arrest rises sharply. You can’t measure someone’s blood alcohol at home, which is why watching for those physical signs matters so much. If you’re unsure whether the situation is serious, err on the side of calling for help. People die from alcohol poisoning because bystanders assumed the person was “just sleeping it off.”
What to Do Right Now
If the person is conscious, keep them sitting up and sipping water slowly. Don’t force large amounts of water or food. If they’re vomiting, help them lean forward so they don’t choke.
If the person is unconscious or falling in and out of consciousness, place them in the recovery position: lay them on their back, then kneel beside them. Extend the arm closest to you out at a right angle with the palm up. Take their other arm and fold it so the back of the hand rests against the cheek nearest to you. With your free hand, bend their far knee to a right angle, then roll them toward you by pulling on that bent knee. Their head should rest on their folded hand, and the bent leg keeps them stable on their side. Tilt the head back gently and lift the chin to keep the airway open.
This position prevents choking if they vomit while unconscious. It is the single most important thing you can do for someone who is dangerously drunk and unresponsive.
Stay and Monitor
Do not leave an intoxicated person alone to “sleep it off.” Blood alcohol can continue rising for 30 to 40 minutes after the last drink, meaning someone can seem okay and then deteriorate. Stay with them. Wake them frequently to confirm they’re responsive. Check their breathing regularly. If at any point you cannot wake them up, call emergency services.
If you’re the one who drank too much and you’re alone, try to stay on your side rather than your back, keep your phone within reach, and text someone your situation. Having another person aware of what’s happening could save your life if things worsen.
What Won’t Help You Sober Up
Coffee, cold showers, exercise, eating bread, drinking water: none of these speed up how fast your body processes alcohol. Time is the only thing that clears alcohol from your system. Your liver breaks down roughly one standard drink per hour, and nothing changes that rate. Coffee will make you a more alert drunk, not a sober one, which can actually be dangerous because it masks how impaired you really are. A cold shower just makes you cold and wet while still intoxicated, and the shock of cold water can cause falls or other injuries.
Managing the Morning After
A hangover typically begins as your blood alcohol level drops, peaks around the time it hits zero, and lasts anywhere from 8 to 24 hours. The main drivers are dehydration, inflammation, and irritation of your stomach lining.
Drink water or an electrolyte beverage steadily throughout the morning. Eat bland, easy-to-digest food when your stomach can handle it. Rest as much as possible.
Be careful with pain relievers. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) combined with alcohol stresses the liver, and the risk of liver damage increases when acetaminophen is taken even shortly after alcohol clears the body. This risk is higher for people who drink regularly. Anti-inflammatory options like ibuprofen are generally easier on the liver, but they can irritate an already-upset stomach and increase the risk of bleeding. If you take anything for a headache, stick to the lowest effective dose and take it with food.
If This Keeps Happening
Searching “what to do if you drink too much” once after a bad night is normal. Searching it repeatedly, or finding that you regularly drink more than you intended, is a pattern worth paying attention to. Tolerance builds gradually, and what feels like “just overdoing it” can quietly become a habit your body depends on.
A useful self-check: think about your drinking over the past three months. Have you tried to cut back and couldn’t? Do you need more alcohol than you used to in order to feel the same effect? Do you feel anxious or physically unwell when you go a day or two without drinking? Any of these suggest your relationship with alcohol has shifted beyond occasional overindulgence. Your primary care doctor can screen for alcohol use disorder in a brief, nonjudgmental conversation, and treatment options range from talk therapy to medications that reduce cravings.