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The secret to crawling out alive from a St. Patrick's day celebration is to start early. Drink as much water as you can for the few days preceding St. Patrick's day. We tend to forget that alcohol is so dehydrating that it is no wonder many people complain of nasty headaches and upset stomachs during the pub crawl and days afterward.

On the morning of the pub crawl, again drink a good pint of water before heading out to meet friends. Eat a sensible breakfast, possibly protein as this may help to curb your appetite at least until after noon. Have a bottle of tylenol or some form of ibuprofen as no doubt you will need to take a couple of these with water at some point during the day. There are many people do not need to take these precautions but for myself, it is a blessing to have them on hand. Many a hangover could have been alleviated had I only listened to the advice of others who had dozens of St. Patrick day pub crawls already under their belt.

Pace the drinking. This is hard as everyone is handing you a drink from all directions. The good news is that you do have the willpower not to suck them down one right after the next. The bad news is that often that willpower goes out of the window when you simply can not remember how many you have had. But if you do have a tendancy to pass out early and miss the festivities, I earnestly suggest that you make it a point to drink slower. Who cares if the others are sloshing them back. If you want to last the whole day and night, monitor your drinks.

Besides the aspirin, have a pack of peppermint gum handy. Sometimes when the stale beer or hard liquor taste is too much, a stick of peppermint gum does refreshen the mouth and also helps to rescue the drowning taste-buds who just can't take one more pint. Hopefully by this point you will not be too far gone that you will forget that you have it on hand! At some point in the afternoon, you should have a bite of food. Avoid the sugary stuff. A nice big basket of french fries usually does the trick, or a warm roll with butter.

You are going out with friends? Then look out for each other. Perhaps one of you will volunteer to cut back on the drinking early in order to make sure the rest of you get home safely. Book a cab a few days beforehand. Or rent a limo. Do not wander around the streets alone and drunk. Yes you look funny but it is a sure fire way to get mugged or hit by a car.

While you are on the drink, remember to have a glass of water every now and then. This doesn't make you 'soft', it gives you a better chance of being able to get out of bed at some point the next day and your liver will also appreciate it. Water will help the liver to get rid of those alcohol toxins much easier. Though there are those that really crave the hangover so they can stay in bed, in the dark, moaning and groaning all day long. I like to be able to get up by noon, go down to the corner for a coffee, relax, and smile at all the other people who are wearing their sunglasses too, even when there's no sun!

Surviving a St. Patrick's day pub crawl is easy, it just takes a little bit of practice.

Learn more about this author, P Vandegrift.
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