Simply drinking water was the first remedy. Ethanol is hydrophobic, which means that you lose more water than you take in when you drink alcohol. It affects the pituitary gland in the brain. It also stops the production of vasopressin, the antidiuretic hormone that causes the kidneys to absorb water instead of sending it on to the bladder. Once the hormonal key is unlocked, the normal trickle of urine becomes a flood, resulting in dehydration. Now the body still needs water, so it fetches that water from elsewhere in the body, including the brain. The brain shrinks temporarily. The brain itself is insensitive to pain, but researchers are forming the opinion that the dura mater, i.e., the tough fibrous membrane enveloping the brain, shrinks. And this same reshaping touches the pain-sensitive filaments connecting the cerebral membranes with the cranium. Water-loss can therefore cause pain in other parts of the body.

However, the volunteers found that drinking water alone did not help all that much, except for the dry mouth. And that was all.

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