A little bit of wellbeing borrowed from the future for the sake of a good time, at a cost to be confirmed in the morning, is what most people think of a wake up call. Ginseng, Korean pear juice, prickly pear, clove extract do not do anything according to studies.

What if there was a cure for the flu? If you could drink too much, you wouldn't have to deal with the consequences. What would that do to your plans for the night?

The first pill that works after a night of partying is said to be Myrkl. It has been referred to as a "hangover prevention pill" and a "scientifically backed hangover cure" according to articles.

The publicity material is a little more cautious. Myrkl is referred to as a "pre drinking" pill. The CEO says its purpose is to help regular moderate drinkers wake up feeling their best.

The pill contains a proprietary supplement that is supposed to reduce the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream and prevent organ damage. The pill can break down up to 70% of alcohol in 60 minutes. A study funded by De Faire found that using the pills for a week resulted in a lower intake of alcohol into the bloodstream.

Myrkl sold out before it was launched in the UK. I took the pill and put it to the test.

Day one

Myrkl should be taken between one and 12 hours before consuming alcohol. The capsule contains rice Bran, a probiotic culture and a lot of vitamins. I start taking my first dose about two hours before I leave.

It is difficult to determine how much alcohol is consumed at a dinner party. I like to measure my intake by how much I enjoy it. I drink a large glass of wine as soon as I get in because I worry that I have shown too much restraint for the experiment. I apologize if you heard me play the piano. I can't play an instrument.

My head hurts, my throat is sore, and I feel as if I haven't slept in a long time. I think I have Covid for a while. The past two years have seen a lot of wasted Covid tests.

Tim Dowling recovering at home after a night of drinking

‘If a pill could eliminate hangovers, wouldn’t it do away with the main deterrent against the overconsumption of alcohol?’ Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Guardian

On the strength of the initial findings, I have to think about the possibility that I am immune to Myrkl.

It is easy to say that drunkenness is a measure of the alcohol in your blood, but it is not easy to say that you have a bad night. Depending on circumstances, genetics and other factors, morning-after symptoms vary greatly.

There have been hundreds of thousands of studies done on alcohol, intoxication and consumption, but hangover research is still in its infancy. We don't know a lot of the mechanisms that contribute to a bad night of partying.

A range of psychological and physical symptoms that are experienced the day after an episode of drinking is what Adams is referring to.

When your blood alcohol level reaches zero, it's official, and it's when you've had a good night's sleep. Adams said anything before that is still intoxication.

A hangover is difficult to measure because it is so difficult to define. Adams doesn't use a preceding article, but he says that research hasn't been able to establish any sort of a biomarker for the aftermath of a bad night of partying. Tell me on a scale of one to 10 how hungover you feel, or what extent you have the symptoms, and I will give you some help. It is the best we have. People are asked to rate 19 symptoms, including dehydration, fatigue, depression, sweating, and sleep problems.

Myrkl bases its claims on a study. The word "hangover" does not show up once. She says that the study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. I don't know how they can claim that the pill affects a person's body chemistry.

They don't. The study found that subjects who took the capsule for seven days prior to drinking alcohol had a reduction in alcohol absorption into the blood. You get less drunk because you get less hung over.

Day two

In the afternoon, I take two more capsule. A single bottle of beer and a single bottle of wine can be used to measure my evening intake. I know from experience that under normal circumstances this is enough to make me sick, and I will have to watch the next episode of the TV series I am halfway through.

None of the subjects in the study reached a blood alcohol level anywhere near the legal driving limit

I wake up feeling great, no headaches, no sore throat, no stomach ache, no nausea. I feel like a debt I haven't paid is out there somewhere accruing interest. I am not sure if this is a symptom of a bad night or a symptom of not having one. I don't know if it's the pill that makes me feel this way.

It will be the first time that a pill will be used for a cure for a bad night of partying. Adams says there has been no convincing evidence that anything works before or after drinking. I want to see more data, but I'm not sure.

10 of the 24 participants were excluded from the results because the amount of alcohol they drank did not lead to measurable alcohol concentrations in the blood, according to Adams. The subjects were given alcohol based on their body weight. 2.25 units is the weight of a person who is 60 kilograms. Adams says that most UK beers are stronger than two units of a single beer. This is intoxication at a level not associated with awaking from a night of partying.

Day three

I drink a beer and a bottle of wine at the same time, but I take the pills in between. I don't want the last glass, but it's science

I feel fine when I wake up the next morning, but I can't help but notice it's early. Over the course of the day, I experience a number of symptoms, including a loss of concentration, a feeling of being tired, and a feeling of being restless.

The idea is that you get less hungover, because ultimately you get less drunk

Myrkl insists the pill is not designed as an excuse to drink beyond the guidelines of the National Health Service. The company's press release quotes Dr. DawnHarper from the TV show Embarrassing Bodies She says that if you want to go out and get drunk, Myrkl would simply mean that it would take you a long time and cost you more. There is a huge amount of moderate drinkers in the UK.

Wouldn't a pill do away with the main deterrent against overconsumption of alcohol? Moderate social drinking is based on the wake up. Adams says that the research suggests that is not the case. People go on, they drink, they have a bad day. It's not a good way to deter people.

It is easy to see how dangerous a pill that claims to keep you from getting drunk is. Adams is worried that people may use it to try to drive after drinking. The subjects in the study did not reach a blood alcohol level that was close to the legal limit.

Day four

I don't drink beer because I'm out of it. I'm looking forward to a few days off, but this is still a lot. I have a feeling that even if the pills are doing me no harm, they are doing me no favors.

Dehydration, bad sleep, stomach upset, even the worst of the common symptoms don't fully show the havoc that is taking place inside you. Adams says that alcohol interacts with every neurotransmitter in the brain, even though some drugs have certainreceptors in the brain. Your brain is trying to get back to normal when you have a bad night. All of your neurotransmitters are trying to get back to normal. That is very hard on your brain. People experience terrible anxiety because of that.

To my surprise, I feel good on the final morning, filled with enthusiasm, light of mood, and an alien sense of control. It feels like a miracle since I forgot to take the pills the day before. I don't want to describe the results of my experiment as conclusive.

I worry about drinking at levels that might need a regular remedy for the effects of alcohol, even though I don't have a bad day. The study starts with a few paragraphs about the dangers of alcohol. Alcohol abuse is a serious medical and social problem. Almost 3% of all deaths are caused by alcohol abuse. The more you think about it, the harder it is to believe that the UK has a large population of moderate drinkers who only use moderation when drinking.

On the final morning, despite feeling pretty chipper, I confess to Adams that I have a bit of uneasiness about experimenting with a cure for a bad night's sleep. I don't know if it's alcohol-related anxiety. The worst thing for her is that. I didn't drink because I felt too anxious the day after. The research made me stop drinking.