PULSE GET OVER IT! HANGOVER ADVICE FROM THE EXPERTS: DOCTORS AND JOURNALISTS.

Byline: Angela Vasquez Staff Writer

With New Year's Eve fast approaching, 'tis the season for overindulgence. Parties and holiday get-togethers will provide those in the holiday spirit with plenty of reason to tip those champagne glasses.

And for many of us, that means hangover headaches the next day. What a nuisance!

``There's no scientific explanation for hangovers, but there's a constellation of symptoms'' said Dr. Nathan L. Lewis, Internal Medicine Specialist and Chief of Staff at St. Luke's Medical Center in Pasadena.

Excessive alcohol consumption can cause blood vessels to swell, which can bring on a hangover headache. Alcohol also acts as a diuretic, which means it causes you to urinate more often and also to sweat - and this can lead to dehydration. A severely dehydrated person can become so nauseous, he or she can't ``keep anything down.''

The best thing to do is to try to avoid having any kind of hangover. To prevent the annoyance of a hangover headache, the National Headache Foundation recommends these tips:

--Drink slowly and with moderation. Make one or two drinks last the entire evening.

--Use mixers in your drinks, such as fruit and vegetable juices, which will have less effect than straight alcohol ``on the rocks.'' Avoid red wine, which contains tyramine, an amino acid known to trigger headaches. Ask for white wine instead.

--If you can, spoon yourself some honey on a cracker or some toast before or after having a drink. The fructose in honey helps to metabolize ingested alcohol, thus reducing hangover symptoms. Tomato juice is another good source for fructose, and helps the body burn alcohol faster.

--Drink fluids containing minerals and salts, like Gatorade and hot broth. This can reduce dehydration and won't make you nauseous.

--Drink a cup of coffee the next morning. Caffeine provides some pain relief and decreases duration of pain. Technically, the caffeine acts as a vasoconstrictor to ease the dilated blood vessels.

While these suggestions are good for the morning after, experts warn that drinking alcoholic beverages while taking medication is never a good idea. Drugs and alcohol are broken down by the liver, and the more the liver has to break down, the more strain you put on your body.

Stop the presses - they're too loud

The National Headache Foundation and medical experts offer sound advice, but we thought we'd have a little fun, too. We asked the people in the office what they do the next morning to recover from a hangover.

Bear in mind we make no recommendations from this list, although we've heard some of them before. We thought we'd share a few.

--Go swimming for 30 minutes. This clears the head and stretches out the body. Besides, you'll feel better just because you got some exercise, rather than lying around, moaning.

--Have a Bloody Mary (basically tomato juice and vodka) the next morning, or a glass of beer. One co-worker swears by a beer and tomato juice combination.

--Go to a Mexican restaurant and order a bowl of menudo - soup made with beef tripe and hominy.

--Wrap yourself in layers of clothes and get some exercise; you supposedly rid your body of toxins by sweating them out.

--Drink a full 8-ounce glass of water before going to bed (sometimes two is better) with an Advil, Bufferin or Excedrin. Drink lots of water the next day, too.

- Angela Vasquez

CALMING TONIC: You've tried all those soothing creams, fragrant candles and bath salts and your stress level is still outta control? Grandma's nasty-tasting - and -smelling - fish oil tonic might help, but Dermalogica's new Relax Elixir is a lot more appealing, with its aromatherapy ingredients that include chamomile and mugwort herbs with oil of peppermint. Developed by the International Dermal Institute, Dermalogica's tension-tamer products are made without artificial colors, synthetic fragrances, mineral oil, lanolin or formaldehyde, says founder Jane Wurwand. But her Relax Elixir is the only one you actually drink. It's $28.50 at spas and dermatologists' offices, and also available at www.dermalogica.com. For more information, call [phone].

- Barbara De Witt

TROUBLE IN TEENLAND: Sometimes it's hard to decide which is more difficult: being the parent of a teen or being a teen. Dr. Neil I. Bernstein, a clinical psychologist, has written a book that explores these very issues. ``How to Keep Your Teenager Out of Trouble: What to Do If You Can't'' (Workman Publishing; $14.95) takes parents and teens step by step into areas that include: how teens get into trouble, setting limits for teens, building better relationships by better communication and more. At the end of the book is a resource list for parents of teens in trouble.

- Nancy Hewitt

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(1) no caption (woman with bag of ice on face)

(2) no caption (``How to Keep Your Teenager Out of Trouble'')