E-Mail This Article to a Friend Hangover helpers Morning-after remedies for post–St. Patrick’s revelry BY BRIAN E. O'NEILL

Surely you’re familiar with the "hangover prayer." Maybe you’ve even recited it a couple of times yourself. It goes something like this: "Please, God, if you make this stop, I promise I will never — ever — drink again ... and this time, I mean it." Yes, that bleary-eyed, migraine-inducing, gravity-distorting, fuzzy and familiar phenomenon known as the hangover is almost (almost, mind you) enough to make a person reconsider a night of heavy drinking. But with St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, you’re going to need a more realistic approach. So we’ve enlisted the help of some folks who are highly qualified in the field of hangover management: local rockers.

No one knows St. Paddy’s Day like Southie, and no one knows Southie like punk-rock stalwarts the Dropkick Murphys. The last thing drummer Matt Kelly needs when pounding on his drum and snare is a pounding headache. So Matt uses Alka-Seltzer Morning Relief ($5.95), available at CVS, to curb the Alka-hol-induced effects of a night of revelry. "It just works well after feeling like crap in the morning," he says. Two of the fizzy little tablets, according to the package, relieve "morning headache and fatigue" (wink, wink), and "increase alertness."

Bandmate and guitarist James Lynch takes the time-honored approach. "The one and only thing to make you feel any better after a good long night of hittin’ the bottle is another drink," he says. "Why does it work? Why wouldn’t it work? Booze fixes everything else, right?" Now, now, James. Yes, it’s true that booze fixes most things, but it’s totally useless for keeping your body hydrated, and did you know that hangovers are caused mainly by dehydration? You should have had plenty of water last night, but it’s still not too late to top off the tank with a one-pint bottle of 24 Select spring water (99 cents), or, to quench that deep-down body thirst, a 20-ounce bottle of Gatorade ($1.29), both available at Store 24.

Of course, the best hangover defense is a good hangover offense. So next time, you could try abstaining altogether (ha!), or popping a couple of X-Orb Hangover Defense capsules ($6.99), available at Harvest Co-op Markets. Take two capsules with your first drink, and two additional capsules for each additional six drinks (hey, that’s what the package says), and you may be able to greet the following morning fresh as a daisy.

But if you didn’t, well, then comfort’s the thing. Misery loves calories, and food is to morning comfort as drink is to evening comfort. So when Boston rocker Bleu is feeling a little, um, blue around the gills (assuming he’s not busy recording a song for some movie soundtrack) he goes for the ol’ stand-by. "When the need for a cure arises, comfort food always helps ... usually something fried," he says. Greasy grub is available anywhere, but there’s nowhere better than Jamaica Plain’s excellent Sorella’s. That line snaking out the door on the weekends? It’s not an accident. With a menu that includes pumpkin-cranberry-walnut pancakes (topped with cream cheese) and authentic Irish home fries, it’s no wonder this hometown hot spot is a haven for the hung-over.

Where to find it:

• CVS, various locations, www.cvs.com.

• Harvest Co-op, 581 Mass Ave, Cambridge, (617) 661-1580; 57 South Street, Jamaica Plain, (617) 524-1667; www.harvestcoop.com.

• Store 24, various locations, www.store24.com.

• Sorella’s, 44 Perkins Street, Jamaica Plain, (617) 522-2500.