It’s approximately noon, and your only concern is the splitting pain in your head that’s making it hard to remember exactly when you turned off your alarm and decided to miss class.
You shuffle to the kitchen for water in an attempt to curb the cotton feeling in your mouth, trying to piece together the night before and rationalizing why you had that last shot of Patrón even though last call was already over.
We learn from a young age that actions have consequences, but we should shake our fists at the gods for creating the miserable state that comes after a hard night of drinking: the hangover.
For students whose social gatherings tend to include the consumption of several alcoholic beverages, there are strategic steps that can be taken to cure this awful side effect.
Any individual who says he has never had a hangover is either a liar or a very lucky person, but the symptoms of a hangover are easily recognizable.
The most common symptoms of a hangover include headache, nausea and extreme fatigue, though symptoms depend upon the individual and the amount of alcohol he or she consumed, said Tina Pedone, a nurse practitioner at the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center.
Water is the universal solvent, as the saying goes, and nothing assists your body to fight against hangovers like the downing of several bottles of water.
Dehydration is largely the culprit for hangover symptoms, though not all scientific details of a hangover have been pinned down, Pedone said.
“I drink a half gallon of water before going to sleep,” said Chris Juneja, a second-year psychobiology student, who said he rarely feels the effects of a hangover when he sticks to this remedy.
“Vitamin Water is the secret to my success at UCLA,” said Kellen Sinclair, a fourth-year political science student.
It’s only after drinking several bottles of the “Revive” flavor that Sinclair makes it to class when he is feeling hungover, he said.
Drinking water while enjoying alcoholic beverages can also prevent the effects of a hangover because it will help keep you hydrated.
Popping an Advil or two is also essential to get rid of hangover aches and pains, especially the dull pounding in your head.
“Two Advil and a Diet Coke” is the prescription Madisyn Bonestell, a first-year marine biology student, follows when she wakes up with a hangover.
Advil, which contains Ibuprofen, is the best pain medication to take for a hangover because it is safe for your liver, especially since your liver has already taken a beating from your alcohol intake, said Matt Diaz, co-director of the Student Health Advocate program.
But pain medications like Advil should not be taken before drinking alcohol because the combination is toxic to the liver, Diaz said.
For those with a particular nasty hangover, there’s nothing like a large dose of greasy food to calm a queasy stomach and restore your spirits. This may explain why Panda Express sometimes has a line at 10 a.m.
If greasy food is not your thing, taking vitamins also provides nutrients and energy.
Margarita Rozenbaoum, a first-year linguistics and psychology student, always drinks an Emergen-C packet ““ a vitamin C supplement dissolved in water ““ in the morning when she drank the night before, even if her hangover symptoms are mild.
“It may be all in my head, but it just makes me feel better,” Rozenbaoum said.
You may have heard the familiar refrain of “beer before liquor, never been sicker,” but medical experts say it is the amount of alcohol consumed and not the type that determines the severity of a hangover.
“A hangover is a symptom of too much alcohol,” Pedone said, and its effects are simply telling you that you’ve had too much to drink, she said.
These remedies can help lessen the pain of a hangover so you can attempt to function normally and make it to class, but the only way to completely cure a hangover is to wait it out and let your body process the alcohol out of your system.
“Time is the biggest thing to make you feel better,” Pedone said. The liver processes three-quarters of an ounce to one ounce of alcohol per hour, so a hangover can potentially last for several hours, she said.
Hangovers are one of the curses of college for some students, along with having to pull an all-nighter during finals week. But just as when the morning comes and the test begins, hangovers eventually come to an end after a painful road of recovery.