05/2/08

For senior Brad Page, hangovers usually last awhile.

Page is one of many Baker University students who suffer the morning after a rough night out.

According to associatedcontent.com, 44 percent of U.S. college students participate in binge drinking on a regular basis.

Senior Katelin Spear said she visits the Mine on the weekends and usually once or twice during the week.

Spear’s favorite drink is vanilla vodka or beer, but she said she learned the hard way which alcohol she should and shouldn’t drink.

“We started drinking at noon and didn’t stop until 2 a.m.,” she said. “And I had a lot of variety of booze.”

For Spear, Everclear and whiskey are two liquors she avoids due to an incident her freshman year after a Delta Tau Delta fraternity party.

“I felt like I was dead,” she said. “I didn’t get out of bed for awhile and know never to drink certain hard alcohols again.”

After a hard night out, Spear said she drinks Gatorade and takes extra Tylenol. Sometimes, she said she even goes on a walk to get some fresh air.

“I usually get hangovers after big events with alumni or all-campus events like homecoming,” she said.

Page said he follows a similar routine, usually spending most of his day catching up on rest and relaxation – especially if he drinks hard liquor the night before.

“The worst hangover is not knowing what you did the night before,” he said. “Or waking up drunk. It lasts longer.”

The worst hangovers for Page are those where he drank hard liquor or those where he followed beer with hard alcohol.

To cure his hangover blues, Page said he drinks Gatorade and takes ibuprofen throughout the day. He will usually shower and eat something, if he feels up to it. While Spear and Page battle the side effects of hangovers, other students are turning to “hangover pills” to make themselves feel better the morning after.

“I’ve done some research on it,” Page said. “I don’t know how effective they are because I haven’t used them.”

The pill, Chaser, can be purchased at pharmacies in stores like Walgreens and Wal-Mart and are priced at about 10 caplets for $6.

According to the Chaser Web site, doublechaser.com, the drug works by absorbing the toxins that cause hangovers and passes them through a person’s system – like a filter. In order for the drug to work, one must take two pills for every six drinks. If a person drinks more than six drinks or longer than the allotted three hours, two more pills must be taken.

“To be honest, they are probably like sugar and electrolyte pills because that’s what you lose,” junior Renea Lindberg said. “I always eat something with sugar or bread.”

Spear said she would rather take her chances than resort to a pill.

“I like my way of getting rid of them,” she said. “I work out, get up, do stuff. I think time and moving around is the best way.”

Page, like Spear, is skeptical of the remedy.

“I’d rather just deal with it,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a miracle drug out there that will cure a hangover.”

Senior Jen Pridmore said she has heard success stories about the pill but hasn’t tried it for herself.

“I’ve heard it works, but I lose count easily,” she said. “It would work out all right for the first couple drinks.”

Instead of taking a pill, Pridmore said she tries to get rest.

“On the rare occasion when I do have a hangover, I lay in bed and wish for death,” she said. “If that doesn’t work, I just start drinking again.”

Pridmore recalled a time last year when she suffered from her worst hangover to date.

“I think my worst hangover that I can really remember having was after Chicken Fry last year. I had been drinking the night before and was obviously drunk for a long time,” she said. “I think I wanted to die more that day than ever before.”

For Lindberg, the worst hangover came the morning after her 21st birthday.

“I couldn’t look at the light,” she said. “Normally, (hangovers) are pretty light.”

During Lindberg’s freshman year, she said she always ate an oatmeal crème pie before bed to relieve the effects of hangovers.

“That’s my tried and true method,” she said.

Page, on the other hand, said he tries to drink a glass of water before bed to help hydrate himself.

“It depends on how coherent I am,” he said.

Although Page is uncertain of the best way to cure a hangover, he knows one thing for sure.

“The people who say they haven’t ever been hung over before, haven’t drank enough,” he said.