Norman — As your eyelids open slowly to focus in on what appears to be Sunday morning, you have two thoughts: my head is throbbing and whose living room am I in?

We’ve all been there. Whether you get your kicks on Campus Corner or your cousin’s friend’s party, there are some very simple rules to follow Sunday mornings allowing you to enjoy the last bit of the weekend instead of praying to the porcelain god.

An article on Webmd.com—“12 Myths About Your Hangover”—says that a hangover is your body’s natural reaction to being overwhelmed with alcohol. Essentially, alcohol has a dehydrating effect on your body and the dehydration causes all the normal symptoms of a hangover such as headache, dry mouth and nausea.

A lot of students have their own remedies and rituals they use before they drink to prevent hangovers as well as ones for the morning after, but which ones actually work?

Many students believe the old myth, “beer before liquor, never been sicker, but liquor before beer, you’re in the clear.” Unfortunately, this rumor doesn’t ring true, according to Webmd.com. It’s not necessarily the order of drinks you consume, but the content of alcohol in each one. So no matter how much you think you’ve tricked your body out of a hangover, even though you drank the seven cosmopolitans BEFORE you did that keg stand, think again.

Milissa Gryctz, psychology sophomore, says she doesn’t necessarily do anything to prevent a hangover, but when she gets one, she spends the day in bed.

“I usually take a couple of Motrin,” she says. “It takes a lot to make me have a hangover though.”

Although taking pain pills in the morning may be effective, the myth that taking one before you pass out banishes your hangover is untrue, according to Webmd.com. Because over-the-counter painkillers you can buy only last about four hours, it isn’t effective to take them right before you fall asleep. Plus, pills and liquor really don’t mix well and can have disastrous results.

Another myth — coffee cures all symptoms of a hangover. Unfortunately, this is also incredibly false, according to the article. Coffee contains caffeine, which is a stimulant that will also dehydrate you and may even make symptoms worse.

Cameron Hicks, supply chain management junior, says his preventative hangover measures consist of drinking a huge glass of water when he goes to bed and then drinking one when he wakes up in the morning.

“If I’m drinking until 2 a.m. nothing is really going to help, but water usually gets rid of my cotton mouth in the morning,” Hicks says.

It’s true. Water can replenish your system and hydrate you back from your wretched state. Other good liquids to try are fruit juices or other sugar containing drinks, helping to decrease the sting of a nasty hangover.

Drinking water may work to re-hydrate your body and get rid of your hangover, but taking a cold shower will definitely not help, says Gryctz.

“Taking a cold shower after a night out was a really big mistake,” Gryctz says. “The cold water just made it worse.”

Eating fatty foods such as a hamburger or pizza also helps prevent hangovers, but the common myth that eating after you’re already drunk is false. Because you’re already drunk, the alcohol is absorbed in your stomach, making food completely useless after the fact, according to the article. So next time, maybe think about ordering Pizza Shuttle before you go out.

Lastly, the real cure for a hangover is to not drink heavily. If you do go overboard, the best thing to do is keep hydrated, take some pain pills in the morning if necessary and wait it out. Different people have different limits and it’s important to know what your threshold is.

“I think it has to do more with your biology than anything else,” Gryctz says.