Well, I didn't have a hangover...I received two free Zaca organic hangover patches for review a few months ago and have been anxiously waiting for a good time to try them out. These patches are exactly what they sound like - they are similar to the nicotine patches smokers use to quit except instead of nicotine they leech "hangover stopping" herbs and supplements into the bloodstream.
This past weekend presented the perfect opportunity to test the patches out - Sunday was San Francisco's Bay to Breakers. For those who haven't heard of Bay to Breakers, it is a "marathon" stretching from the San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. In reality, it is a seven mile walk filled with extravagant costumes, huge floats (many containing kegs) and enough alcohol consumption per capita to lay waste (wasted?) the entire route.
Since the race starts early in the morning, I put the patch on at around 8 AM. Almost immediately I felt a nice jolt - whatever herbs were in the patch really perked me up - I didn't even need my morning coffee. At around 9:00 I met some friends out in the street and started celebrating. As the day moved along, I continued to feel upbeat and energized (for the record, I did plan on recording my entire day for this review, but lost my camera sometime around 1 PM).
(Pouring one out for the homies)The party started slowing down at around 1:30, but I stayed in the park with some friends until around 3:00. Still, I was disappointed; with this much time to recover before even going to bed, there was little reason for me to be hung over, patch or no patch. Determined to continue the experiment however, I left the patch on as we went out for food and then back to my apartment to watch a movie.
I was still feeling good at around 10PM that night and got into bed expecting no problems what-so-ever the following morning. "All in all," I thought to myself, "the hangover patches might actually be worth it." Then it happened. Out of nowhere: PANIC ATTACK.
I am not at all prone to panic attacks, so it took a few minutes before I even realized what was happening. All I know is that one second I was thoroughly enjoying my comfy bed, and the next I thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest and I couldn’t keep my thoughts straight. After trying some deep breathing and meditation to calm myself down (no success) I got up and washed the patch off. From that point on it took about an hour of pacing up and down my apartment and trying desperately to concentrate to bring myself back down. I ended up getting to bed at around midnight for about six hours of extremely fitful sleep.
Can I say for sure that these patches caused this random panic attack? No I cannot. However, the fact remains that I have never really had a panic attack before, and while this was my first time at Bay to Breakers, it was NOT my first time enjoying the San Francisco street party scene. Coincidence? It's possible. But let's just say I am in no hurry to put my second free patch to the test.
Images provided by Zacalife.com and The Green Dude himself
