# What causes "Hangover Horniness"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665 "2011-01-15T02:05:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/21 "2011-01-18T17:17:31Z")
I experience this as well. On those occasions, if I manage to do anything about it, orgasms are unusually intense as well. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/22 "2011-01-18T17:23:40Z")
Another positive data point checking in. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/23 "2011-01-19T01:27:50Z")
> [@](#): > > What causes “Hangover Horniness”? Your body thinks you are trying to kill it, and wants to reproduce before you do so. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/24 "2011-01-19T03:13:23Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Your body thinks you are trying to kill it, and wants to reproduce before you do so. That’s what I thought too. Rats leaving a sinking ship?😛 ---
**Author:** ![hmiller23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/fbc32d/32.png) [@hmiller23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hmiller23)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/25 "2011-01-19T03:58:44Z")
Even the ugly ones look good when your drunk. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/26 "2011-01-19T16:30:00Z")
I don’t experience this, but I have had something similar happen when I get a cold. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/27 "2011-01-19T16:36:15Z")
Interesting thread. I have never, to my knowledge, experienced this nor heard of it. Last time I was really hungover (New Years Day), I slept for 18 hours in two 9-hour spurts with about two hours in between and sex was the _last_ thing on my mind. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/28 "2011-01-19T16:41:50Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > two 9-hour spurts :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/29 "2011-01-19T16:48:16Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > :dubious: Damn subconscious punnery. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/30 "2011-01-19T16:48:40Z")
Get thee to a punnery! ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/31 "2011-01-19T23:04:26Z")
I get this too. Based on various experiences, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is mostly due to the effect of alcohol as a muscle relaxant (partially due just to morning wood). I think if you take some other muscle relaxant before bed you have a similar effect. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/32 "2011-01-19T23:21:13Z")
My SO definitely gets this, and we joke about it. I always said it was because he felt like he was dying and wanted to get a last one in. In any case, it’s certainly real in my experience. I am really curious as to a reason! ---
**Author:** ![Paul091280](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c37758/32.png) [@Paul091280](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul091280)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/33 "2014-09-07T18:51:23Z")
I also experience this. I believe it to be the effect of conditioning. Lazing in bed feeling rotten and bored, often with fresh recollections of actual or near sexual encounters from the booze fuelled night before is quite likely to result in masterbation (for most men at least). This will temporarily lift your mood and make you feel better (unless you throw up or your head explodes). Do this often enough and you’ll end up with a pavlovian link between hangovers and sexual activity which leads to arousal whenever you’re hungover. The only way to test the theory would be to refrain from any sexual activity whilst hungover for months if not years to see if the effects reverse. As it is my hypothesis, it could not possibly be me who does the test… Any volunteers? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/34 "2014-09-07T19:25:13Z")
We used to call a morning erection a ‘lazy lob’. I think the hangover erection is just a version of this. Men often awake feeling horny, especially if they have a little time to lie in bed after waking. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/35 "2014-09-07T22:47:09Z")
Curious, I’ve never heard of this before. A question for the guys, does it happen only when you’ve been “out” drinking, or have you had the same effect from just one too many beers alone at home? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/36 "2014-09-07T22:52:12Z")
Both. ETA: I completely forgot about this zombie thread, but it holds true; I am very …excited the morning of a hangover. Beats me why (hahahaha.) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/37 "2014-09-08T01:43:46Z")
If it’s mostly a guy thing, I think it can make a lot of sense. Alcohol actually lowers libido in a lot of men, and causes erectile problems in the majority. So when it’s wearing off, it makes sense that it could temporarily make you horny. It probably doesn’t happen to everyone because the pain of the hangover often overrides it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/38 "2014-09-08T02:02:33Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Curious, I’ve never heard of this before. A question for the guys, does it happen only when you’ve been “out” drinking, or have you had the same effect from just one too many beers alone at home? I could swear there was another thread around within the past year talking about this (so, not this thread.) That was the first time I heard of it. I’ve never experienced hangover horniness myself. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/39 "2014-09-08T03:01:04Z")
It’s because you killed the brain cell that told you to run away from the crazy bitch in the first place. (reverse gender as needed) ---
**Author:** ![Dusk1983](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dusk1983](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusk1983)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665/40 "2014-09-08T15:23:12Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > Back in my youth when I routinely got plastered, the morning afters were often inspirational, in a weird way. Amidst the headache and general weakness there was a positive feeling of coming to my senses, of sharpened acuity and mental clarity, right about the time when my blood alcohol dropped to zero. Often I’d be horny, too. I think this was simply because of the dulling effects of alcohol wearing off, and normality feeling extra-special in comparison._Hey, I can actually feel my penis, and I like it_ Exactly the same here (and wrt the OP.) I’ve got a completely unsubstantiated theory that the desire to intoxicate oneself, which I’ve heard described as the fourth biological drive, is so powerful because it quite necessarily destroys brain cells and thus forces renewal. This could also explain why usage of drugs and alcohol seems to correlate with general intelligence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hangover-horniness/567665.md?page=3)