# Why Does Alcohol Have This Effect On Me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2005, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-alcohol-have-this-effect-on-me/329750 "2005-11-06T05:20:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chinchalinchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@chinchalinchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chinchalinchin)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-alcohol-have-this-effect-on-me/329750/21 "2013-01-03T06:05:54Z")
Sometimes after a long night of drinking, I wait up the next morning tired as hell with a raging headache and a nasty case of dry mouth. I’ve had this problem ever since I started drinking. I think I must be allergic to alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![nankamo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/2bfe46/32.png) [@nankamo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nankamo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-alcohol-have-this-effect-on-me/329750/22 "2013-07-09T16:07:21Z")
I have something like that too that I have always wondered about. I don’t drink much alcohol at all, but one or two sips in and there is the shoulder aches. I also brew Kombucha which is a health drink but since it is fermented is can produce alcohol but tiny amounts only. I measured and its .05% by volume, pretty much an undetectable amount but I get the flare up in the shoulders so I know there is alcohol in it, small as it may be. Everyone I know thinks I am just nuts, “No, its JUST you!” is all I hear. :dubious: I’m glad that its NOT just ME, but still wonder what the heck is going on. It happens more with wine or hard liquors but not so much with beers. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-alcohol-have-this-effect-on-me/329750/23 "2013-07-09T17:50:16Z")
Isn’t alcohol a vasodilator? I’d think the congestion and the muscle aches might have something to do with that myself, but I’m not a doctor, so take it with a grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Faqs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Faqs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faqs)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-alcohol-have-this-effect-on-me/329750/24 "2016-06-26T02:30:33Z")
After my first few sips of alcohol I feel a heaviness come over my body. It does go away usually quickly. Occasionally it last but if I get active it will go away. I have also wondered why this happens. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-alcohol-have-this-effect-on-me/329750/25 "2016-06-26T05:12:30Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > I hope there is a factual answer to this. It’s a curious thing. After 3 or 4 sips of any kind of alcoholic beverage, I get this feeling in my upper body- scapula, clavicles, and shoulders. It’s not so much pain, as pressure, Maybe just ever so slightly painful, but not that bothersome. It’s a sensation that doesn’t interfere with my movements, it doesn’t involve the heart or lungs but more muscular maybe. After the first or second drink, it does seem to go away. Or maybe I just don’t mind it as much. > > I do have rosacea, so maybe it has something to do with the vascular system. I also consider myself to be Highly Sensitive, so maybe it’s something that everyone feels to a much slighter degree. Although I have asked a couple of other people and they don’t seem to feel it. > > Anybody? Does this effect occur after drinking any alcoholic beverage? I am a beer/malt liquor drinker. I can drink Bud products or microbrews and not have any side-effects (other than the usual). If I drink Miller products, my sinuses clog up within a minute as if I had a really nasty cold. It is very uncomfortable. I researched it years ago and found that the chemicals added after brewing to ensure shelf-life were different for Miller and Bud. Back in the day, I could drink Leinenkugels with no ill effect. Miller bought the Leiny’s brand and afterward, I got the same ‘stuffed up sinuses’ effect. Are your symptoms for any alcoholic product, or just specific products? [Oops - just re-read the OP - you said ‘any kind of alcoholic beverage’.] ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-alcohol-have-this-effect-on-me/329750/26 "2016-06-26T07:23:57Z")
> [@Enuma\_Elish](#): > > Does this effect occur after drinking any alcoholic beverage? > > I am a beer/malt liquor drinker. I can drink Bud products or microbrews and not have any side-effects (other than the usual). If I drink Miller products, my sinuses clog up within a minute as if I had a really nasty cold. It is very uncomfortable. > > I researched it years ago and found that the chemicals added after brewing to ensure shelf-life were different for Miller and Bud. > > Back in the day, I could drink Leinenkugels with no ill effect. Miller bought the Leiny’s brand and afterward, I got the same ‘stuffed up sinuses’ effect. > > Are your symptoms for any alcoholic product, or just specific products? > > [Oops - just re-read the OP - you said ‘any kind of alcoholic beverage’.] I don’t know how alcohol affects **Alice The Goon** now, but notice that she wrote her OP in 2005, 11 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-alcohol-have-this-effect-on-me/329750/27 "2016-06-26T13:10:50Z")
I get a similar feeling but I would describe it as feeling pumped as after a workout. I feel stronger. I quit drinking decades ago but I do kind of miss that powerful feeling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-alcohol-have-this-effect-on-me/329750.md?page=1)