Why does your heart speed up when you drink Alcohol? | Corporis

A few months ago, another YouTuber posted on his Instagram story that he had quit drinking alcohol, and noticed that his resting heart rate decreased. Around the same time, he started exercising more consistently, which caused his heart rate to drop further. Both not-drinking and exercise can cause HR to drop, but through different mechanisms. Let's get into it!

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☠️NONE OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS VIDEO SHOULD BE USED AS MEDICAL ADVICE OR OPINION. IT IS FOR GENERAL EDUCATION AND ENTERTAINMENT☠️

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Hi, I’m Patrick. I’m a freelance science writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training and a master’s in clinical exercise physiology. I used to work in the clinical setting as a certified athletic trainer, physical therapy aide, and a certified strength and conditioning specialist. After working in the clinical setting, I went back to school and became a teacher. The goal of my content is to help normal people, not just pre-med students, learn about the human body. That might mean explaining a topic from an anatomy class or exploring a topic from medical history.

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[Corporis]

Every time someone becomes a Patron, my sympathetic nervous system takes over. Patreon.com/Corporis

[KikiNation]

I am 42 years old. The last few times I have drank (let's say 4 shots of whiskey) + 3 beers. I wake up in the middle of the night and my heart is pumping super hard. It takes a few hours for my heart rate to go back down.

So, I have decided to stop drinking. I still have lots of things I want to accomplish in my life and I don't want Alcohol to get in the way of that.

[bertbotha]

I definetely have an increased heart rate after drinking yes. Bad sleep quality, bad memory and fatige the next day. Sometimes my resting heart rate which is around 50 bpm, shoots up to 70 or more and the pulse volume increases too. I feel miserable, depressed, anxious and overall sh.t. I quit drinking altogether.

[rossklein]

I was dependent on alcohol. Resting heart rate when I quit was 95-100. Now it’s down to 75-80 within 60 days. There is a direct correlation.

[coreylorenz]

I'm 39 I drank for 20 years. I'm in good shape., but my blood pressure was 165/95 and 90 resting heart rate. I quit for the first time. 45 days and blood pressue went to 118/78 and 58 heart rate.

[traviscase]

This is so important! I noticed the same thing stopping my alcohol consumption. I was sort of forced to quit drinking after realizing taking Kratom was really messing with me. Anyone that’s quit Kratom knows the anxiety that comes with quitting is unbearable and alcohol only makes it worse. I’m 29 and I watched my resting rate go from 85-90 to 56-69.

[terrycollett]

I watch a lot of these videos, most readers are reading the information from a screen .This person is saying it from his memory.He really knows his stuff.I subscribed anyhow.

[SueYisoSueet]

So that's why my heart rate sky rockets with alcohol... All I can feel is the pounding pulse whenever I drink lol

[RobbieBoy]

When over using alcohol I've gone from perfect 8 hrs to shocking. What a horrible drug it is, I desperately hate sleepless nights :-/

[nikevisor]

Your sign off is one of the best on this website :) Thanks for another fantastic video

[stephengallagher]

Folks, I am a habitual drinker, red wine with dinner every day. I went on a health-kick cleanse... my RH went from 75, dropping by two each day for first week, one after that... today, 9 days in, RH is 62. Feel great. I had no idea that change would be so stark. Red wine thins the blood. Two glasses a day are supposed to be healthy. But the trade off for me appears very large.

[cyzhouhk]

Wow! Thanks for the refresher. My physiology exam's in May, I'll save this to watch before the exam.

[AHarmlessPear]

I definitely always noticed an increase in heart rate when drinking. I’m usually 70-80 normal and can get to 90-100 after several drinks. But I also have chronic anxiety so idk what my real level is sometimes 😅 I’m going to start heavy cardio soon to try and bring my normal down to the 50s-60s and see how I am.

[zaggnutt]

I gave up drinking about 11 years ago and started running about 7 years ago. Just bought a smart watch this last Christmas and have been nerding out on the data. My resting BPM is around 53-56 average. Not bad for a 48 year old. I wish I slept better, since I only get about 5-6 hours per night. I blame that on video games. Perhaps they should do a study on the impact of gaming and sleep quality? Not that I would ever quit gaming for health reasons. Better to die with a controller in my hands! Thanks for the info and keep up the great work, Mr. Kelly!

[WoLpH]

So that's why my heart rate is so high... perhaps I should give it a try as well.

[jandljph]

This essentially confirms something I'd already noticed but never really researched myself - if I'm very tired or stressed, even a small amount of alcohol can push my resting heart rate absolutely through the roof (in one particularly memorable case to over 110bpm!), while it normally is well below 40bpm (endurance athlete with a naturally low RHR). On the other hand, if I'm reasonably relaxed and not overly tired, a drink in the evening does almost nothing beyond somewhat decreasing heart rate variability and prolonging recovery by a bit. I guess I'm going to have to look into this a bit more, this is way too interesting to ignore...

[jbracetti]

I'm 43 years old and I had been drinking for over 20 years The last couple of years I was experiencing really fast heart rate when drinking and it was gradually getting worse and worse until one day I ended up in an emergency room That was the day that I quit drinking and I've been fine ever since

[corwin]

I _always_ want to get nerdy about A & P! Awesome vid.

[WmJared]

This is useful and super well done! The HR variability was super concise and well visualized!
As a sidenote now I'm wondering at our hepatology clinic having all our FLD/NASH patients switch from ETH to black coffee no cream no sugar lol and how that is affecting HR

[alexanderboyd]

My heart rate absolutely skyrockets when I drink. I am half-Vietnamese (half European) and I have Asian flush, which I think plays a role in why my heart reacts so much. The more alcohol I drink, the more elevated my heart rate becomes. Perhaps you could do a video on why some people have a high resting heart rate when consuming alcohol while others don't, and how Asian flush might explain why many people experience an elevated heart rate.