Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsAlcohol and Heart RateSlowing Down Heart RateTaking PrecautionsAnxiety vs. Panic AttackFuture Drinking
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Alcohol and Heart Rate
Slowing Down Heart Rate
Taking Precautions
Anxiety vs. Panic Attack
Future Drinking
Alcohol affects many organs and systems in your body. This includes your cardiovascular system—a network of organs, including the heart, blood, and blood vessels, that circulate blood within the body. Many of these effects, like a rapidheart rate, can occur during ahangover. A hangover is a set of symptoms that occur after drinking too much alcohol. Since alcohol remains in your body for up to 24 hours, a hangover can occur hours after your last drink.
Research shows that alcohol impacts yourautonomicnervous system, which controls your heart rate, breathing rate, and digestion. By stimulating your internal nervous system, alcohol can trigger a rapid heartbeat for as long as it remains in your body.
da-kuk / Getty Images
High Heart Rate With Hangover
Several factors can contribute to having a high heart rate with a hangover. Factors such asgenetics,body composition, general health, and the type and amount of alcohol you consume contribute to the fact that people metabolize alcohol differently. As a result, everyone experiences unique results while drinking and afterward.
Even without a hangover, alcohol can impact your heart. When you consume alcohol, your breathing slows andvasodilationoccurs (dilation of blood vessels). This triggers your heart to pump harder and faster to circulate the same amount of blood throughout your body as it needs when you are not drinking. The added stress on your heart causes a higher heart rate.
What Is a High Heart Rate?
A heart rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute is considered normal for a healthy adult. Heart rates that measure more than 100 beats per minute, in ranges such as 120 to 130 beats per minute when at rest, are typically considered too fast. However, factors such as age, health status, and physical condition can affect the heart rate considered normal.
Types of ArrhythmiaAn arrhythmia is an irregularity in the rate or rhythm of your heartbeat. There are several types of arrhythmia. They include:Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib)A-fib causes your heart to beat irregularly and often, faster than normal. It occurs when your heart’s atria (uppercardiac chambers) and ventricles (lower chambers) do not work in sync. It may prevent the heart from pumping enough blood to the body or lungs. It prevents your ventricle from filling completely or pumping enough blood to your lungs and body. A-fib can feel like your heart is skipping a beat, quivering, fluttering, pounding, or beating too hard or too fast.Heart PalpitationsWhile not technically an arrhythmia, heart palpitations are sensations in which your heart is fluttering, racing, or pounding. They commonly occur in arrhythmia. They can be felt in your chest, neck, or throat when your heartbeat is normal or abnormal. Heart palpitations can cause an unpleasant awareness of your heartbeat, making you feel like your heart skipped or stopped beating. Factors such as stress or drugs can cause them.
Types of Arrhythmia
An arrhythmia is an irregularity in the rate or rhythm of your heartbeat. There are several types of arrhythmia. They include:Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib)A-fib causes your heart to beat irregularly and often, faster than normal. It occurs when your heart’s atria (uppercardiac chambers) and ventricles (lower chambers) do not work in sync. It may prevent the heart from pumping enough blood to the body or lungs. It prevents your ventricle from filling completely or pumping enough blood to your lungs and body. A-fib can feel like your heart is skipping a beat, quivering, fluttering, pounding, or beating too hard or too fast.Heart PalpitationsWhile not technically an arrhythmia, heart palpitations are sensations in which your heart is fluttering, racing, or pounding. They commonly occur in arrhythmia. They can be felt in your chest, neck, or throat when your heartbeat is normal or abnormal. Heart palpitations can cause an unpleasant awareness of your heartbeat, making you feel like your heart skipped or stopped beating. Factors such as stress or drugs can cause them.
An arrhythmia is an irregularity in the rate or rhythm of your heartbeat. There are several types of arrhythmia. They include:
Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib)
A-fib causes your heart to beat irregularly and often, faster than normal. It occurs when your heart’s atria (uppercardiac chambers) and ventricles (lower chambers) do not work in sync. It may prevent the heart from pumping enough blood to the body or lungs. It prevents your ventricle from filling completely or pumping enough blood to your lungs and body. A-fib can feel like your heart is skipping a beat, quivering, fluttering, pounding, or beating too hard or too fast.
Heart Palpitations
While not technically an arrhythmia, heart palpitations are sensations in which your heart is fluttering, racing, or pounding. They commonly occur in arrhythmia. They can be felt in your chest, neck, or throat when your heartbeat is normal or abnormal. Heart palpitations can cause an unpleasant awareness of your heartbeat, making you feel like your heart skipped or stopped beating. Factors such as stress or drugs can cause them.
Ways to Slow Down Heart Rate After Alcohol
Drink Water and Electrolytes
Water andelectrolytes(essential minerals providing an electric charge needed for key body functions) can provide quick rehydration. Alcohol tends to dehydrate your body, making it harder for your liver to process the alcohol you have consumed.
When you aredehydrated, it decreases the amount of blood circulating through your body. Your heart rate increases as it tries to compensate for the lost fluid. Water and electrolytes can replace the lost fluid and relieve the pressure on your heart.
Practice Deep Breathing
There are many types of deep breathing. One technique involves the following steps:
Try the Valsalva Maneuver
The Valsalva maneuver acts on your vagus nerve to relax your heart’s electrical system and slow your heart rate when it is beating too fast. To perform the Valsalva maneuver, do the following:
Apply an Ice Pack
Research indicates that 20 minutes of ice massage to your head around your eyes, cheekbones, and spine can reduce blood pressure and heart rate, especially in people withhypertension(high blood pressure). The ice affects your vagus nerve.
Your heart works harder any time you are subject to warm temperatures. As your body temperature rises, your heart pumps faster. It does this to send blood to the surface of your skin so it can produce sweat and cool off your body. To reduce this extra strain during a hangover, seek a cool, comfortable environment where your body is not overheated.
How Alcohol Slows Your Heart RateAlcohol is a depressant drug. As you consume alcohol, it slows yourcentral nervous system, affecting your brain’s control of your body. While small amounts can affect functions like movement and speed, consuming large amounts of alcohol can slow your heart rate and breathing to potentially life-threatening levels.
How Alcohol Slows Your Heart Rate
Alcohol is a depressant drug. As you consume alcohol, it slows yourcentral nervous system, affecting your brain’s control of your body. While small amounts can affect functions like movement and speed, consuming large amounts of alcohol can slow your heart rate and breathing to potentially life-threatening levels.
Who Should Take Extra Precautions?
While everyone isn’t sensitive to the effects of alcohol on their heart rhythm, having certain conditions can increase your risk for A-fib after consuming alcohol.
Results from another study indicate that alcohol can severely affect the electrical system within the heart that controls your heartbeat, making you more susceptible to A-fib.
People with the following conditions have an increased risk for A-fib from alcohol or any cause:
If you have any of the following characteristics, theDietary Guidelines for Americansadvises that you should abstain from drinking:
Should You Drink Alcohol If You Have High Blood Pressure?
How Are Anxiety and Panic Attacks Different?
Anxiety and panic attackscan cause intense physical symptoms and leave those affected feeling scared and overwhelmed. While these conditions have similarities, they are different in several ways.
Anxiety and panic disorders are often confused because they can share the following symptoms:
However, anxiety and panic attacks differ in their causes, the way they occur, and the length of time they last. Anxiety attacks are often a symptom of an anxiety disorder, such Characteristics of an anxiety attack include:
Some people may experience a condition calledinappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST)after an anxiety attack. IST is an arrhythmia in which your heart beats fast without an identifiable cause. People with IST typically have a resting heart rate greater than 100 beats per minute or greater than 90 beats per minute when averaged throughout the day. Symptoms of IST can be mistaken for anxiety or panic attacks due to the rapid heartbeat that it produces.
A panic attack differs from an anxiety attack in that a panic attack typically occurs unexpectedly and suddenly without an apparent trigger. Characteristics of a panic attack include:
When to Go to the Hospital for Rapid Heart Rate
Rapid Heart Rate and Future Drinking
However, the best way to lower your health risks is to abstain from drinking any alcohol and opting for alcohol alternatives. Compared to not drinking, drinking alcohol in moderation may increase your risks of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.
Do not combine alcohol with pharmaceutical or recreational drugs. Doing so can increase your risk of overdose, loss of consciousness, nausea, vomiting, and other severe side effects.
12 Best Foods for a Hangover and What to Avoid
Summary
A healthy normal heart works to maintain a heart rate of about 60 to 100 beats per minute. Alcohol can cause your heart rate to temporarily jump up. The effect increases your risk of tachycardia, an ailment that makes you more likely to have a heart attack and stroke. Since alcohol remains in your body for up to 24 hours, you may have a high heart rate during a hangover, long after your last drink.
Drinking in moderation can help reduce the effects of alcohol on your heart and other bodily systems. However, having certain health problems can increase your risk of these effects. In these cases, it may be worth comparing the risks of drinking alcohol versus your health and well-being.
Contact your healthcare provider if you regularly have a rapid heart rate after drinking alcohol or during a hangover. Having a rapid heart rate for any reason can increase your risk of more severe problems such as a heart attack and stroke.
24 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.Alcohol’s effects on health.
American College of Cardiology.Even moderate, habitual alcohol consumption can cause irregular heartbeat.
Piano MR.Alcohol’s effects on the cardiovascular system.Alcohol Res. 2017;38(2):219-241.
American Heart Association.Tachycardia: fast heart rate.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.What is atrial fibrillation?
Heart Research Institute.Hydration and your heart.
American Heart Association.It’s not just inspiration - carefu breathing can help your health.
Mount Sinai.Relaxation techniques for stress.
Smith GD, Fry MM, Taylor D, Morgans A, Cantwell K.Effectiveness of the Valsalva Manoeuvre for reversion of supraventricular tachycardia.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2015, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD009502. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD009502.pub3
Mooventhan A, Bharti S, Nivethitha L, Manjunath NK.Effect of ice massage to head and spine on blood pressure and heart rate variability in patients with hypertension: A pilot study.Int J Ther Massage Bodywork. 2021;14(3):22-26. doi:10.3822/ijtmb.v14i3.573
Hackensack Meridian Health.6 proven ways to lower your resting heart rate.
British Heart Foundation.Effects of alcohol on your heart.
Voskoboinik A, Kalman JM, De Silva A, et al.Alcohol abstinence in drinkers with atrial fibrillation.New England Journal of Medicine. 2020;382(1):20-28. doi:10.1056/nejmoa1817591
Marcus GM, Dukes JW, Vittinghoff E, et al.A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of intravenous alcohol to assess changes in atrial electrophysiology.JACC Clin Electrophysiol. 2021;7(5):662-670. doi:10.1016/j.jacep.2020.11.026
Liang Y, Mente A, Yusuf S, et al.Alcohol consumption and the risk of incident atrial fibrillation among people with cardiovascular disease.CMAJ. 2012;184(16):E857-E866. doi:10.1503/cmaj.120412
Banner Health.How drinking alcohol could affect your heart’s rhythm.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).About moderate alcohol use.
Locke AB, Kirst N, Shultz CG.Diagnosis and management of generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder in adults.afp. 2015;91(9):617-624.
Locke AB, Kirst N, Shultz CG.Diagnosis and management of generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder in adults.AFP. 2015;91(9):617-624.
Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute.Inappropriate sinus tachycardia.
National Institute of Mental Health.Panic disorder: when fear overwhelms.
Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF).Alcohol.
Meet Our Medical Expert Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
What is your feedback?
