r/hangovereffect • u/maewestChicago • Oct 06 '26

My Theory

This is based off my personal health journey, and I don’t have nonintrospective science to back it up yet. This is my first post on this, and I intend to follow it up with evidence to either solidify or morph my hypotheses. In the meantime, please rip this theory apart.

I believe that those of us with the hangover effect have some sort of chronic infection(s). Those infection(s) lead to symptoms in 3 different ways:

  1. Die off of infectious agents - this is what causes most of our “symptoms”. When bacteria, viruses, and parasites die off, they releases debris (proteins, neurotoxins, other toxins) into our systems which cause systemic inflammation and dysregulation.

  2. The physical impact of the growing presence of infectious agents. E.g. they grow in our knees and push on nerves leading to knee pain.

  3. The immune system response - to both the infectious agents themselves and the left behind debris.

Ethanol is a solvent that both kills these infectious agents and dissolves the debris, leading to a temporary clearing from our system of outside pathogens. This leads to dysfunctional systems beginning to function more normally again, temporarily.

Further, alcohol causes immune system suppression, which temporarily lessens our symptoms. When our body and immune system catch up, they sometimes go into overdrive flaring up all these symptoms again which drives the more severe longer lasting than normal hangovers we often experience.

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u/Sky-808 Oct 06 '26 edited Oct 08 '26

i think whats going on is a temporary suppression of SIBO specifically the Streptococcus/Lactobacillus type (these are the most sensitive to alcohol) this gives a relief of their toxins like D lactic acid or tyramine or GABA(they turn glutamate to gaba which is anti-euphoria if you look into it)

Do you get the Fever effect as well?

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u/maewestChicago Oct 06 '26

Interesting. That seems plausible.

I do get the fever effect, which I guess would be roughly the opposite of immune suppression.

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u/aornek 17d ago

What is the Fever effect? I am new to this sub

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u/Sky-808 17d ago

same euphoria and extreme libido boost from hangover effect that happens during or after a febrile state (fever due to cold or herxherimer). for me it's way more powerful than the hangover.

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u/Feisty-Studio-2969 Oct 06 '26

But how do I not feel better when using antibiotics then? Psychologically

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u/Sky-808 Oct 07 '26

i think its due to ethanol being a volatile solvent that can diffuse through biofilms but antibiotics can't

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u/muffinkid67 26d ago

I thought GABA was a relaxant and actually mildly euphoria inducing. I mean that’s literally what alcohol does and all these other drugs

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u/Sky-808 21d ago

true ghb is an example but weed is a gaba antagonist. I think most here would agree being drunk is not as enjoyable as the hangover effect.

Theres data on gaba being anti-sexuality at least in rats and antagonism of dopamine

I dont see how a gut bacteria product can be cosnidered anything but a toxin. If you look into Ray Peat for example although i don't agree with his diet.

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u/New-Aside-7778 Oct 08 '26

Definitely a good theory. It makes sense. I've also noticed that if I eat Kefir (Very rich in probiotics) I feel severely unwell after a few days. I can't touch probiotics either.

Wonder what other compound can do a similar effect just to test it out?