E293: Tolerance and the Disappearing Buzz

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

Gillian Tietz, MS, CPRC

Science, Mental Health, Health & Fitness, Education, Self-improvement

4.9 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 29 August 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Have you ever thought back to the early days of your drinking and remembered how just one or two drinks gave you exactly what you wanted? That light, carefree buzz—the feeling that you were relaxed, loosened up, and maybe even a little funnier. Fast forward a few years, and suddenly those same two drinks barely register. You start chasing it—three, four, maybe more—and before you know it, the sweet spot is gone. Instead of a gentle buzz, you either feel nothing… or you’re over the line into drunk. That disappearing buzz is tolerance. And tolerance is the brain’s way of adapting to repeated exposure to alcohol. In this episode, I want to unpack exactly why the same amount of alcohol feels weaker over time, how tolerance develops in your brain, why it fuels heavier drinking, and why that easy, carefree buzz eventually disappears altogether. What to listen to next: E279: The Pendulum Effect of Healing E234: The Scary Side of How Alcohol Affects the Body E220: The Hippocampus and Alcohol: Blackouts, Memory Deficits, and Learned Associations Work with me: Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching Weekly email: You’ll hear from me on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email Free resources https://www.soberpowered.com/free Courses: The non-negotiable mindset https://www.soberpowered.com/mindset-course Don’t try harder, try different https://www.soberpowered.com/willpower Support the show: If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors Sources are posted on my website Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Have you ever thought back to the early days of your drinking and remembered how just one or two
0:05.6	drinks gave you everything that you wanted? You got that feeling that you were relaxed,
0:11.9	loosened up, funnier or cooler, whatever you were looking for. But if you fast forward,
0:18.2	after a few years, those two drinks barely even register to you. So we start
0:23.3	chasing it and we drink more to try to get the same effect. But before we know it, the sweet
0:29.5	spot has disappeared. And instead of that nice buzz, you either feel nothing or you're over
0:36.0	the line into drunk. That disappearing buzz is not something
0:40.1	that you made up, it's tolerance. And tolerance is the brain's way of adapting to repeated exposure
0:47.1	to alcohol. In this episode, we're going to discuss exactly why the same amount of alcohol
0:53.0	feels weaker over time, how tolerance develops
0:56.3	in your brain, why it fuels heavier drinking, and why for problem drinkers, that easy, nice
1:03.5	buzz eventually completely disappears. And before we dig in, I'd like to take a moment to thank
1:09.5	my sponsors who made this episode possible.
1:12.6	When I quit drinking, I didn't have the mental bandwidth to keep my house clean on top of trying to learn how to function like a normal person and feel my emotions.
1:22.6	So I had all this shame build up for years about the state of my house.
1:26.6	When we moved two years ago, I used it as a
1:29.4	fresh start to keep my new house clean, and I've done that with the help of house cleaners. They
1:34.2	hold me accountable because I can't blow up my house because I know they're going to be back in two
1:38.9	weeks. And this is why I'm excited to tell you about HomeGlow. You can instantly book a trusted background check
1:45.8	cleaner online for a one-time deep clean or on a regular schedule. Every cleaner passes a rigorous
1:52.7	certification process and 100% of cleaning fees and tips go straight to them. HomeGlo is available
1:59.2	in the U.S. and in my experience, if it's in your budget,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Gillian Tietz, MS, CPRC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Gillian Tietz, MS, CPRC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.