Why do my eyes burn when drinking soda?

August 7, 2008 10:21 AM

Why do my eyes sometimes feel like they're burning when I drink sodas high in caffeine?
posted by drezdn to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

This is your body telling you to lay off the caffeine.
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:24 AM on August 7, 2008

Are you sure it's not the carbonation? (That's what makes my eyes burn when I drink pop.)
posted by phunniemee at 10:24 AM on August 7, 2008

Response by poster: I figured it was the caffeine because it tends to only happen with stuff with a higher amount (Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Dr Pepper).
posted by drezdn at 10:31 AM on August 7, 2008

If it happens after you drink the soda (not just during the act of taking a sip) it could just be that the diuretic effect of the caffeine is making you generally dehydrated. Try drinking more water (or I guess you could take the coward's way out and drink less caffeine.)
posted by contraption at 10:40 AM on August 7, 2008

Some sodas are more highly carbonated than others. I know that the diet versions of those you named tend to be highly carbonated, so the same might be true of the non-diet versions. But, I would think that if it were the carbonation rather than the caffeine the effect would be the most noticeable right after you poured it.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 11:27 AM on August 7, 2008

I'm not sure about the ingredients in those, but they might have another ingredient in common that you;re allergic to. My brother was slightly allergic to caramel colour, which is in almost everything, so it took a long time to figure it out.

But I second phunniemee...if it happens with sodas, but not tea or coffee or other non-carbonated caffinated drinks, I'd say it's the carbonation. You could also try leaving those sodas out till they go flat and seeing if it still happend, which would test if it's another ingredient.
posted by sarahkeebs at 3:13 PM on August 7, 2008