Could alcohol be a factor in constipation? My husband, who s nearly 55, has been extremely ill with a rare form of pneumonia (I believe the pulmonary specialist referred to it as pneumonsis ) and has been on home health care for the last month. His treatments stopped last Monday. Our medical bills have piled up, and he is fairly depressed right now. He has always been a beer drinker, so I was surprised when he started drinking vodka. And while that concerns me greatly, his biggest problem for the last 3-4 days has been constipation. I think the vodka has something to do with it; he says I m looking for reasons for him to stop drinking it. But isn t alcohol drying?